By David Pike
Grooming your horse is one of the most important times you will spend with your beloved ride. A pretty shine is only a by-product of good grooming. It’s not the important part or purpose. The most important part is the health and comfort of the horse. The most important part of grooming a horse that’s going to be ridden is to ensure that the areas of contact with tack are clean, to avoid rubbing dirt into the skin and creating a saddle sore.
A coat that’s full of dust, dead skin flakes, and “scurf” is a breeding ground for painful bacterial and fungal infections called rain rot or rain scald. It has nothing to do with rain and everything to do with poor grooming. On the lower legs, the same type of infection is called scratches. These infections and sores can take a long time to heal up, during which you cannot ride or drive the horse. Even if no infection takes hold, it’s terribly itchy to have all that dead hair, skin tissue, and dirt in the coat. It can be very uncomfortable for the horse and irritate the area of the girth and where the saddle sits.
Once you get accustomed to it, grooming your horse can help you identify a change in its vitals and behavior, which can help terminate many health issues before they become life-threatening. When you groom your horse well it’s good for your own self-respect. It shows that you respect your horse, your stable, and the sport of horse riding as well.
Grooming a horse requires time and patience
Set aside a proper time to groom your horse completely. Feeding your horse, the right food is the most vital part of horse grooming. Almost all horses can benefit from eating fresh grass but they must have limited quantities if they are not used to it. The digestive system of a horse includes a bacterial fermentation process in the hindgut that works just like a compost pile, creating heat and breaking down cellulose so they can utilize the calories and other nutrients within. The horse is considered a “trickle feeder” and should be eating slowly most of the day. Horses are not designed to eat meals like humans. You will increase the risk of colic or ulcer if you have them in a fasting situation and then give 3 meals a day. Unlike cattle and goats, horses have a very hard time with any mold in their food, and accidentally ingesting moldy food can make horses very sick.
There is an array of horse supplements available in the market ranging from supplements for gut well-being to ones for healthy hooves and shiny hair coats. The horse supplements from Barastoc contain yeast or probiotics for gut wellbeing and a few contain biotin and methionine – the two key parts of a ton of food supplements. These supplements are actually easier for an older horse to chew than sweet feed; they also consist of rice bran that supplies additional vitamins and minerals. The horse groom at Barastoc, will give your horse the best experience of its life. Visit their website for more information.
