You already know your horse needs to be groomed every day, especially before riding. Let’s learn from the pros how to get the most out of your time so your horse stays sleek and healthy! Check out this professional horse grooming advice from some of the top grooms in the country, Cat Hill and Emma Ford.
Hands-On Check-In
First thing in the morning, use your hands to check your horse’s legs in the stall. There is no replacement for your hands; just looking doesn’t catch what might be brewing under the hair!
1. Investigate anything unusual for the horse. Check legs for heat, swelling, and skin abnormalities.
2. Check pasterns for the beginning signs of scratches.
3. Don’t forget that your horse has hind legs, too!
It’s a good idea to keep a little logbook for a new horse to catalog any splints, windpuffs, scars, or other “jewelry” that are normal for him.
Grooming
We give our horses a good groom every day to promote skin health; loosen muscles; find any little skin problem before it gets out of hand; and produce that beautiful shine from deep down.
Hoof Picking
1. When you get a horse out of his stall, first pick out his feet into a small bucket to make sure mud doesn’t fall into the bedding and create dust. Halter your horse and keep the stall door closed while you pick the feet to prevent him from leaving the stall prematurely. This helps to keep the aisle clean and tidy.
2. Remember when picking the horse’s feet, always point the hoof pick toward the toe and be gentle with the frog. Note: Pointing the hoof pick toward the heels can be dangerous. You could catch the hoof pick in the fleshy frog, causing an injury.
Brushing
Next up, assemble your tools:
◆ Jelly curry
◆ Good mud brush
◆ Medium bristle brush
◆ Nice soft brush or sheepskin mitt
◆ Towel
◆ Scissors
◆ Comb and brush
◆ Sunscreen
◆ Talcum powder
◆ BB Double Strength Super Gro (our favorite brand of hair-growth serum)
◆ Hoof oil and sealant
◆ Hoof pick
◆ Witch hazel
◆ Tail conditioner/detangler
◆ Coat conditioner
◆ Fly spray
1. Start with your curry and rub in vigorous circles to loosen up any dead hair, loose dirt, and give a good muscle massage. Be gentle over areas that don’t have a fat or muscle covering, and listen to your horse about how hard you can push—every horse is different.
2. While you groom, look for any scratches, bumps, or skin issues to be treated once the horse is clean.
3. Gently use the small bristles of your jelly curry to do the cannon bones of all four legs.
4. When your horse is quite dirty, use your mud brush to get rid of any really stubborn mud clumps. Your medium stiff brush should be flicked against his skin with short, hard strokes to get rid of any dirt down near the skin.
5. Don’t forget to gently brush his face.
6. Periodically use the jelly curry to clean the brush as you move from neck to rump.
7. Wipe his eyes, nose, and ears with a towel.
clean, damp cloth. Photo by Jessica Dailey
8. Spray your coat conditioner onto your towel or sheepskin mitt to provide the final touch smoothing his hair and bringing up the shine.
one last rub-down to bring out the shine. Photo by Jessica Dailey
Tail
1. When combing the tail out, start at the bottom and gently work out tangles as you go on up to the top.
2. Never rip a comb through the middle of the tail in a hurry; you will pay for it later!
Mane
1. A pulled mane can be brushed down with a comb or a bristle brush.
2. Daily, you can also place a hot towel over a horse’s mane to help train it to lie flat. A very hot towel will keep most manes lying down for about one-half hour on its own.
3. When training a mane, use a little beeswax pomade smoothed over the mane daily to help create a nice smooth mane.
Hooves
You either use hoof oil to help provide moisture, or a hoof sealant to keep moisture out.
1. Hoof oil must be applied all the way to the coronary band and on the heels.
2. Hoof sealant must not cover the soft coronary band or heels.
Treating Issues
Finally, treat any problems you find while grooming.
1. Thermazene or SSD (silver sulfadiazine) cream is an excellent strong, gentle antibiotic and antifungal that can be used on many minor skin problems.
2. First clean the area with witch hazel on a clean cotton square.
3. If necessary, apply the SSD cream.
This excerpt from World-Class Grooming for Horses by Cat Hill and Emma Ford is reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books. It originally appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!
