Grooming For Show 101

By Sarah Gee
©Voice, August 2005

Grooming for show is not all that different from the basic grooming you do every time you work your horse; it’s just a bit more detailed. There’re just a few easy extra steps that you can take to give your equine partner that extra glow in the show ring. Of course you’ll want to start with the basics – picking out hooves, brushing, detangling, etc. Here’s a pretty simple guide to attaining that blue ribbon look.

First you’ll want to put together a good basic grooming kit. Suggested items include:
• Small, very soft face brush
• Soft brush
• Slightly stiffer brush
• Rubber curry comb
• Mane and tail comb
• Hoof pick (the kind with the brush works best)
• Towel or rag
• Coat conditioner such as Show Sheen
• Baby Oil
• Clippers
• Mild shampoo
• Bucket and sponge or bathing mitt
• Scraper
• Sanding block
• Hoof polish

Once you’ve got your kit together, you’re ready to start grooming. Make sure your horse is safely restrained, either on cross ties with breakaway snaps or tied with a quick release knot. Begin the grooming process at the top of the horse’s neck and work your way to his rear, then switch sides and repeat.

Start with the rubber curry. It should be used in a circular motion to loosen dirt that has settled under the horse’s hair. Never use the curry on the horse’s face, it’s too easy for a horse move his head and injure an eye.

Next, use the stiffer brush. With this brush, you need to use the same motion you would use when sweeping a floor. You ‘flick’ the brush away and up from the coat so that the dirt comes off of his coat. Unless your horse is already extremely clean, you should see a slight cloud of dust with each stroke. The curry and stiff brush will remove most of the larger particles of dirt and mud prior to clipping and bathing.

You’ll definitely want to clip your horse before you bathe him. Generally, if your horse is well shed out, you’ll focus your clipping on the ears, bridle path, muzzle, underside of the head, and lower legs (especially the fetlocks and pasterns). A good all purpose horse clipper will handle all these areas well, however some horse owners prefer to use small, quieter specialty clipper for the ears and muzzle. All hair should be clipped from the insides of the ears and the edges should be clipped smooth so that the ears look sleek and defined. The bridle path should be clipped short and smooth. Whiskers should be clipped from the muzzle and straggly or bushy hair should be clipped from the underside of the head. The goal is to define the lines of the head. Hair on the lower legs should be thinned to gain definition. The hair at the coronet band should be clipped so that it is straight across the top of the hoof with no long or scraggly areas. The fetlock may be left a little long to prevent sweat from dripping onto the horse’s heels and causing irritation.

Now that you’re ready to bathe the horse grab your bucket, sponge or mitt, scraper, shampoo, and towel. Start by rinsing the horse down. Then drop your sponge or mitt into the bucket, add some shampoo, and fill with water. Suds clean so you’ll want lots of them. Take your sudsy sponge or mitt and, using a circular motion, start at the top of the horse’s neck and work toward his rear being sure to cover his legs as well. For the mane you may want to squirt a bit of shampoo directly on your hands and work it into the mane. The tail can be cleaned the same way or by dunking it into the bucket full of sudsy water. Once you’ve shampooed the horse’s body, use the hose, again working from the top of the neck to the rear, to thoroughly rinse the soap away. To clean his face, take your sudsy sponge and wring it out, then use it to wipe the face, first from just below the eyes down and then from the forelock down to the eyes being very careful not to get soap in his eyes. Then move on to the ears and the surrounding area. To rinse the face, use a wet rag or towel.

After rinsing the body, use the scraper to remove as much water from the coat as possible. If you’re in a hurry, you can towel dry the horse or even use a blow drier. If you’ve got some time, air-drying works just as well, just be sure that he can’t get down and roll.

Once the horse is dry, you’re ready to continue on with your grooming. Use your soft brush to smooth down the horse’s coat and get rid of any traces of dirt that may have settled on the horse since his bath. Do not use the ‘flicking’ motion with this brush; use a smooth motion to flatten the horse’s coat. When you’re satisfied with the coat’s appearance, wipe on a coat conditioner such as Show Sheen to prevent dirt from sticking to the hair and to give the coat a little extra shine.

Next, untangle the forelock, mane, and tail using the comb and/or your fingers. A coat conditioner such as Show Sheen can be applied to the forelock, mane, and tail to ease detangling and add shine.

You’re now ready to tackle the hooves. First, use your hoof pick to pick out the hooves. Then take the sanding block and gently sand the surface of the hoof so that it is uniform. Lastly, apply the hoof polish of your choice.

Moving on to the face, use your face brush to smooth the hair and remove any stray dirt. Then, right before you’re ready to enter the show ring, apply baby oil to the muzzle, around the eyes, and to the ears. This will give the horse a glossy and more refined look.

Grooming, while time consuming, can be very rewarding. Not only will good grooming give you an edge in the show ring, it will also give you some extra bonding time with your horse. So, take the time and expend the effort to give your equine partner that extra bit of show glow.