Horse grooming brushes with natural bristles and fibers will not need to be washed. Instead, while you groom your horse, use a curry comb to brush off the excess dirt and dust from your brushes about every 4-6 strokes of use. Use your fingers in the goat hair brushes, not the curry. Be more gentle with mud brushes when cleaning with the curry.

Do not use water directly on the brushes or immerse in water. The wood cannot get wet at all. Instead, use a damp cloth with warm water and gently rub the bristles remove dirt.

For the goat hair brushes, sprinkle a small amount of corn starch on the bristles and use your fingers to gently brush of the excess. Do not use water on the
goat hair brushes.

2015 has started out wet and rainy here in Georgia, and Teddy the Haflinger Horse was soaking wet when I went to see him today. It isn't very cold, but I wish the weatherman would have been a little more accurate on the timing of the rain, because I would have thrown his sheet on the night before. Oh well, he's fine. 

Since the weather is so yucky, there's not much to do at the barn when it is so wet, I decided to make Teddy a warm, healthy treat. I know that there are bran mashes but, for various reasons, I don't really want to give him bran. So, I mixed up a small pot of oatmeal, carrots, apple, and a dash of cinnamon and cooked it in lots of water until it became a slurry of horsey goodness. Then, I added a splash of 100% pure apple juice to cool it down a little and add some more flavor. I poured all of this in a bucket and off to the barn I went.

The delicious smell of warm cinnamon and apples filled my car on the 5 mile drive, and I couldn't wait until he tasted it. After wading through the mud and muck to catch him, he willingly came with me in to the barn. He knows that there's always a good grooming session and maybe a snack or two during the process. Well, there wasn't much grooming to do so I put a towel on his back and covered him with a polar fleece blanket. Even though it was going to rain again, I wanted to try and get some of the water off of him.

I put the bucket of his oatmeal treat down and he dove right in. And, yes, he loved it and licked the bucket clean. It is very satisfying cooking for your horse. Although, I wouldn't do it every day, once in awhile is perfectly fine. It wasn't a lot either, just a snack. So, I'll be planning to do this more often, especially when it is cold. Maybe once a week at the most.

We are happy to have some new products in stock at Teddy's Tack Trunk!

First, we have Mrs. Conn's Bath Day Enriched Sponges. What a great idea these are! These sponges have the soap already infused in them. So, all you need to do is wet your horse and then start using the sponge. Best of all, Mrs. Conn uses natural ingredients that are safe and gentle for your horse's skin. We are offering three of the varieties, including Oatmeal, Fruit Smoothie, and Lemon Meringue.

Next, we have these adorable, colorful horse grooming brushes for children. Made by William Leistner of Germany, these are also top quality and will last a very long time. We offer colorful horse body brushes with a horse head decoration in the bristles and a super soft, goat hair brush that are so luxurious, your horse will love it! Both are smaller sized to fit a child's hand and also a small adult's hand.

Our Leistner horse grooming brushes with natural bristles and fibres will not need to be washed often. Instead, while you groom your horse, use a rubber or metal curry to brush off the excess dirt and dust from your brushes about every 4-6 strokes on your horse.

If you do need to wash your brushes, add a drop of horse shampoo in a shallow pan of water. Then swish around your brushes, bristle down, in the water. Let them soak 10-15 minutes. Make sure that the water does not meet the handle of your brushes. Although some of them are lacquered, we have found that water can still get in to the wood if immersed. Repeat the same with clear, clean water. Dry your brushes thoroughly before using.

Goat hair brushes can be cleaned by sprinkling talcum powder on them and brushing it off with a curry comb. Be gentle with this brush, though, and do not scrub it too hard.