How much brushing, etc. to get a shiny coat?

[laura jeanne]

I want to spend more time grooming my horse but I don't want him to get bored or irritated with me (I don't think he is so far). So what would you consider a thorough grooming?

I use the curry comb and then a stiff brush to brush off the stuff that comes up and then a dandy brush. Then I brush his legs off with the stiff brush and pick out the back feet (won't lift the front ones so far and I haven't really worked on this). I brush his bangs (hehe) and mane and tail. He still doesn't seem clean. It's as if I could brush him forever and would still get dirt and dust and white hair coming off.

I also want to give him a bath with soap but need to ask my RI where the shampoo is and how to do it!! He does get hosed off every time I ride. It's very hot here.

[doris]

An amount of dirt and grease is normal and protects the horse from bad weather, so don't worry about it as horses are horses after all and not supposed to shine from head to foot except perhaps for shows.
What sort of curry comb are you using on your horse as the square ones are only used to clean your body brush and shouldn't be used on the horse at all.
Too much shampooing is not necessary and will take away the horse's natural coat protection.
Front feet. Please work on keeping these clean as a horse's front feet take about 60% of the weight so any stones etc are more likely to dig in. Also, feet need to be kept clean to ward off things like thrush. you need to check all four feet daily to make sure nothing is going on that you need to do something about.
I do hope this helps you.

[laura jeanne]

I use a rubbler oval curry comb. I want to wash him just for something to do with him and it's hot hot hot here. Plus the paddocks are sand/dirt and so he is always dusty.

[doris]

Okay. How about hosing him down and then scraping off the water with a sweat scraper? This removes excess water along with some of the dirt and will cool your horse down. Also, how about using one of the nice mitts, like a sheepskin one, or you can also get them called cactus mitts.

[sheryl]

[QUOTE=laura jeanne]I use the curry comb and then a stiff brush to brush off the stuff that comes up and then a dandy brush. Then I brush his legs off with the stiff brush

Hi, I don't know where you are in the world, but a summer coat doesn't normally require a stiff brush or a dandy brush. A rubber curry comb is usually used for when the horse is moulting. A dandy brush is used for getting cacked on mud off (not much of that around at the moment).
If your horse is moulting you could use the rubber curry first, and then use a body brush. A body brush is much softer, and it will get the dust out better too;) . If you have a metal curry, that is for scraping over the body brush to clean it, as you groom.
For a final shine you can rub him over with a cotton cloth.
I think a half hour brush a day is enough. Some people may do it longer though.
As for bathing, use luke warm water in a bucket of soapy water. Sponge it all over and then use another bucket of water to rinse off. You may need to rub more shampoo into dirtier ares, and mane and tail. You can also use conditioner after on the mane and tail.
As someone else has said though, if your pony is living out, its not a good idea to wash him too much. It washes the natural oils out of his coat that protect him when it rains.
Hope this helps:)

Sheryl x

[laura jeanne]

I think that what you are calling a body brush is what I'm calling a stiff brush. It's not really that stiff. And the dandy brush is very soft, just used to smooth down the saddle area before the saddle goes on. I'm in Texas. I just want to give him one bath so that should be all right don't you think?

[sheryl]

I'm sure one bath would be fine. Just pick a hot day when hes got all afternoon to dry:)
Good luck!

[BeachRiding]

Yes, a bath would be fine.

[martini55]

I personally find a rubber curry comb great to get rid of mud and bring dirt out of the coat so it can be brushed off. Remember though, that what we call a body brush here should not be used on horses that live out as it will remove natural oil in the coat :)

Also sometimes you could groom forever and their coats will still look dull, it can be a feeding problem (though I'm not exactly sure what it is that's lacking in the diet... I'm sure someone will know) :)

[sheryl]

Oil is really good for the coat

[Pinkaboo]

Some horses just have naturally shinier coats than others though - one of our looks shiney after like 30 seconds of grooming whilst another never really looks shiney no matter how much we prepare it for shows! !

[galadriel]

Part of the "shiny" has to do with overall health, and is affected by the horse's diet, management, state of mind, etc.

Many horses will stand and let you groom them for as long as you want. I've had little students who just loved spending time with horses, would sit and groom my horses for an hour, hour and a half...horses just relaxed and enjoyed it.

Occasionally you find a horse who doesn't like to be groomed at all--usually has to do with body issues/discomfort--and for those horses, you can find other things that they do like and "groom" them however they'll accept it, again for just about as long as you're willing to keep going.

~ ~ ~

In hot dusty or sandy areas, horses do get dust and grit into even the short summer coat and require a rubber curry to get it out (or a thorough bath). The combination of sweating just from standing around and the dust/sand just sticks that grit down to the skin, and it takes real effort to get it back out again. If the horse will let you, REALLY REALLY digging in with that curry will help you get out the deeper/ground in stuff and help the horse get cleaner. Most horses will think it's delightful.

[Styric]

I'm lucky, my boy is naturally shiny and takes almost no effort to sparkle.. *dodges thrown tomatoes*

[jenren!!]

Aramis seems to look shiny whether i brush her or not...that is unless she is covered in mud :rolleyes:.

In summer i usually just brush her with a body brush. The stiffer brushes dont come out until winter as they are too coarse for her fine summer coat. Im not too sure about US 'language' but if your 'dandy brush' is soft it should be fine.