(photo taken from The Horse)

Grooming has always been an important part of horse ownership. It serves several purposes: it helps keep the horse clean and healthy, it's essential for showing and competition, it helps humans and horses bond with each other, and honestly it's just down right fun!

Grooming is an excellent way to improve the health and cleanliness of a horse's coat. It's very important to groom before you ride, especially where the saddle sits on the horse's back, so as to avoid any chaffing and to remove anything that might cause the horse discomfort. Cleaning out the hooves is vital for healthy happy horses. Grooming is also a great way to be able to check the horse's health and catch any cuts, heat, swelling, lameness, etc...

If you're a competitor then grooming is an absolute must. In most competitions the flashier and prettier the horse is the more attention the judges are going to pay it. Grooming for shows takes extra time as there is usually more attention to detail and may include special mane and tail care such as braiding, clipping, and more frequent bathing.

(photo taken from RSPCA)

Horses groom each other in the wild. This helps with the physical needs of good coat management, but it also deepens the relational bond and sense of trust between the two horses. When two horses groom each other, it is a very relaxing and enjoyable time. We, as the horses human friends, also get to experience this when we groom our horses. It has differences, especially considering the fact that humans groom all over the horse, whereas other horses tend to only groom the neck, withers, back, and sometimes the top of the hindquarters. If the grooming is being done in a slow, methodical way, the affect on the horse will be very calming. You'll see horses enjoy a small nap during a relaxing grooming session, with their eyes half closed and looking very content.

Grooming a horse does create a bond between you and the horse, which translates into other areas of work that you may do with that horse. It has been proven that most racehorses are more attached to their grooms then the actual riders, because the grooms are around them all the time! That's just another reason it is important you groom and spend time with your horse if you want to develop a good relationship between the two of you.

(photo taken from Horse Nation)

"Closeness, friendship, affection - keeping your own horse means all these things." - -Bertrand Leclair

~ Saddle Up