Grooming kit essentials

A well put-together grooming kit is a very important piece of horse equipment. Regular grooming serves many purposes, not just keeping our horses clean. The grooming process allows you to assess your horse's overall health and find any potential issues before they become a real problem.

Every horse owner's grooming kit will be different depending on the horse and the tools the person prefers using. A very basic grooming kit can be put together for fairly inexpensive depending on the brand of brushes you use. Here is a basic guideline for putting together a grooming kit that is functional and simple.

1. A Grooming box or tray will allow you to keep your items tidy and is a way to ensure all you’re grooming kit has a home for ease of storage so it is easily moved around.

2. Combs are an essential part of the grooming kit which removes knots and tangles from a horses mane and tail, leaving a tidy glossy finish.

3. A Plastic Curry Comb is used on the horse to help loosen dirt, hair, and other detritus. Plastic curry combs can also sometimes seen being used to brush the mane and tail, but this is not recommended on a regular basis as it will eventually split or break the hair.

4. Hoof picks are the most necessary tool in the grooming kit. You can find them in all sorts of styles: those with brushes for flicking away dried dirt and bedding, those with fun shapes and colours, and those that are ergonomically designed for comfort in the hand. A hoof pick is used to clear mud, rocks, snow and other debris from your horse's hooves. 

5. A Rubber curry comb is a firm yet flexible grooming implement consisting of rows of circular rubber teeth. The Rubber curry is a very useful piece of grooming kit for removing grease and loose hair from your horses. Used in a circular motion over the soft parts of the horses body, the rubber curry comb also provides a good massage for your horse and can help to remove mud as well as stimulating the skin to produce natural oils.
6. A Sweat scraper is a grooming tool used to remove the sweat from horses. It consists of a handle and a rubber blade. This helps cool the horse down after the horse has been ridden.
7. A Hoof oil brush is used to evenly spread hoof oil around the horses hooves without the oil dripping everywhere.

8. A Dandy brush is a stiff-bristled brush is used to remove the dirt, hair and other material stirred up by the curry. Brushes are used in the direction of the horse's hair coat growth, usually in short strokes from front to back, except at the flanks, where the hair grows in a different pattern.

9. A body brush is a soft-bristled brush removes finer particles and dust, adds a shine to the coat and is soothing to the horse. A body brush, particularly a smaller design called a Face brush, can be used on the head, being careful to avoid the horse's eyes. The body brush is generally the last brush used on the horse.

10. A Shedding blade is a metal shedding blade with short, dull teeth is used to remove loose winter hair. A shedding blade is also useful for removing caked-on mud. However, grooming tools with metal teeth can split and dull the horse's hair coat and may irritate the skin, so must be used with appropriate care.

11. Mane and tail conditioner is a highly concentrated formula with a unique action that helps to maintain and achieve a longer, healthier-looking mane and tail.