No Prep Finds Sweet Honey A Horse Groomers Delight

When it comes to caring for horses, especially grooming them, I have absolutely zero experience – which made an afternoon helping with the horses at Good Fortunes Farm in Aiken a perfect No Prep experience. I got to Good Fortune and met with the owner Emily Hamel and the barn manager Jeanna Epping. They gave me a bit of a rundown on what I would be doing.

They had planned for me to clean a horse’s feet and then curry and brush it. I didn’t mention that I didn’t know what currying meant. I assumed I would find out. I also didn’t admit that cleaning the horse’s feet made me a little nervous, as it seemed like a good way to get a little kick.

After I was told what I was going to do, Emily introduced me to a beautiful horse named Lady. Lady was going to be the demonstration model. Emily showed me, on Lady, what I was going to be doing. I wasn’t, however, going to be grooming Lady. They had chosen a very special girl for me to pamper, a miniature horse named Honey.

My first assignment was to fetch Honey out of the stall. Emily showed me how to properly hook up the harness and was interested to see if I would get it on the first try or not. I don’t have any experience with harnessing a horse, miniature or otherwise, but I do have a 140 pound bloodhound. I treated it pretty much the same way, and I got it on the first try.

I think everyone was a little surprised by this. It certainly boosted my confidence a little bit.

Emily demonstrated how to clean the dirt and mud off Honey’s feet, showing me the scraping technique and where to put the bucket to catch the dirt. Jeanna showed me an easy way to get Honey to raise her foot for me. This still made me the most nervous because, as small as Honey was, I still didn’t want to catch a kick. It made me a little apprehensive when it came to how hard I was scraping, until Jeanna showed me that you can really get in there without hurting Honey.

Once I got Honey’s feet cleaned, it was time to paint them. This is basically the equivalent of getting your nails painted. It smelled similar, too.

Next, I was going to curry Honey. Again, this was something I was completely unfamiliar with. It turns out currying means putting a special brush on my hand and using it to get all the dirt and hair off in preparation for brushing. I started at Honey’s face and worked my way around to both sides and legs, taking care that I did not miss the demure heart trimmed into Honey’s hindquarter. Emily and Jeanna told me, based on her body language, that she was enjoying it.

Nice. She likes it. She really likes it!

Next, it was time to brush. This is where I went back to my bloodhound brushing experience. It was pretty much the same concept; except I was flicking the brush with my wrist instead of just straight brushing like I would do with my dog. The flick helps remove any additional dirt. Honey really seemed to enjoy this as well, at least that’s what Jeanna and Emily said. The more they said that she liked it, the more confident I felt. Honey and I were bonding.

Soon, it was time to brush her mane and tail. Jeanna told me to compare brushing Honey’s mane and tail to brushing my 2-year-old daughter’s hair. That was something I understood, and I knew exactly what to do. Just a little bit of force, but not too much, and whatever you do, don’t pull.

Once we were done brushing Honey’s mane and tail, it was time for the final – and best - part of the process, giving her a treat. Her snack-of-choice was a carrot, which she took very nicely. Honey is a lady, after all. Then I took her back to the stall and let her go about the rest of her day.

I left Good Fortune Farm feeling pretty good about myself. Honey was cleaner than she was before I got there, and I didn’t get kicked. I also got to spend some time with some beautiful horses – here’s looking at you Lady, Sven, and Corvette. Overall, it was a great experience. Thanks again to Emily Hamel and Jeanna Epping at Good Fortunes Farm for guiding me because, as always, I had No Prep.