It is a standard tendency when you are in a rush to take a few short cuts and wish for the best. This is true in whatever you do, even stuff like grooming a horse. Nonetheless haste does make waste, especially when grooming a pony.
There are a few grooming guidelines that positively shouldn’t be neglected.
One of the primary needs of grooming a pony is to check him out often for injuries. No matter how much of a rush you are in, you should do an exhaustive job of this part of grooming: run your hand slowly and carefully all over your horse’s body, particularly his legs, and gauge if there are any injuries or swellings that may have arisen while he was in the field the day before or in his stall over the night. Your assessment by touch should complement your visual assessment. A stitch in time saves nine, so make sure you take whatever time is necessary to be sure your horse is positively injury-free. Stock your grooming kit with first aid accessories like disinfectant, cotton wool and an antibiotic protection cream.
When you’re grooming your pony because you plan to ride him, you are able to afford to do a not quite perfect job aside from the injury checking part. He’s going to dump most signs of his grooming in 1 or 2 minutes of riding, anyway. You should take care to remove any deposits of dirt in the bridle and saddle areas, particularly the areas that the girth is seated in, and the area the headpiece occupies, back of the ears. You can remove most of this kind of grime with a dandy brush in good shape and a curry brush of rubber or plastic, but do take some extra care on the areas surrounding the head: it is a good idea to use a softer brush in the delicate patches to the back of the ears.
There’s a lot of argument about tying up. I speculate just how many folks actually do tie up while grooming their horses? I’m sure not that many people do. It sounds ideal to tie up a horse when he is being groomed, whether in the box or elsewhere. It might appear like a pointless precaution, but it does not take particularly long and it definitely can stop grief from kicks or trampling. Don’t make the mistake of presuming that your pony is too angelic to kick or tread on anyone’s foot; you never can tell with these animals. Horses are receptive to the moods of the human beings around them, and if your horse senses that you are in a rush, he can become a little unpredictable. It is more safe therefore to tie up. You also have got to think in term of the horse’s own safety. Is he liable to try to bolt? Would he tread on you or the grooming kit and cause damage to either? Is he sensitive to getting brushed in selected areas? If he is, you are more safe and your horse is more safe when he’s tied up.
You must judge just where the corners are that you can cut when you are grooming your horse and you are in a hurry. You should not be taking risks with his safety or yours. Nevertheless you have other work to attend to. Keep some emergency grooming accessories in your grooming kit. These accessories can save you a lot of time. That’s another reason why you shouldn’t scrimp on your grooming kit. When you get the finest, you are making sure the well being of your pony and his handlers.
Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about troxel
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