Grooming Kit for a Horse That Hates Being Groomed

Some horses stand to be groomed like they are enjoying a spa afternoon. Others pin their ears at the sight of a brush and spend the entire process telling you about it.

The second group are usually communicating something specific, and the useful first step is not a different brush. It is working out what.

Rule out pain before adjusting technique

A horse that has always disliked grooming and a horse that has recently started disliking it are two different situations.

New or increased sensitivity, particularly over the back, girth area or quarters, is worth a veterinary opinion before it is treated as a behavioural matter. Discomfort that shows up under a brush is still discomfort, and a horse objecting to pressure on a sore area is being entirely reasonable.

Everything that follows assumes that conversation has happened and the horse is sound.

Skin is not uniform, and neither is tolerance

Horses vary enormously in skin thickness and sensitivity, and within a single horse the tolerance varies by area.

The large muscled areas of the neck, shoulder and quarters generally take firm pressure well. The barrel behind the elbow, the flank, the belly and the legs are thinner skinned and considerably more sensitive on most horses.

A great deal of grooming resistance is simply the same tool and the same pressure being applied to areas that need different handling.

What the kit is actually for

Rubber or plastic curry combs are for lifting dirt and loose hair out of the coat on the muscled areas, used in circles with real contact. This is the part most horses like, and it is also the part most owners rush.

A stiff bristled brush flicks the lifted material off the surface. It suits body areas and is too harsh for most horses on the face, belly and legs.

A soft brush is for the sensitive areas and for finishing. On a genuinely sensitive horse it may be the only brush that touches anything below the barrel.

A soft cloth does the face and the areas where nothing else is welcome.

The variable that changes a horse's opinion is usually pressure and location, not which brand of brush is in your hand.

Reading the horse while you work

The signals arrive well before the objection does. Ears going back, a tail swishing, skin twitching under the brush, weight shifting away, a head turning towards you.

Those are all the horse saying that whatever is happening right now is too much. The productive response is to change something immediately, the pressure, the tool, or the area, rather than to continue and insist.

A horse that learns that its early signals get a response usually stops needing the later ones.

Practical order of work

Start where the horse is comfortable and work outward from there. For most difficult horses that means beginning on the neck and shoulder with a curry comb, and only moving to sensitive areas once the horse has settled.

Keep sessions short. A ten minute groom that goes well is worth considerably more than a thorough one that ends with an argument, because you are also teaching the horse what to expect next time.

And accept that some horses will never enjoy it. The realistic goal with those is a horse that tolerates what is necessary without distress, not a horse that leans into the brush.