Groom Like the Greats

Make your horse gleam with this former US Equestrian Team groom’s time-tested techniques.

When the US show-jumping team took the world by storm in the 1970s and ’80s, the Europeans, envious of our horses’ turnout, begged us to braid their horses for them with “American braids.” Americans had a certain look back then: spotless and elegant, with minimal tack and equipment. The polish in our horses’ and riders’ appearances matched the polish of their performances. Our attention to detail and pride in appearance became the symbol of American horsemanship—and success! To me, trying to revive the classic American look and attention to detail, not only in the hunters—where stricter rules still require some conformity—but in other divisions as well, might help bring a revival of our international successes, while producing many more happy horses in our country at all levels. Horses love the grooming techniques my peers and I have been using since the ’70s. Learning to use them on your horse will provide valuable bonding time, while improving your ability to evaluate his health and well-being.

It’s Simple! As you see in my sidebar, “Grooming Kit—All You’ll Ever Need!” on page 80, you don’t need fancy equipment or products to create this clean, elegant look. Nothing produces as shiny a coat as a good, simple feeding and conditioning program. It does take elbow grease, too, but not as much as you might think. In fact, the horses who really “glow” with shiny coats and bright, alert eyes are the happiest, healthiest horses—those rewarded with plenty of regular downtime. Horses don’t like to be fussed with constantly. Between shows, they only need thorough grooming once or twice a week. My thorough grooming takes no more than 30 minutes. During the winter, I do minimal grooming on my young hunter breeding show horses. It takes only a week of more intensive grooming in the spring to get them looking fabulous again—because they’re in such excellent health.

The Shine Factor I produce the shine on my horses’ coats from the inside out. I feed plenty of clean, good quality hay—usually timothy for youngsters and a timothy or alfalfa mix for performance horses. In addition to basic oats and/or grain (again, nothing fancy), I also feed beet pulp and up to a half cup of corn oil per day—beet pulp for fiber and calories to aid in weight gain without having to feed more grain; corn oil for coat condition. (Flaxseed oil is fine, too.) Unless a horse has a specific dietary/health problem, I see no need for commercial feed supplements. I also closely monitor my horses’ body condition, being sure to keep them from getting too fat or too thin. This takes a lot of experience to do well, but here are some pointers: * Frequently run your hands over your horse’s body, learning to recognize the smooth, satinlike feel of a healthy coat. * When you run your hands along your horse’s sides with slight pressure, you should be able to feel his ribs—but you shouldn’t be able to see them or the bony processes of his spine. (This applies to hunters. Jumpers and eventers should be a bit leaner.) * Your horse’s topline should be curvy rather than angular, with a natural crest to his neck and a rounded profile over his hips and rump. No matter how healthy your horse is, his coat won’t be attractive if it’s bleached by the sun. To protect the rich natural color of his coat, turn him out at night during the summertime or cover him with a good fly sheet.

Different Strokes Your horse’s coat hairs are like tiny mirrors that reflect the most light when they’re flattened and aligned. So maximizing shine is all about smoothing down the hairs as much as possible in the direction of natural growth. If you’ve ever body-clipped a horse, you know how unique and varied the hair growth patterns can be. The closer attention you pay to these patterns, the more shine your grooming will create. The secret to my grooming success is not in my tools, but in the specific stroke techniques I use with them.

Trimming The classic American look is a very clean outline, with no “fuzzy edges.” You’d be amazed how dramatically a horse’s appearance is changed by trimming a few areas on the body. * Using a Size 10 clipper blade, trim under his jawline, along the backs of his lower legs, his fetlocks and his coronet bands. Use this blade, too, to trim his bridle path and remove long hairs from his throatlatch area. (If your horse has a winter coat, use a very light touch with the clippers.) * Use the finer Size 30 or 40 blades on his muzzle, eye whiskers, and -insides and edges of his ears. Your horse may need a twitch to trim his ears, because he must be absolutely still for you to do the edges without making gouges. (Some people argue that horses need their whiskers for foraging and as safety “feelers,” and their ear hairs as protection against bugs. In 40 years of trimming these hairs, I’ve never had a horse have trouble foraging or get a nick near his eyes. I do recommend using fly masks with mesh ear coverings during the buggy season.)

Mane and Tail Care The best maintenance plan for tails is benign neglect. At home, the most you need to do to your horse’s tail before a ride is shake out the shavings. If it’s absolutely necessary to tidy a tangled tail, say, before a lesson or clinic, spray a little coat polish on it. Allow it to dry before carefully combing with a plastic, wide-toothed comb, spreading the tail hairs on your thigh and starting at the ends of the hairs before working your way up. Otherwise, only groom his tail when it’s squeaky clean. The classic American tail is long and natural looking—not banged or enhanced with a fake tail -attachment. To give the illusion of a slightly fuller tail, it’s OK to trim the longest hairs, but I never shorten them by more than an inch at a time. Ask a friend to put an arm under the top of your horse’s tail to simulate its natural carriage, while you trim the hairs at the bottom. If you plan to braid for shows, pull your horse’s mane evenly to a length of 3 to 4 inches. Anything longer will produce sausage-like braids that are more likely to lie crooked on the neck. A shorter mane makes for an easier, faster braiding job, too. If you don’t plan to braid, let your horse’s mane grow slightly longer—5 to 6 inches—so that it will lie down more easily.

