Grooming a Horse

Regular, thorough grooming is necessary to keep your horse clean and healthy.

This also stimulates circulation, keeps your horse looking good and can help to build a relationship between the two of you. By doing this, you have a perfect chance to check your horse over for any lumps, bumps, or heat, and because of this, you should not wear gloves when grooming so you can feel any abnormalities. You should always tie your horse up before beginning this.

Grooming kit:

1. Body brush - is a soft-bristled brush that removes dust and grease from deep down in the coat. It is rarely used on the grasskept horse, and always used in conjunction with the metal curry comp.
   
2. Dandy brush - is a hard-bristled brush that removes caked mud and sweat from the coat, and is the primary tool used for grooming the grasskept horse. The dandy brush should not be used on the mane and tail because it will break the hairs.
   
3. Water Brush - ideal would be to have 2 water brushes:

• one to use it when you are finished with the grooming. This way you can take all the remained dust off the coat and you can arrange the mane on a side of the neck.
• the second one you can use only when you want to clean the feet
  

                                                              ......TO BE CONTINUED.....

You may want to see:

• The second part of this post
• The last part of this post

Kötzting's Whit Ride in Germany

Kötzting's Whit Ride or "der Pfingstritt in Bad Koetzting" (in german language)

Kötzting's Whit Ride ranks amongst the biggest mounted pilgrimage processions in Europe and goes back to an incident in 1412: A man lay dying in the village of Steinbühl about seven kilometres away from Kötzting and asked for the comfort of the church. But the priest was not prepared to go there without protection.     So the young men from Kötzting accompanied the priest spontaneously on his visit to the dying man.

   

After their return unscathed they vowed to repeat this ride each year. Thus it has been carried down, so that every year on Whit Monday some 900 riders form a procession riding and praying through the blooming Zellertal to Steinbühl on their festively bedecked horses and in old traditional costumes.

 
The riders´procession  

 
At 8 a.m. on Whit Monday, accompanied by the ringing of the church bells, the riders leave the town praying on festively bedecked horses. The procession is led by the cross bearer, followed by lantern bearers, fanfare players, a spiritual officiator with sextons and servers. Riding behind them is the "Whit groom" with his two best men.  

The previous year's Whit groom carrying the market town banner, with his best men and representatives of the young men end the official head of the procession. The remaining riders follow. Many of them bear memorial banners that they have received for their long years of participation in this pilgrim ride. One of them carries the venerable county banner. On the way, the riders say their rosaries.
 

The officiator preaches the gospel at the four stations. At the end of there journey, a church service for the riders is held in St. Nikolaus, the Whit riders' pilgrimage church in Steinbühl. After a rest for the horses and riders the procession returns to Bad Kötzting.

• source: http://www.bad-koetzting.de/110.html