I am a dog groomer currently, but think that it might be fun to do horses on the side. How does one get into doing this? I don’t own any horses myself to practice on. I’m also interested in cat grooming but nobody at my salon does it and I’ve looked online and cannot find anyone who teaches this except in North Carolina… I am in Maryland. I can do cat baths currently but want to learn how to do haircuts and I know that it can be a bit different that dog grooming.
When you say “grooming horses,” do you mean clipping, mane pulling, and braiding? If so, I’d offer to practice for free on other people’s horses. I think you want to start with some that won’t be showing! How much do you already know about “horse grooming”? Are you competent or starting from scratch?
[QUOTE=ThreeHorseNight;7514963]
When you say “grooming horses,” do you mean clipping, mane pulling, and braiding? If so, I’d offer to practice for free on other people’s horses. I think you want to start with some that won’t be showing! How much do you already know about “horse grooming”? Are you competent or starting from scratch?[/QUOTE]
Yes. I do not know anything about grooming horses, but I am a competent dog groomer.
[QUOTE=Jhein12;7514970]
Yes. I do not know anything about grooming horses, but I am a competent dog groomer.[/QUOTE]
Jhein, I think it’s unlikely that you could get work grooming horses as you do dogs. In general a “groom” is an employee who does a lot of physical labor related to horse care; I’ve never heard of anyone who hires a third-party contractor for routine grooming/brushing and bathing. Most owners will do this themselves, or have employed barn staff do so.
There is a market for specialized grooming for shows: body clipping, mane pulling, braiding, as was mentioned previously. However, you have to have a lot of experience and skill, and the ability to work fast, to work on a range of horses, some of whom may be harder than others, and to produce work that looks great in the showring. Most people gain this experience by prepping their own horses, maybe doing other clients of their trainer, or as a working student under a trainer’s guidance.
For cats, I would approach an experienced cat groomer in your area and see if you can “apprentice” with her/him. There is a market for long-haired cat grooming (which often is shaving out the matted coat that the owners have failed to maintain). I’ve done my own cats, but would recommend that if you want to provide professional services, that you get some tips from someone respected, practice on friends’ cats, or ask your dog clients if they have cats or cat-owning friends for whom you could provide some free grooming to practice. You cannot restrain cats the same way you do dogs, and their reactions are quite different, so you will have to develop some fun new skills.
[QUOTE=coloredhorse;7515847]
Jhein, I think it’s unlikely that you could get work grooming horses as you do dogs. In general a “groom” is an employee who does a lot of physical labor related to horse care; I’ve never heard of anyone who hires a third-party contractor for routine grooming/brushing and bathing. Most owners will do this themselves, or have employed barn staff do so.
There is a market for specialized grooming for shows: body clipping, mane pulling, braiding, as was mentioned previously. However, you have to have a lot of experience and skill, and the ability to work fast, to work on a range of horses, some of whom may be harder than others, and to produce work that looks great in the showring. Most people gain this experience by prepping their own horses, maybe doing other clients of their trainer, or as a working student under a trainer’s guidance.
For cats, I would approach an experienced cat groomer in your area and see if you can “apprentice” with her/him. There is a market for long-haired cat grooming (which often is shaving out the matted coat that the owners have failed to maintain). I’ve done my own cats, but would recommend that if you want to provide professional services, that you get some tips from someone respected, practice on friends’ cats, or ask your dog clients if they have cats or cat-owning friends for whom you could provide some free grooming to practice. You cannot restrain cats the same way you do dogs, and their reactions are quite different, so you will have to develop some fun new skills.[/QUOTE]
Ahh I see. I thought that people hired someone when their horse needed to be clipped. I’ll look around for a good cat groomer to apprentice with. I know cats can get a little wild, the part I am afraid of is their thin skin. I’ve heard bad stories of how it can get caught between blades and create a nasty cut.
Some people do hire someone to body clip their horse. But this is not a regular thing, like it is w/dogs, and many of us are plenty proficient to do our own.
True w/the cats and their skin. The one cat I didn’t clip myself was a longhair that I fostered who was matted right down to the skin. I had neither the right blades nor the skill to do it right. My vet recommended a groomer who did both dogs and cats. 
I am always always always getting asked for referrals for body clipping. If you get good at that, let me know.
Braiding you have to be spot on. LOTS of practice. I did friends horses for free a lot at first :lol:
Grooms don’t make much and they are usually hired at the barn. I no longer groom except for one specific Arab owner who I dearly love and she knows I can have her horses ring ready when she needs it, she overpays me ridiculously so we agree to donate some to a cause or the show, etc.
One thing that many folks do enjoy is stall/feeding service at shows. Basically you feed morning and clean the stall early (done by 5 or 6 am!) and then do a night feed or clean as well for between $10-$15 per day. It adds up fast!
Yes, I know a number of people who make good $ clipping. But it is a limited season - everyone wants horse clipped in October, maybe again in Dec/Jan if they are in work. My retired horse gets clipped once, in Nov.
The challenge w/ horses is they don’t all like it or they get fidgety, etc. Presumably you would know enough about horses to understand what you are getting into.
Both here and when I was in Ohio full body clip was in the $125-$150 range.
Some years ago one of our horses served as the demo model for full body clipping a horse using the Andis dog groomer clippers and a T-blade for horses (like the big Oster blade)
This was at a dog grooming EXPO and was encouraging dog groomers to consider the advantage of expanding into the horse grooming (clipping) market
their theory was that traveling dog groomers were often asked if they also did horse clipping
the person doing the clipping was a professional clipper from Florida where show horses are clipped about every 3-4 weeks from Sept/Oct thru the end of the winter show season
she was shocked to see our horse. She asked for a hairy horse so any clipping was OBVIOUS and she got our YAK. She was so used to TB coats that were clipped regularly Im not sure she recognized our boy as a HORSE. But she did a beautiful full body clip. Our boy was exemplary in behavior with people very close to him under a tent
And we got a free set of clippers out of the deal
You just have to know how to clip and how to deal with fractious horses
have the right equipment
know the market and the season
ask around at show barns and possibly at any local race track
best of luck
