Grooming routine before riding - an example for every day

Cover image: AI-generated illustration (symbolic image)

The moment at the grooming area often already decides how your time together in the saddle will feel. This example of a grooming routine before riding helps you not only to remove dirt thoroughly, but to perceive your horse attentively: is it relaxed? Is there a rub mark, warmth in a leg or a stone in the hoof? What seems like a chore becomes a calm check-in - and a loving start to your session.

Grooming routine before riding: an example in six steps

How long grooming takes depends on the weather, shedding, how your horse is kept and your training plan. After a dry day in the field, ten focused minutes are sometimes enough. After rain, mud or during shedding season, it can be considerably more. What matters is not taking the same time every day, but working carefully in a sensible order.

1. Greet your horse and check the overall impression

Before the first brush touches the coat, take a moment for your horse. Talk to it calmly, pay attention to its look, its posture and how it lets itself be tied up. If it seems unusually dull, irritable or stiff, that is information you should take seriously - even if the riding plan said something else.

Run your hand once over the neck, shoulder, back and croup. Especially where the saddle and girth will lie later, small hardened areas, swellings or spots where your horse reacts to pressure may stand out. This short hand check builds trust and prevents you from working on such areas with too much pressure.

2. Loosen coarse dirt with the curry comb

Start on the well-muscled areas: neck, shoulder, ribcage and croup. With a suitable curry comb, you loosen dry mud, dust and loose hair in circular movements. An even, pleasant pressure is enough. The horse should stand relaxed, not have to move away.

A curry comb has no business on the head, legs, spine and bony areas. These areas are finer and need a gentler brush. Also pay attention to the direction of the coat. You first loosen the dirt against the grain before brushing it out cleanly in the next step.

A good curry comb is not just a tool for visible cleanliness. It also shows you how your horse reacts to touch. If it pulls its back away at a certain spot or pins its ears, look more closely instead of simply carrying on grooming.

3. Brush out dust and bring out the shine

Now the firmer brush comes into play. Brush in long, calm strokes with the coat so that the loosened dirt really disappears from the coat. Work section by section instead of rushing over the whole horse. That way the shoulder, girth area and saddle area stay particularly clean.

For many horse people, this is exactly where the little magic of grooming lies: under the layer of dust, your own horse reappears. A well-groomed coat not only feels nice, it also means that less sand and friction build up under the equipment. This is crucial especially before saddling, because even fine grains of sand can encourage pressure points.

Afterwards, a soft brush refines the result. It picks up the remaining dust and gives the coat a well-groomed finish. Soft bristles are a particularly pleasant choice for this, because they glide calmly over the coat and pick up the dust.

4. Care for finer areas deliberately gently

The head, base of the ears, belly and legs need their own sensitive treatment. Use a clean, soft brush for the head and leave out the area around the eyes. Carefully loosen crusts at the eyes or nostrils with a clean, slightly damp cloth - never with the same brush that was just being used on dusty legs.

On the legs, brush dirt out from top to bottom. Check the pasterns, cannon bones and coronary band as you do so. Mud can settle in the pastern folds, and small injuries stay hidden more easily under long hair. If there are signs of mud fever, clearly swollen legs or a painful reaction, don't keep grooming more vigorously. When in doubt, get professional advice and adapt the work.

The tail and mane deserve patience, too. First carefully pull larger knots apart with your fingers before using a suitable comb or brush. Working from the ends upwards protects the hair and prevents unnecessary breakage. A full, well-groomed tail isn't created by brushing as energetically as possible, but by regular, gentle care.

5. Pick out the hooves and look closely

Hoof care is part of every session - even if your horse stood clean in the stable. Lift each hoof calmly and carefully remove soil, stones and trodden-in bedding from the sole and the grooves of the frog. Always work away from yourself with the hoof pick and avoid jabbing the tip into sensitive horn.

Take a look at the frog, the sole and the coronary band while you're at it. If the hoof smells strange, the frog is very soft or you find a pressure point, it's worth taking a closer look. With a loose shoe, a deeply embedded stone or obvious lameness: don't just get on, but first clarify the cause and the right support.

With dry, brittle hooves, care adapted to the season can make sense. But here too: hoof oil or hoof balm do not replace good management, regular exercise and professional trimming. Care products complement the daily routine; they are not a quick solution for every hoof problem.

6. Check the saddle and girth area one last time

Before you saddle up, stroke your flat hand over the back, girth area and behind the elbows once more. The coat should be smooth, dry and free of dust, straw or small burrs. Also take a moment for the equipment: a clean saddle pad, a well-kept girth and dry padding are just as much a part of the preparation as good grooming.

Place the saddle on carefully and at first only tighten the girth enough for everything to sit securely. Many horses react sensitively when the girth is pulled tight in one go. Girthing up loosely first, tightening again later and watching the body language as you do so is the more pleasant option for many horses.

Your routine can suit your horse

A horse with a dense winter coat, an open-stable lifestyle and daily turnout usually needs more time than a closely clipped horse that is kept dry. During shedding season, the grooming box can also be supplemented with a brush that works thoroughly. On hot summer days, on the other hand, the focus is often less on lengthy coat care and more on a clean saddle area, checked hooves and protection from insects.

Your horse's temperament counts, too. An impatient young horse benefits from a clear, short routine with recurring steps. A horse that flinches quickly during grooming may need more breaks, a softer brush and particularly calm movements. Grooming is not a test with rigid rules. It is the time in which you find out what does your horse good.

A nicely organised grooming bag makes this moment easier: every brush has its place, the materials stay clean and you reach for the right tool without searching. At Equimour, exactly this interplay of function, careful workmanship and loving details is at the centre - for care that works reliably in everyday life and feels special at the same time.

When you are at the grooming area tomorrow, don't necessarily plan on more time. Above all, plan on more attention. With every brush stroke, every lifted hoof and every relaxed exhale, your horse shows you what it needs right now.

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