How horse care strengthens the bond with the horse

Are you still scrubbing or wellness are you already? I've always wanted to write this sentence 😉 In fact, there is a serious core behind the funny question. Because how we clean influences the bond we have with our horse.

You can think of grooming as a simple activity that is used to clean your horse before training. Then you grab one brush after the other and scrub your horse's coat, then polish away every speck of dust and maybe brush the pasterns or brush the mane until it blows fluffy in the wind.

You can also view cleaning as part of your relationship and turn it into a wonderful wellness ritual for both of you.

Then you are at the point that your horse will love and that strengthens the bond with your horse every time you brush:

1. You communicate with your horse while grooming
2. You check how your horse is doing, whether it has injuries or tensions and how it feels on this day and at this moment
3. The most important thing: You perceive your horse's body as what it is: YOUR HORSE'S body. Not the dusty coat that needs to be cleaned or the mount that needs to be finished - but the body and sensitive skin of your horse.

This is not only nice for your horse, but also for you. Because you can really relax, free yourself from the hustle and bustle of the day one brush stroke at a time, concentrate on your horse and breathe with your horse.

It sounds esoteric, but it's super cool because you can then start training with your horse in a really relaxed manner. You can also get to know your horse better and your horse, in turn, will love you for being careful with his sensitive body parts and his cleaning needs.

Wellness cleaning for a beautiful bond with the horse - here's how it works

You can get to know your horse while grooming. Because every horse wants to be brushed differently. One prefers to be scrubbed with a firm brush, the other prefers to be gently brushed. The next one has parts of his body that he doesn't want to be cleaned at all and another one wants to be scratched everywhere in parallel.

So you can find out by the way you vary the brush strokes:

1. How your horse likes to be groomed and
2. Where it would like to be cleaned and
3. What type of brush it would like to be cleaned with and then:

respond to his wishes

When brushing, you can also check whether it has any injuries or tensions and treat or massage your horse. You can see if it itches somewhere and then scratch - horses LOVE that and of course they will love you even more for it.

There are points where horses should always have themselves groomed: these are the saddle position and the girth position, as well as the head area on which the bridle rests. But the same applies here: If your horse has points in these areas where he doesn't like to be groomed, you can take this into account and brush more gently and finely or for a correspondingly shorter period of time. This also strengthens the bond because your horse notices that you listen to him and respect his wishes.

At the same time, you can relax because you're concentrating on your horse, observing his facial expressions and reactions while grooming, and slipping into a contented Zen mode. It feels good to be able to groom your horse in peace and quiet.

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We would like to thank dear Petra from Horse Whispering for this great guest post and the matching photos with her pretty mare Carey.