If I had to pick only 3 tools to groom a really dirty horse, a good challenge I hope I never have to deal with, and I couldn't use my horse vac(best client gift ever!), I would pick:
1. Hoof Pick...the first and most important tool, according to the US Pony Club manual, natch. I like the cheap steel ones with sort of a long neck and a thin, flat tip, like a screwdriver. No brush, no plastic, just pure leverage. It's good for scraping mud off of the outside of hooves, too!
2. Cactus cloth...it's weird, it is very old-fashioned, never needs to be cleaned, and it is amazing. It's like a 14"x20" piece bright straw-colored open-weave burlap that comes rolled up. You just wad it up and rub it on your horse, anywhere there is dried mud or sweat, and it disappears! Use it all over-face, ears, belly, legs. It breaks up dirt without grinding it into the coat, and sensitive or clipped horses won't complain! Shake it out, throw it back on the shelf. Horses love to itch their heads on it. It is so gentle, especially when old and floppy, that my horse that gives himself mud eyebrows will let me rub it right over his eyes and under his lower lid. Old school and I love it!
3. Leather-back body brush. The big kind with dense black bristles that aren't too soft, and about 1.5 inches long. The oval shape of the brush is perfect for every surface on the horse, and no wooden back to clunk into joints when brushing fast. Normally used along with a curry comb(to clean it as you go), this multi-tasker brings oils in the skin to the end of each hair for super shine, and will carefully detangle a tail or smooth a mane!
All those colored brushes and new-fangled tools at tack shops may seem appealing, but before hot running water and wash racks, horses still got shiny! I must admit, I would have a hard time without my horse vac, especially for a fuzzy beast after a muddy roll, but the simple tools are still the best.
What are your favorites?
1. Hoof Pick...the first and most important tool, according to the US Pony Club manual, natch. I like the cheap steel ones with sort of a long neck and a thin, flat tip, like a screwdriver. No brush, no plastic, just pure leverage. It's good for scraping mud off of the outside of hooves, too!
2. Cactus cloth...it's weird, it is very old-fashioned, never needs to be cleaned, and it is amazing. It's like a 14"x20" piece bright straw-colored open-weave burlap that comes rolled up. You just wad it up and rub it on your horse, anywhere there is dried mud or sweat, and it disappears! Use it all over-face, ears, belly, legs. It breaks up dirt without grinding it into the coat, and sensitive or clipped horses won't complain! Shake it out, throw it back on the shelf. Horses love to itch their heads on it. It is so gentle, especially when old and floppy, that my horse that gives himself mud eyebrows will let me rub it right over his eyes and under his lower lid. Old school and I love it!
3. Leather-back body brush. The big kind with dense black bristles that aren't too soft, and about 1.5 inches long. The oval shape of the brush is perfect for every surface on the horse, and no wooden back to clunk into joints when brushing fast. Normally used along with a curry comb(to clean it as you go), this multi-tasker brings oils in the skin to the end of each hair for super shine, and will carefully detangle a tail or smooth a mane!
All those colored brushes and new-fangled tools at tack shops may seem appealing, but before hot running water and wash racks, horses still got shiny! I must admit, I would have a hard time without my horse vac, especially for a fuzzy beast after a muddy roll, but the simple tools are still the best.
What are your favorites?
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