A basic and effective groom can be achieved in as little as ten minutes focusing on the hoof, health, and heart of your mount. Start your grooming session with your horse's hooves. Stand facing your horse and slowly run your hand down one of its legs to the hoof. Most horses identify with the action and will immediately raise their hoof for necessary picking. Horses spend most of their lives standing on their hooves and the dish-shaped undersides easily trap dirt and mud.
Stabled horses pick up their own feces and bedding as well.
The rotting matter can infect the foot if not removed regularly. Also clogged hooves can make for unsteady gaits, much like a runner with a pebble in his shoe. Lift the hoof gently so that the dirt packed hollow is accessible, and scrape out the dirt with a hoof pick. With the forked end, dig into the clogged hoof until the natural hoof is one again exposed. The shape of the hoof follows that of the horseshoe, but watch out for the 'frog'.