The Best Braids
Classic hunter braids, secured with yarn, are still the most flattering. In general, the more braids you put in, the more attractive your horse’s neck looks. (The only improvement made over the last few decades is the location of the final knot, which is now completed neatly underneath the braid, rather than on top.) Even outside the hunter ring, conservative and elegant is the way to go. A single braid done in the stable colors or red, white and blue for Fourth of July may be acceptable in the jumpers and pony divisions, but any more “bling” in the ring—bright-colored yarn or beads on the braids, for instance—distracts the eye from the true beauty of the horse. Here are a few more braiding tips:

• * Be sure his mane is squeaky clean before you braid it. Dust and dandruff between braids is very unattractive. If you have trouble getting a grip on the clean hairs, first spray the mane with Quic Braid™.
• * Minimal trimming of hairs sticking up from the final braid job is OK, but be careful not to cut off too much hair. Natural tapered mane ends blend into the crest when the braids are secured. Blunting the mane ends will make your next braid job look sloppier. (Also be careful not to cut the mane hairs when you’re letting down the braids.)
• * If your horse is really tidy in his stall, it’s OK to braid his mane the night -before a show or to leave mane braids in overnight between two days of showing. (Don’t leave them in for more than one night, though.) But always braid his tail the morning of the show. Tail hairs break off quickly—and take a long time to grow back in—so let down the tail braid as soon as you finish your last class of the day.
• * The prettiest finish to a tail braid is the pinwheel, which looks like a coin sitting on top of the braid. If you haven’t mastered this, my second choice would be a simple tucked-up braid, similar to a mane braid. The third method is a “wrap” finish that winds the hair around the bottom of the tail bone. I personally don’t care for this look.
• * To keep tail hairs in place, wrap a slightly dampened Ace bandage over the tail braid—being careful not to pull it too tight—and leave it in place until just before you go into the show ring.
• * The classiest forelock braid is a French braid. This catches all of the loose hairs and creates a really attractive look.

Ready to Show
Clean is always the name of the game. But, again, elbow grease is more valuable than any commercial products. The day before a horse show, I bathe my horses in a simple equine shampoo, such as Orvus®. After I rinse them well, I apply a second rinse of water and white vinegar (about one quart of white vinegar mixed with 4-plus gallons of water). This cuts the soap, detangles the mane and tail and makes the coat shine like a new penny. If I have to rinse the horse again after a morning flat session, I add Vetrolin® to the water. It feels and smells good, and the horses love it. And it’s nondrying, so you can use it daily. To get gray horses and white legs, tails and markings really clean, I rinse with Mrs. Stewart’s® Liquid Bluing (fabric whitener). I mix it with water in a white bucket, so I can be sure to get the shade of blue just right—navy blue is too dark, and sky blue is too light. To remove really stubborn leg stains, run the Size 10 clipper blades down the leg in the direction of the hair growth, trimming off the ends of the hairs. Follow this with a good scrubbing. After your horse dries, preserve all of your hard work by covering him with a sheet—or if the temperatures are higher, a fly sheet or light scrim—overnight and in the trailer on the way to the show.

Finishing Touches
Just before you go to the ring, complete the picture with these final touches:

• * Brush hoof dressing over your horse’s hooves. (This may need to be touched up again at the in-gate.)
• * Apply a light coating of baby oil to his muzzle, eyes, insides of his ears, under the dock of his tail and around his rectum.
• * Smooth his coat one last time with a rub rag.

TIP: After giving your horse a bath, use a white vinegar rinse—1 quart of white vinegar to 4-plus gallons of water—to remove any soap residue, detangle his mane and tail and make his coat shine.

Grooming Kit: All You’ll -Ever Need!

• * Flexible, round, black, currycomb
• * Grooming mitt (rubber, pimpled)
• * Dandy or stiff brush (natural bristles only—synthetic bristles don’t lift the dirt off of the coat as well, and they create more static electricity)
• * Soft body brush—can be the round, short-bristled type with a leather backing or the regular longer-bristled type with a nylon or wooden backing (natural bristles only)
• * Rub rags—hand-towel-sized terry cloth towels
• * Large, plastic wide-tooth comb
• * Mane brush (I prefer the traditional English water brush, which has short, dense bristles. If you can’t find that, a rice root brush—with extra-stiff bristles—will do.)
• * Ace bandage to wrap a pulled or braided tail
• * Sponge (natural sponges are easier to rinse)
• * Sweat scraper
• * Hoof pick
• * Baby oil
• * Hoof dressing (not polish)
• * Ringside Grooming Kit: Hoof dressing, Hoof pick, Rub rag, Fly spray