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Hi, guys.
I'm Makenna Osborne, an intern with Utah State University
Equine Extension.
And I'm here to teach you a little bit
about grooming with our Norwegian Fjord, Olaf, today.
So the first thing with grooming is
we want to come up, let the horse know what we're up to.
Scratch his shoulder.
Talk to him.
And just let him be aware that we're
about to do something with him.
So this is my grooming bucket.
I'm going to go over the tools, one by one, with you guys.
So first is our shedding blade.
Shedding blades are usually metal.
Sometimes they're wood or rubber.
Shedding blades should only be used for shedding horses out,
especially right now where Olaf is shedding quite a bit,
because we're turning into summer.
The reason why we would only use it for shedding,
and we only want to use it on the more muscular, fatty parts
of the horse, is because this metal can rub on the bone
and can irritate the horses quite easily.
So we're going to come up.
And I'm just going to use it kind of on the more
fatty, muscular parts.
And see how much hair that's pulling off for me?
This is a great tool for springtime and summertime
when you're getting horses ready.
OK.
And the next tool we're going to use is our curry comb.
Curry combs can be a variety of materials.
Some of them are metal.
Some of them are rubber.
Some of them are plastic.
Most of them are rubber.
This particular curry comb is slit in the middle,
so you can stick your hand into it.
I prefer this kind.
I think it's easier, because I don't drop it.
And when you use your curry comb,
you want to use it in a circular motion.
The circular motion allows to one, get dirt and dust
and hair up out of the coat.
And it also allows stimulation of the hair follicle
on the horse.
And that stimulation brings up oils
that are a natural protectant for the horse,
and make the coat shinier, glossier and healthier.
Our next tool is a hard bristle brush.
It's got really, really stiff bristles.
And this is to help brush away all of that dirt
that you just brought up with your circular motion
of the curry comb.
I brush in the same direction as the hair, all the way down
his body and all the way around.
Our next brush is a soft bristle brush.
So these can be kind of hard to tell apart.
But if you look at them, hard bristle brush
is much thicker, stiffer bristles.
Soft bristle is finer, thinner bristles.
And this is to allow for the finer dandruff and dust
to get off.
Kind of think of it as like polishing.
And when I groom, I like to keep my extra hand-- that's
not holding a brush-- on his body, kind of as a warning.
So I come down his body and I say, hey,
I'm going to come down your rump.
Hey, I'm going to come down your leg.
I always like to keep my extra hand on him.
Our next brush is a mane and tail brush.
And these can be as simple as a regular human hair brush,
or it can be a little bit more specialized like this.
This is thicker, so it doesn't break.
Olaf doesn't really have much of a mane
for us to groom right here, because he's a Fjord
and he has a roached mane.
But for his tail--
nice and long and thick--
when we're grooming our tails, I like to stand at the side.
I find it a safer position.
And you want to start at the bottom of the tail,
holding pieces of it and getting the tangles out as you go.
That way, you're not yanking on his tail
the entire time, pulling out clumps of hair.
It's also ideal to use some kind of conditioner
while you're brushing a tail out,
so you don't rip pieces of the tail out.
And it stays long and smooth.
Our final piece of grooming equipment is our hoof pick.
Hoof picks can look very different.
This is a very common one.
It's got a brush and a pick.
Some hoof picks are made out of horse shoes,
and they're just bent and welded.
Some hoof picks don't have a brush on them.
They can vary.
But the hoof pick is very easy to use.
So same thing, I'm going to come up.
And I'm going to turn the other way with him.
And I'm going to use my other hand
and let him know that I'm coming.
I'm going to scratch down and lift his foot up.
So here, we can see his foot's pretty dirty.
Pointing the pick away from me so I don't accidentally
get myself or fling dirt onto myself,
I'm going to go along his frog--
right here in the middle--
and all the way along the outside of his hoof
and try really hard to get all these rocks out.
And this is where I really like that brush,
because it can help me see just a little bit better.
The reason that we want to clean their hooves out--
and you should clean your horse's hooves out as much
as you can--
is because it prevents abscesses and other issues of the hoof.
If there's a rock in the hoof and it gets stuck in here,
and you go riding with your horse a lot and it gets stuck,
it'll travel its way up through the hoof wall
and cause an abscess, which will make your horse lame.
So for our hind feet, a little bit different the way I hold.
But I still let him know I'm coming.
So I grab his leg.
And his leg bends a different way for the hind.
But it's still the same thing, right?
Picking away, making sure I'm getting all of those rocks out,
and paying very close attention.
So grooming has three different main purposes for horses.
It is relational.
So horses groom each other when they're out in pastures.
And grooming is a chance for you to bond with your horse,
and learn more about your horse, and also stimulate your horse.
Scratching them on their withers,
right here, has been proven to release endorphins.
And so, doing that sometimes with your curry comb,
I like to do that.
The horses really get into it.
And they'll stick their necks out and put their lips up.
And they really enjoy that.
Another reason-- for three main reasons
why you would groom your horse, the first is practical.
You want to be able to simulate that oil in your horses coat,
bring that up nice and shiny and things like that.
It's also preventative.
When you're grooming your horse, you
have the opportunity to look all over their body, both sides
up and down, over and under, and really
look for lumps, bumps, scratches, cuts,
anything that's out of the normal for your horse,
and also for you to learn what is normal for your horse.
Maybe your horse has a bump underneath its belly
and that's always been there.
So you know that's normal.
It's also relational.
Horses always groom each other when
they're out in the pasture, if they're buddies.
And so, this is a great opportunity for you
to really bond with your horse and learn what they like,
what they dislike, do they even like being groomed,
do they like being scratched, and different things like that.
And horses also love being scratched on their withers,
right here.
That releases endorphins for them
and is a great tool to bond with your horse.
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