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Caring for your pony – Grooming

Grooming your pony

Grooming your pony

Besides water, food and sufficient exercise, another important aspect in horse care is grooming. Whether you own or loan a pony, or simply help out at a friends house, grooming is an important skill you need to learn beside riding.

As well as keeping a ponies coat clean, grooming promotes blood flow, stimulates breathing, strengthens the bond between you and him /her and it removes dead skin cells and dead hair.

If you think of grooming as flicking a random brush over your pony, then you are mistaken. That certainly is NOT the way to groom a pony. When you groom a pony you should do it methodically so that you do not flick dirt back on to a part of the pony that you have already brushed. Start by picking out the hooves but remember to pick them out from heel to toe as otherwise you may hurt the frog(!) (the sensitive middle part of the bottom of the hoof) if your hand slips.

Check for signs of thrush (smelly feet, black discharge) and carefully put the ponies hoof down. Next, start grooming the mane and use a body brush or your fingers to comb the mane till you can go through it without trouble. A de-tangler spray would really help.

Remove mud from the coat with a dandy brush and and then use a body brush to remove grease and scurf. After a few strokes with the body brush use a metal curry comb to remove the hair from the body brush. Note: the metal curry comb is only used for cleaning the body brush, and should NEVER be used on a pony.

Now set to work with the tail, but stand to the side to avoid getting kicked and pull the tail to the side. Use a body brush or your fingers because, however tempting it may seem to use a plastic curry comb, this is not advised as it breaks the hair and can give your pony split ends.

Now as a finishing touch, why not add some hoof shine?
Otherwise you can use effol or another well known hoof strengthening cream or paste.

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