GROOMING OF HORSES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 November 1940, Page 9

GROOMING OF HORSES

ESSENTIAL FOR HARD WORK MAINTENANCE OF HEALTH. POINTS TO REMEMBER. Grooming, or in other words, maintaining thorough cleanliness of horses’ coats, is not, as many people think, a mere matter of appearance, nor of a rough or smooth coat; but it is essential to the general health and condition of working animals. It must be borne in mind that the greater action bf the skin, the greater must be the attention paid to it.

In his natural state the horse does not require grooming, apart from what he gives himself by rolling. He takes a certain amount of exercise only to provide himself with food and his diet is one provided by nature? ' On the other hand, when working, and especially if it be fast or strenuous work, the secretions of the glands of the skin are enormously increased. Furthermore, the horse which is worker hard must be fed on highly nitrogenous food, and this also greatly increases the skin secretions. Nature must therefore be assisted by artificial means, such as regular grooming to remove these increased secretions, or the pores of the skin will become clogged and the health of thei animal will deteriorate. REMOVING WASTE MATERIAL. It has been estimated that a horse in hard condition and hard work, gives off through the pores of the skin as much in 24 hours as he excretes in the form of faeces or dung. This rembval of waste material goes on all the time even when at rest, but, of course, is greatest when the horse is at hard exercise. It can thus ,be realised how essential is the care of the skin by regular grooming if a horse is to remain in health, when the skin secretes waste material at its utmost, i.e., when the horse is at work or in training.

Twice a year, in spring and in autumn, the horse sheds its coat. At these periods the hairs becomes detached and fall off, whilst, at the same time, new hair is formed. In autumn longer hairs are grown as a protection against the cold of winter, whereas in the spring the long hairs are shed and shorter ones are supplied for summer use. Where long hairs are worn at all times, as in the mane and tail, they 1 are not shed at all. The objects of grooming horses are twofold; in the first place, to remove from the skin particles of dust, dirt and perspiration, which tend to clog or impede the free action of the skin glands, and so interfere with the general health of the animal. In the second place, thorough grooming removes worn-out cells, commonly spoken of as “scurf,” which, although no longer required, become cemented with perspiration, and thus interfere with the skin’s effort to eliminate waste material. METHOD OF GROOMIT4G. In order thoroughly to cleanse the skin of a horse it is necessary to employ both skill and .hard work. To produce the greatest effect with a minimum of power, to make his labour of fullest value, and to perform the operation in the shortest time, the groom should add his muscular strength to his weight. He should stand well away from the horse and lean his weight on the brush, thus penetrating the coat J more effectively and expending less i exertion than if muscular effort alone were depended upon. The horse to be groomed should be cool and dry. Commencing on the nearside of the neck behind the ear, the coat must be thoroughly brushed, moving the brush the way the hair lies. To remove hard dirt and scurf a circular motion may be more effective. When the near side is completed the off side, starting from the neck, should be gone over. Having done the body the legs should then be groomed. The horse is next turned round- in the stall, and the head and mane thoroughly brushed. The eyes, nostrils and dock should then be cleaned. The animal is then turned round once again, and the tail is well brushed out. Finally, a thorough polish is given with a rubber in place of the brush. CARE OF THE FEET. The feet should be lifted and cleaned out daily. Unfortunately, this is a matter which is frequently neglected. Every few days the sheath should be washed out and dried, taking the precaution not to use soft soap for this purpose. The use of the curry-comb is not recommended for the horse's coat. Its use should be confined to the cleansing of the brush. Horses at work should be groomed thoroughly every morning before expreise and again, to a lesser extent, after exercise. A well-groomed horse will never harbour skin parasites, such as mange and lice. Such parasites will not put up with the constant disturbance brought about by the use of a brush.

Washing a horse should not be practised except to remove mud, etc., after work. In such cases, however, the animal must be dried immediately, or otherwise skin troubles such as greasy heels, cracked heels, or mud fever will soon appear. Water actually has little effect in cleansing a horse’s skin, but definitely checks the action of the oil glands, and will thus render the coat dry and harsh by stopping the pro-, per oil secretion. The effect of regular daily grooming is easily recognised by the bright, clean and healthy appearance of the animal, which thoroughly repays the labour expended.