I still remember the day I bought my first grooming supplies. I was 14 years old, about to go to my first horse show. I was staying at my trainer’s house for the show, and my parents were so excited they camped out there, too. It decided I was finally ready for my own tools.
Up until that point, I’d always used the barn’s grooming supplies. I didn’t own a horse, didn’t own a saddle, and didn’t own any horse stuff. It was only recently that I got my own pair of riding pants; I’d been riding in jeans before then.
My parents took me to PetsMart that night. Back then, Stateline Tack had a section in some of their stores, and we beelined right to that spot. I had made the all important decision of what color my grooming supplies should be, based on avoiding colors that other people at my barn already had, and had ended up with red. I actually didn’t really want red, I just didn’t want to look like I was copying someone else’s color, which is something that feels important when you’re 14 years old. Despite my unique color choice, they actually didn’t even have a red grooming box, but somehow they had a pink one, which honestly is way better. I still have it today.
Buying my first grooming supplies was a huge deal for me. It felt like I was finally cementing myself as a horse person. I now had my own tools, which proved I was serious about horses.
Grooming supplies are one of the first things newly minted horse people buy. They are usually pretty cheap, extremely useful, and you can use them for a very long time, on multiple horses. If you’re one of these new-to-horses people and are wondering what you should buy, here’s your helpful guide to the essentials.
The Essential Grooming Tools
The Curry Comb
Required for loosening mud off the horse. It comes in either plastic or rubber, and is only used in a circular or straight motion on the fleshy areas of the horse.
My personal favorite is this fine toothed rubber curry. I’ve had it for 10+ years and it’s the perfect combination of soft and still getting the mud out.
The Body Brush
Used to flick the loosened dirt off of the horse. It has many bristles of a medium stiffness, so not super soft but not hard either. There’s often a loop around the back of the brush to help prevent wayward brush accidents. It can be used all over the horse.
The Hoof Pick
Absolutely essential to get packed mud and rocks out of the horse’s hoof. This one has a handy brush on it, which I find so useful that I feel the picks that don’t have it are basically worthless.
You could end your shopping spree there as that’s really all you need. You can give a basic groom to a horse with just those three items. But, why be basic when you can be extra. But also there’s way more useful grooming tools for more specialized work, and some of them are actually required if you want to do a really good job grooming a horse.
Beyond the Basic Grooming Supplies
The Grooming Tote
First you’re going to need a container to keep all your grooming supplies in, unless you’re really good at juggling. This is the standard grooming tote that has been around for thousands of years (not really, it just feels that way). It’s useful because it can be slotted right onto a fence and horses can’t knock it over, as they sometimes have those cat=like tendencies.
The grooming bag is a good option and is useful because it has a smaller footprint in your tack room. It could also hang on a wall. This one is my dream bag (maybe one day!)
Or you can be like me, I use a feed bucket. I already had it, and I needed another grooming tote, so I just used it. Really you could just use anything that’s bucket-like, as long as it fits into your storage space. Although to be clear, the bucket doesn’t hold that much. But it holds the essentials, and that’s all I need for that horse right now.
More Brushes
I hinted at this earlier, but brushes come in different stiffness depending on their job or rider preference. The super soft ones are for the delicate face and for getting a really nice shine on the coat. The medium ones can be all over. The stiff ones are for bad mud or dirt. There’s really stiff ones for scrubbing off hooves.
As you use brushes, you’ll end up with a favorite, until one day the bristles are so bent you can’t use it anymore, but then you won’t be able to find another brush exactly like it. RIP little brush, you’ll be missed.
Shedding Blade
When the cold winds of winter are leaving, horses are left with big fluffy coats that are so satisfying to pull off. Use a shedding blade and make those delightful piles of horse hair all around your feet, plus in all your clothes, to coat you forever and come home with you. Be itchy until your next shower.
But it’s worth it so see those fluffy wisps of horse hair floating down to the ground. Try it and you’ll understand.
Shedding blades are also useful for getting that really thick, caked on mud off horses.
Mane and Tail Brushes
Much like your own mess of hair, horse manes and tails also need brushing. Their hair is much thicker and coarser, though. Brushing it too frequently breaks a lot of hairs, so be cautious. I personally only brush my horse’s tail on Tuesday evenings if the sun rose in the west.
These brushes are also a popular option.
Horse manes are also very thick and could use styling for a fashion forward look. They don’t need it, except for show horses who actually do. The mane is too thick naturally to be put into braids. In the hands of the expert stylist, the mane is then thinned out using a mane puller. It’s actually not hard, you wrap a few stands around the comb and yank those hairs right out. It doesn’t hurt the horse, and it can be kind of satisfying, if not tedious.
Bathing Sponge
Eventually the horse is going to need a bath. Maybe you’re going to a show, or maybe he’s just sweaty, but you’ll need some way of transferring water or soap onto a horse. Technically you could just use your hands (which I have frequently done) but a sponge is a little easier to scrub your horse with.
Speaking of scrubbing, you could also get a scrubber brush. These are perfect for scrubbing the dirty spots of your horse with soap. It has finger holes to stick your fingers through, which work great until it’s abruptly ripped off your hand in an unsettling feeling.
Sweat Scraper
Once the horse is good and wet, we like to get all that water off of him. Other than just after baths, sweat scrappers are useful when cooling down a horse. When a horse has worked really hard, we get them wet and then immediately remove the water. And then do it over and over again until the horse is cool. Water standing on a hot horse just becomes hot water, which doesn’t cool down a horse.
Although despite it’s name, I have only occasionally used it to remove actual sweat…and that was more for the giggles. It’s always been associated with me putting water on the horse. A water scraper might have been a better term, but maybe that doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Comes in two variations, the compact fun curve or the lengthy noodle band. I don’t recommend a metal noodle band, I had one and after a while it started to bend, and then it snapped in half.
Scissors
There’s no specific purpose, scissors are just super useful. Open up new stuff, trim hair, cut baling twice, etc. You don’t realize how much you need scissors until you don’t have them.
Almost any scissors will do, as long as they aren’t super flimsy.
Grooming Block
This block is super useful for general grooming, but I use it for getting rid of bot eggs, those awful yellow eggs that flies will lay on horses. I highly recommend keeping this around just for them.
That will complete your basic grooming supplies kit. There’s more specialized items of course, and I didn’t even mention the loads of ointments and oils you’ll acquire, but this is just about the general tools. Over time, you’ll slowly amass a huge collection of horse supplies. It’ll start slowly at first, but eventually you’ll realize your space is filled with supplies. You’ll start doing elaborate packing and balancing acts to make it all fit. And despite knowing you’re out of space, you’ll still go to the tack store, study the inventory, and wonder if you need another brush.