The Joy of Grooming
Your horse depends on you for their basic needs. Food, clean water, shelter, exercise and time to socialize with their friends are all important, but so is the time you spend grooming your equine friend. Often the benefits are much more than skin deep! This is time to build your relationship and trust with your horse, it is also a great time to establish firmly, but not in a mean way, that you are the leader of this two member herd. By balancing demand for respect with reward for cooperation, you can quickly establish that you are a fair leader worthy of your horse’s respect.
The benefits on a physical level are great too. Horses enjoy grooming each other and will often find objects to rub their bodies on, so it goes to show that horses love to be groomed. Respect goes both ways, and I find that instead of just rushing from one grooming tool to another, I like to show my horse what we are doing next. I let them look and smell the hoof pic or brush, and then I proceed on in a loving manner. While going over your horses body, inspect closely so that you don’t miss cuts, abrasions, insect bites, swelling or problems with the hooves. Groom often, not just before you ride to help your horse look and feel great. Your time spent grooming should be enjoyable for both you and your horse. Happy grooming!
Zippy and Kashi Grooming
