GROOMING:

When grooming a horse, start at the top of his neck and work your way to his rear, then switch sides and repeat. Make sure your horse or pony is safely tied wearing a leather halter or by using 'quick-release' snaps on cross-ties.

1. Start with the Rubber Curry. The rubber curry should be used in a circular motion to loosen dirt that has settled under the horse's hair. NOTE: be very careful and gentle around bony areas of your horse's body (such as his back or shoulders). Don't use a Rubber Curry on your horse's legs unless you can be extremely gentle with it. Never use a Curry or any stiff brush on your horse's face. It's too easy for your horse to injure his eye on the rubber curry or stiff bristled brush, and eye injuries are usually serious, needing immediate veterinarian attention.

2. Next, use the Dandy Brush. The motion for this brush is like the same motion you would use when sweeping a floor. You 'flick' the brush away and up from the coat so that the dirt comes off of his coat. Unless your horse is already extremely clean, you should see a slight cloud of dust with each stroke. If you don't, you need more "flicking" action with this brush. If you don't use this "flicking" motion, the dirt will just get pushed back under the hair, potentially causing irritation to the horse.

3. Then, you use the Body Brush. The body brush is meant to smooth down the hair and to get rid of any traces of left-over dirt after you have thoroughly used the Dandy Brush. With the Body Brush, you do not use a 'flicking' motion, instead, you smooth it flat over the horse's coat to flatten the hair. This brush often gives the horse a shiny, clean appearance (but only when the brushes are used in this order!)

4. Next, use the Mane Comb to gently comb the horse's mane. Use the Dandy Brush to brush the horse's tail. Many people use the comb to brush their horse's tails, but I don't use a comb since it breaks the hairs more easily. If you want the horse to grow a long, flowing tail, you should use the Dandy brush instead (or don't brush the tail at all...in this case, you could use warm water to rinse the tail, then apply a tail conditioner or Show Sheen to keep the tail from tangling or getting knots).

5. Now, on to the feet! You should first have your instructor show you how to pick up a horse's feet. Usually, this can be done by running your hand down your horse's leg, then gently squeezing his fetlock (ankle). Be sure not to pick up the horse's foot too high, or he might loose balance. When you use the hoof pick, always scrape away from you, just as you would if you were using a carrot peeler. You don't want to accidently injure yourself or your horse if he suddenly moves or pulls his foot away. It is important to thoroughly clean out the hollow areas on both sides of the frog, and around the sole of the foot. For an illustration of these areas of the hoof, view our Parts of the Hoof & Foot article.

6. The last step is using the Towel. A plain towel or rag will do, just wipe it over the horse's coat to bring out the shine.

TA DA! You're all done!

When you are finished riding, it is good to give the horse another grooming to remove any sweat marks or dirt that accumulated from the arena or trail. It is also a wonderful 'after riding' reward for horses who like to be groomed.


OTHER TIPS:

Some people will lightly spray the towel with a hair conditioner such as "Show Sheen", to help bring out the shine in the horse's coat. NOTE: be very careful when using Show Sheen or any similar product! It is very slippery under a saddle, so do not use it on the horse's back or girth area if you are planning on riding or your saddle could slip and you could fall off! (I've seen this happen a few times at shows).

Another brush called a "Mud Brush", has very stiff bristles. This can be used on horses that have been out rolling in the mud. Be sure that all the mud has dried before trying to brush it off, or it will just be smeared over the horse's coat and rubbed in under the hair!

A Shedding Blade can be used in the spring time to help loosen and get rid of the extra hair that the horse may shed off due to the season change. Be very, very careful with a Shedding Blade, since the edges are very sharp! To avoid injuries to the horse, I recommend the shedding blade NOT be used on the face or legs of a horse.

General rules of of bandaging

• Never draw any one part of the bandage tighter then another. Uneven pressure can, especially to the leg can cause serious, permanent damage to the tendons. 
   

• Always use cotton gamgee under the bandage
   
• Do not draw tapes tighter then the bandage. May result in swelling and eventually a permanent lump no the leg.
   
• When bandaging legs tie tapes on the outside or inside of the legs, never on the bone in front, or the tendon at the back. Fasten in a bow and tuck the spare ends in, never pin.
   
• Tapes tied tighter then the bandage on the tail bandage may result in hair falling out. Tie tapes loosely.
   
•  When bandaging uneven surfaces, or swollen legs, use plenty of gamgee or cotton wool and bandage fairly loosely.
   
•  Never leave any bandage in place for more then 12 hours, and replaced as necessary, for a further 12 hour period.

• Decoration. For better or worse, you CAN buy a pad designed in a montage of animal prints.
• Saddle protection. Pads protect he saddle from dirt and sweat.
• Drying. Moisture is wicked away.
• Cooling. Pads can help to cool the back and dissipate heat.
• Cushioning. There are many measures of "cush" and frankly I don't understand every measure I read about. Suffice to say that a pad should reduce pressure points and other forces acting on the back.

Cooling
Ideally, a saddle pad will help to dissipate heat and keep the back as cool as possible. For the average 3o-45 minute ride, the cooling function is desirable; for the hard-working horse that is ridden for hours cooling is essential. In his article "Saddle pads and what the manufacturers don't tell you", Michael Easton did a field test of saddle pads made of different materials. The field test was a long trail ride. The temperatures of the saddle pads were measured after ride, and the results were dramatic.

• Neoprene and synthetic fleece pad temperatures ran 3 degrees hotter than wool felt and cotton pads.
• While the wool and cotton pads cooled quickly following a ride, the neoprene and fleece retained their heat for hours after being removed from the horse's back.

Synthetic products may make claims for unique designs such as air channels or a waffle weave to improve cooling. In reality once the material is compressed against the horse's back, these designs are ineffectual. The best materials for cooling are wool and cotton.

Wicking Moisture
Here are two cool words: hydrophilic (likes moisure and wicks it up) and hydrophobic (hates/resists water). Hydrophilic materials pull moisure from the horse's back and move it along. You might hear some people argue that the wet back is lubricated -- not true, at least according to researchers. The wetness causes stretching and pulling on the skin and hair, as well as slippage, which can lead to sores and soreness.

A Kansas State Study examined four western blankets for their wicking properties (among other things) before and after 200 hours of use. The results:
 

• Neoprene and gel were the worst performers, exhibiting almost no wicking properties (even though the gel pad had a wool lining).
• Synthetic fleece showed good wicking properties before use, but wicking dramatically declined after use. The matting of the material, accumulation of dirt and sweat were the likely reasons for the decline in wicking performance over time.
• The foam pads (both closed and open cell) performed well, in part because they were lined with wool felt or sheepskin.
• No wool pad (no synthetics) was included in this study. Too bad. For what it's worth, wool's wicking properties far oustrip synthetic materials (see "Advantages of Wool for Horse Tack" for more information).

Cushioning/Impact reduction
The Kansas State University Study also looked at factors of compression reduction and cushioning. The study did not include an all-wool pad. Their findings were:
 

• Closed cell composite foam performed the best (in this case a Professional Choice pad).
• the open cell ""memory foam," which is used in modern mattresses offered no cushioning. It completely collapsed under load.
• Synthetic fleece offered some protection when new, but lost much of its cushioning ability with use.
• Gel and neoprene performed the poorest.

Dr. Joyce Harman, who studied synthetic materials used in western saddle pads, concluded that wool is more resilient and effective at protecting the horse's back than synthetic fabrics. Cushioning/impact reduction is a function of tensile strength and rebound resistance in terms of pounds per square inch (psi). When the "bounceback" factor of materials is considered, wool (80%virgin, 20% other) is measured a t 8 psi compared to foams (2psi), gels (2 psi), or synthetic fleece (1 psi). Wool far outperforms these materials in tensile strength as well.

Oh, a word about wool grades: Wool is graded on a scale of 1-15, and the grading is assigned in part by virgin wool content. The highest quality saddle pads use grade 10 or 11 wool felt (80% virgin wool). Most saddle pads use grade 15 wool, or about 50% virgin wool.

Conclusion
These conclusions are my own, standard disclaimers apply. First, it looks like some of these synthetic materials are being incorporated into pad design without really testing whether they work. For example, the famous mattress "memory foam" used in one of the saddle pads performed badly. Did anyone test the pad before going into production? Probably not.

Second, based on the performance of good old wool and wool felt, it's still the best thing going for saddle pads. The Horse Journal tested a variety of saddle pad materials and found that “natural sheepskin remains the gold standard in saddle pad materials” because of the excellent natural wicking properties, air flow, wear, and support sheepskin gives to a horse’s back. The author of the web site Sustainable Dressage also suggests sheepskin, but she wisely notes that the pad should be as thin as possible so that it does not interfere with a correctly fitting saddle. Ironically, I see people using pricey sheepskin pads on TOP of another pad--to protect the pad? This might preserve the fluffiness/cleanliness, but the benefit to the horse is lessened.

Third, none of the studies really looked at cotton, which is by far the most common material used for pads I buy. Cotton has good wicking and cooling properties so it often forms the lining or outer shell of a pad. Cotton is often combined with synthetics to form the interior padding as well.

Finally, I'll never again be tempted to buy the most expensive product (whatever that product is) because "if it costs more, it must be better." Although I didn't share the price of the pads, many of the more expensive produts performed HORRIBLY. The one exception to this is that if you're buying a wool product, check the grade of wool. If you're getting a better grade of wool (10 or 11 is optimal for pads), expect to spend more.
 

When you decide to have an animal at home or on your farm, it is important that you know how to take care of them properly. This may be easy if you have those domesticated animals that do not require much care. But what if you buy a riding horse and discover it is not as easy to care for the animal as you thought it would be? A lot of tack supply items are needed to take care of horses and one of the most important are the horse blankets.

Saddle blankets are made to keep horses warm. These blankets are also ideal for protection from wind and other elements. These types of blankets vary in sizes. In fact, most of them are custom-made to perfectly fit around the body of the horse from his chest to rump. Blankets for horses have straps that cross underneath their belly.

Although the blanket are heavily secured and fastened, horses can still move about freely. The most common of these blankets normally have one or two straps that securely buckle in front.

However, there are also some designs with closed front, thus requiring it to be slipped over the head of the horse. Also, there are those that have smaller straps lightly lopped around the hind legs of the horse that help to prevent the blanket form slipping sideways.

Horses wear horse blankets especially when they are traveling and they are designed with different weights for different weather conditions; water-resistance blankets are also available. Presently, almost all of these blankets are created and made with the toughest of modern materials.

These materials are also the ones used on human outdoor wear. Additionally, blankets for horses also help to keep their hair short. Preventing winter coats is also possible when they are used all throughout autumn. These are also suitable for horses with a partial trace clip or full body clip.

The Cooler is another of the many kinds of horse blankets. It is that square blanket that is tied and then draped over the horse that has just been bathed or has just completed a hot and sweaty, intense workout. This type of blanket is placed on the horse while it is being walked to cool down.

This provides better air circulation for the horse to dry off, while preventing drafts and chills that can cause problems. It is always important to consider the safety and the health of your horses, and this includes the type of horse supply products that you use.

 Warnings