Reasons For Grooming
Horsemen agree that grooming is an important part of horse care, and proper grooming is essential for horses that are used in competition. Most recommend grooming a horse daily, although this is not always possible. However, regular grooming helps to ensure the horse is healthy and comfortable. At a minimum, horses are generally groomed before being worked, and are usually groomed and cleaned up after a workout as well.
The main reasons for daily grooming include:
- improved health of the skin and coat
- decreases the chance of various health problems such as thrush, scratches, and other skin problems
- cleans the horse, so chafing does not occur under areas of tack
- gives the groom a chance to check the horse's health, such as looking for cuts, heat, swelling, lameness, a change in temperament (such as depression) which could indicate the horse is sick, and look to see if the horse has loose or missing horseshoes
- helps to form a relationship between horse and handler, which can carry over to other handling duties and riding
Horse showmanship is a horse show class that considers quality of grooming for as much as 40% of the total score.
Read more about this topic: Horse Grooming
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