Grooming
Full Service Grooming
A good grooming session increases blood flow to the skin’s surface, and massages large muscle groups.
Additionally, horse grooming plays a very critical role in horse training and socialization, and sadly this is the benefit that horse owners overlook the most. If your horse is not comfortable with your full body touch during a grooming session,
I can guarantee you that he will not perform to his maximum ability when doing groundwork or riding.
Benefits
Many negative horse behaviors are caused by a lack of trust or respect between horse and owner, and no amount of riding will fully eliminate those problems until that core issue – respect – is resolved. Round pen training goes a long way towards establishing respect, but horse grooming comes a close second in developing a relationship. Incorporating both on a daily, or regular, basis will help you achieve the best results with your equine partner.
Reasons for Grooming
Grooming is an important part of horse care. Grooming a horse daily allows the handler to check on horse's general health and well-being. At a minimum, horses are generally groomed before being worked, and are usually groomed and cleaned up after a workout as well.
The main reasons for daily grooming include:
- Improved health of the skin and coat
- Decreases the chance of various health problems such as thrush, scratches, and other skin problems
- Cleans the horse, so chafing does not occur under areas of tack