Those with horses living out?

Roasted Chestnuts

Roasted Chestnuts

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Do you fully groom?

I have to admit I dont and i usually pop a rug on just to make sure saddle area is clean and dry They get legs hosed to check for any scabs but not fully washed as I pig oil anyways ;)

My reasoning is that living in muddy Scotland they just go back out and get manky pretty much ten mins after youve popped them back out, and as I only hack pretty much or school on a muddy sandy patch or muddy field its all really a bit pointless :o

If we are going anywhere then groomed til gleaming pulled plaited the lot but for home not a chance :)

So who else follows the above or am I just a lazy sod ;) :D
 
No I do not and never really have, it takes the natural oils out for the unrugged horse, only the essential areas get done and its always been a case of me and my muddy pony :D
Although I am not riding Nell just yet she gets tacked up and walked out, and as she is rugless I do not like to over groom, she is a yak!
 
I dont get much time to ride in winter so, a quick brush round especially saddle and girth areas and head, and feet picked out! Thats all.
Only one has a rug on, he gets a mud brushed off before it goes back on. thats all!
 
My warmblood lives out, unclipped but rugged. I ride her most days and yes I do fully groom her. She has a rug with a neck but her face and legs are always filthy, she wears boots when I ride her so obviously I have to get the mud off to put them on. I am a bit ocd though about her being clean and tidy and wouldn't ride her if she was muddy I would be embarassed! But that's just me :)
 
she's only out at night - but no I don't give her a full brush. No point. I only rug her when I know I'm riding the next day.

We are the scruffiest pair on the yard, though :o
 
Do you mean when I ride? I will groom my mare completely when I ride but not if I just get her in for the farrier! I will fully groom my youngster when he comes in but mostly just to get him used to coming in and being groomed! but most of the time they look like mud hippos!!
 
Heck no! There are so few daylight hours I want to be riding! At the mo I do groom most days as waiting for a saddle and bored but generally just a brush off concentrating on saddle area and the worst bits. Rubber curry comb and hoof pick is all I need :-)
 
Ours at home were always 24-7 paddock kept and we used to do similar rug up and then brush down prior to hacking, was usually too wet or cold to wash. We looked a right old rag bag at times though and most of the photos I have of two of mine are from mid winter looking like charity cases :o :rolleyes: I do admit to towel drying though but would never admit to my parents because mum used to blame my dad for the missing towels!:eek:
 
I was thinking about this yesterday, please could someone invent a tabbard that says
"I only have a little time and if I spent it getting all this mud off I wouldn't be able to ride"
When I meet people out hacking I always feel the need to explain this, hope all the car drivers understand.

My boy is grey, unclipped and a hippo x, even if I had time to groom most of the mud is wet when he comes in (I'm sure he see's me bringing the tack out and rolls immediately!) it would litterally take all the time I have to clean him fully!.
I properly groom where his saddle and bridle go and pick out his feet - so we look pretty scruffy but I'd rather keep him fit than have him looking pretty!
 
I groom the rugged pony and he comes in some nights too

The yearling arrived in July and apart from regular picking out of his feet he has had hardly any grooming, he looks like a scruffy Thelwell pony
 
No I leave him too it to get filthy dirty rolling each day. When I ride at the weekends I scrape off the mud from his saddle and girth area and that is the lot, the rest stays muddy for our pootle round the lanes.
In the winter I find that my lad is quite greasy at the base of his coat so I like to leave this in place as I am sure his helps to keep the water off his skin.
 
Mine are out and unrugged unclipped. They get rubber curried and feet done, if we go out i make sure there isnt half a tree in their tails :rolleyes: but apart from that nope.

My little helper loves grooming so this week being half term theyve been groomed and plaited within an inch of their lives and keep looking at me as if to say what the eff is going on!!!
 
Used to thoroughly groom them all every day (and they'd show their appreciation by immediately hitting the ground and rolling as soon as they went back out). I love grooming, but I have tendon damage in my hands and arms (as a result of doing this for a lifetime, I suspect) so now they get a knock off of the saddle and girth area and that's it, unless showing off for a job or competition of course :-)
 
I'm in tropical Scotland as well, and mine is out 24/7. Not rugged yet as she's grown a lovely furry coat and isn't feeling the cold yet. She is also caked in thick mud! She will get a thorough brushing before rugging, then an occasional flick over until spring. I don't wash legs at all, no point as she's filthy 10 minutes later. Same with tail, we have a dreadlock situation already! I was criticised last winter for the terrible state she was in, muddy and bedraggled. She came out of winter with no mud fever, and a beautiful glossy coat, so I'll go with the 'neglectful' routine this year again!:D
 
Nope :D. I probably groom even less in the summer ;)

Jackson is remarkably clean though, so i just check everywhere that tack touches (under saddle, under girth, where bridle sits) and give a quick brush if there's a bit of mud sticking. Hooves are checked by leading him out on the road and listening for stones :o (hoof cleaning etc. is done when we get back from hack before turning out again).

He wears a no fill rug if it's raining just to protect against rainscald, but rest of time is naked and mostly just clean and fluffy, so it does make life easy.

I only have two hours a day to ride, groom, feed and check field/move fences etc., so I'm not going to waste any of that grooming bits where cleanliness has only cosmetic benefits ;)
 
IF she's to be ridden, I brush her face and saddle/girth area. Afterwards I brush where's sweaty - including between her hindlegs.
I check her legs for cuts/heat/swelling but rarely brush them.
She gets a full groom the day of a show (2 days a month).
 
Full neck rug and a blanket clip - and groomed where the tack touches! Never hose off legs as a. we have no concrete, and hosing straight onto mud/grass is pointless and b. too much effort to fire up the genny just for that! He does wear hoof boots, but I've never had a problem with rubs, if his heels look a little pink I slap on a bit of Sudocream and they're back to normal the next day.

Two pics from Christmas day 2007 - if we'd tried to get these two clean, we wouldn't have had the time for a ride before doing the family thing at lunch! I should say that I would love to always ride out on an immaculate horse, but work/daylight doesn't allow this.

DSC00490.jpg


DSC00475.jpg
 
Mine arent even living out and I still dont bother much with grooming. The bits that tack touches are clean and thats about as good as it gets. Arnie does have a tail bag to keep his white tail at least a little bit respectable when he goes out but the mud is knee deep and I am fighting a losing battle. He is pig oiled and gets washed if we are going partying.

I'm seeing a lot of similar responses from Scotland here though - are we just mingers! ;)
 
My two youngsters live out 24/7 and they get fully groomed about once a week. As another poster stated, mainly just so they get used to being groomed and having their feet picked up. Luckily for me they don't get too muddy. Neither are rugged and I generally just let them get on with it!
 
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