Grooming your horse is a crucial aspect of horse care. In addition to the excellent points mentioned by others, grooming provides an ideal opportunity to assess your horse’s health. Once you become accustomed to it, conducting a thorough examination during grooming only takes a few extra minutes and can help you identify potential health issues before they become serious. This information can be invaluable when consulting with a veterinarian, as it serves as a diagnostic tool to determine the urgency of the situation and whether immediate action or further advice is required.

To incorporate a health examination into your grooming routine, keep a pen and small notebook in your grooming kit where you have recorded the normal range of vital signs, along with your veterinarian’s office and emergency contact numbers. Before beginning the grooming process, observe your horse’s behavior. Is it eager and interested or disinterested and withdrawn? Take note of any signs of lameness as you lead the horse.

Ensure that your grooming tools are clean throughout the process. Tap or whisk your brushes and curry comb on a hard surface nearby, such as a tie rail or post, to remove dirt and debris. Cleaning your tools regularly enhances their effectiveness and helps prevent the spread of disease.

Pay careful attention to your horse’s skin during grooming. Inspect for wounds that may require treatment, as horses are prone to injuring themselves. Neglecting to address these areas could lead to infections. Often overlooked areas include the insides of the ears, the underside of the barrel (particularly beneath the girth behind the elbows), and the entire length of the midline. Brush the midline clean and use your hand to feel for any roughened skin that may require grooming, examination, or treatment. Be cautious not to put your head in potentially dangerous positions and risk being kicked.

Regularly clean the sheath of geldings as part of your grooming routine. Failure to perform this simple task can result in discomfort, skin irritation, and an accumulation of dirt in the urethra, potentially interfering with urination.

When grooming the legs, run your hands along the tendons to detect any signs of heat or swelling. Take appropriate measures to treat any affected leg(s). If you are unsure about the required treatment or have never applied a specific wrap, antibiotic, or other remedies, consult with your trainer or veterinarian for guidance.

If you notice severe swelling in the legs, a surface wound above the swelling, pressing on the swelling causing a dent or producing a squishing sound, or if multiple legs are affected, it is essential to record your horse’s vital signs and promptly contact your veterinarian.

Maintaining proper hoof care is crucial. Clean out any dirt and carefully examine the hooves for damage. Check if any shoes are missing, loose, or excessively worn, particularly at the toe, and ensure they are positioned correctly beneath the hoof wall. Leaving a shoe in place for too long may lead to bruising or breakage as the hoof wall grows beyond it. If you observe any issues, contact your farrier for assistance.

While cleaning and examining the hooves, check your horse’s pedal or digital pulse. Start with the left fore and proceed counterclockwise, regularly checking and recording the digital pulse rate of each hoof to establish a baseline for your horse’s resting state. It is essential to consider the digital pulse rate separately and in conjunction with the heart rate, which can be checked behind the elbow with a stethoscope or at the jaw with your fingers. If your findings fall outside the normal range, contact your veterinarian. Changes in the digital pulse at rest can be directly associated with significant health issues and should not be ignored.

Assess the temperature of the hooves. Remember that hooves in direct sunlight may feel warmer. Conduct your examination in the shade, using the backs of your fingers to feel all four hooves. Once they have.