The Proper Way to Clean Your Horse During the Spring Months

Posted: Jan 27, 2011 |Comments: 0 |

The warmer spring temperatures are right around the corner and with them come the ritual of spring baths for your horses. While you may not be excited about this undertaking, I'm sure your horses can't wait. You see during the winter a horse can become a bit dirty and grubby. This is especially true for a horse turned out and one that hasn't done much in the way of riding or grooming. A good cleaning will be a welcome treat.

In my opinion, the best places to begin are the horse's mane and tail. Start by spraying on a detangler. Allow it to dry before attempting to pull out any burrs from its tail and long mane. I like to pick each burr out by hand while also trying to untangle any knots you find before even attempting to use a comb. Next using a currycomb, give the horse a first-class grooming to loosen up any dried mud or ground in dirt. I've found that using a stiff brush and then a soft brush works great.

Once you've successfully removed all the excess dirt, you can now give the horse a good bath. Wait for a nice, warm and sunny day. This way both you and the horse can enjoy yourselves. Also, a bath causes most of natural water repelling oils from the coat are removed which can be harmful to the horse's health if it rains. If you cannot avoid the rain after the bathing process, use a waterproof horse blanket before turning it out. After a little while, the horse's natural waterproofing oils will return. After rinsing all the shampoo completely off the horse, find a clean towel and dry the horse off as much as possible. You'll want to get the detangler out again and spray down the mane and tail once more.

After the washing, get a wide toothed plastic comb and gently comb the horse's mane. It is ok to use your fingers to pick out any bad tangles you come across. Cutting the tangles out may sound easier but all you'll end up doing is making a huge mess out of the poor horse's mane which can take months to grow out completely. Once you've got all the tangles undone, you can now put the mane at the desired length.

Some horse owners believe that the tail of a horse should never be combed. If you do decide to comb the tail, use a soft brush and begin at the bottom, working your way. Loosen up any tangle with your fingers and brush out a few hairs at a time.

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