I agree with the buy a helmet first. After boots and breeches, that would be my first purchase.
If grooming is an issue, I would buy the book World Class Grooming and maybe purchase a Tiger’s Tongue if there are none at the barn. They are a fantastic grooming tool, IMO, and help get the job done quicker.
Personally, I wouldn’t invest in a full blown grooming kit or in tack, but would instead put that money towards learning (lessons and books), but to each their own. Best of luck!
@KingRocker4Life - just thought I’d point out that one doesn’t need to buy everything new (well, except the helmet!). Consignment tack shops, FB Marketplace, eBay and other sources of used horse stuff are a great resource and a way to stretch your money.
Shopping and buying horse stuff IS fun, but can be done on a teenagers budget if one shops around. 
One thing I did for SuperPony, who is the schoolie I ride at the barn, is get her a set of brushes, on clearance, at TSC. The face brush in particular is smaller/more narrow to get all the itchy spots- moreso than the other soft/face brushes already at the barn. Every week when I use it, she happily dozes with her head in my arms.
I would recommend that you gradually build your own grooming kit.
One reason I do this is because I have figured out which brushes I really like. And it makes my life easier (and my grooming better) when I have the right equipment.
Among other things, I like to buy kid/pony sized brushes. I’m small, so I like their size and lightness. I also like the effects and feel of natural fibers better. And I have discovered that I really like those short bristled, wood-backed oval brushes. They really finish a horse well! Oh, and I like a cactus cloth, especially for removing sweat marks.
Back when, we used Navajo saddle blankets, felt or shaped sheepskin for schooling pads. They were hard to clean. Then somebody realized that a thin quilted cotton baby crib pad was a perfect size for a pad underneath the blankets or other pads, kept them clean and were washable. Many department stores, Sears particularly, sold crib pads in packages ( dont remember how many, 3 or 4 per pack maybe) in their baby section pretty cheaply.
Those days are gone but the term baby pad stuck. It refers to a thin, baby crib sized, typically cotton quilted pad used under another pad, half pad or saddle blanket.
Now you know.
Thanks for all your comments! I just wanted to clarify that I will be shopping at a cheap tack store nearby, that I will be buying a helmet as soon as I start back up, that if I get a saddle pad and a couple of brushes that I will be cleaning and washing them with each use, that that I have boots already, and that I will not be getting this stuff all at once, as well as the fact that I will only be buying my own brushes in person because at the barn I ride at the brushes are very worn down and do not work too well ( and I have done 3 years of riding once a week, so it is not so much a problem of me not having experience.)
I am surprised that your trainer doesn’t have effective grooming equipment/brushes. She competes the horse you are taking lessons on in Eventing, yes?
Do you have a good book on grooming? There is a lot to learn beyond the basics, and it’s fun!
yes, my trainer cometes on her horse, who I ride. She moved him from a lesson barn where he is used in lessons to her own property with her other horse, that is it. At the old barn we did not have good brushes, so I figured I should just get some.
These are a few of my favorite things:
soft leather halters with shiny brass name plates
USPC manuals with guidelines for all gaits
good wooden brushes with backs I can paint on
fine deerskin gloves I can talk to my reins on
(also whiskey, preferably Stein or Seven Devils, but I’m not so picky I won’t try a local bourbon if it has a nice bite and isn’t sweet and doesn’t come out of a plastic bottle YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, LOCAL MUSIC VENUE WITH YOUR CHEAP, NO-NAME WHISKEY)
But seriously, I’ve always liked painting the backs of my brushes, I love the feel of a leather halter and gloves, the USPC manuals can be very helpful, and never accept bad whiskey when you reach legal drinking age–life is too short for that.
Thank you so much, I had no idea where the term came from!
The OP is 14 yrs old… 
@KingRocker4Life do you have a good pair of riding gloves? After buying a helmet (which I realize is not an exciting purchase but is one you must save for first) and proper boot wear, a good pair of gloves made for riding is a purchase you will never regret.
They don’t have to be extra fancy. Keep them for riding only though, not barnwork.
If you take lessons mostly in the summer time, a good pair of leather gloves with cotton crochet backs work well and keep your hands cool. They look like this:https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Heri…page-HCRG.html
In my neck of the woods most weren’t Navajos but those cheap front door rugs. It was like a contest of who could use the rattiest stuff during warm up. With their Hermes of course LOL
@skydy, those were actually the gloves that I was gonna get with my grooming tote purchase. Are there any that you would recommend for winter riding as well? I ride year-round.
What’s your climate like in winter? Easy to get too much or too little glove for the average temps. For example, used the leather with crochet back year round in Cali and So Tex but only used those in summer up north. Used those both Hunt and Western, my favs. Look sharp too. But to show, you need black faux or real leather.
Found layering thin silk or synthetic gloves under thin fleece gloves worked better in the cold then a single thick pair. You need to feel the reins between your fingers. I never rode below 20f…YMMV.
If you can only get one pair and plan to show, get medium weight black fake or real leather and try not to get the ones with the big white brand name right on the back of the hand…that’s like telling the judge to follow the bouncing ball. Distracting and I find it looks sloppy.
Buy wisely, not cheap and not the brand du jour.
I live in southern nh, Manchester in fact. In the winter it get close to 0 sometimes but I probably won’t be riding below 20 degrees like you said. There is always a wind chill as well, usually makes 20 feel like 10 and 0 fell like -10, so I need a thicker glove that keeps my hand warm so that I can feel the reins.
Winter riding gloves (I like Roekl) with a glove liner underneath 
Ok. Thx. I will check them out
There are three modern grooming tools I really like, and they can substitute for old time grooming tools.
Number one–HandsOn grooming gloves. Unless the horse has really thin skin (where it is torture), most horses adore being groomed with these. Once I got my riding teachers these grooming gloves they have basically quit using curry combs. These gloves are GREAT for a shedding horse, these gloves get all the itchy places on the horse, unlike a curry comb you can safely use them, gently, on a horse’s head and lower legs, and it is very interesting how the horse will shift its body so you will go over their itchy spots.
The “Retriever Palm Grooming Glove” available at Tractor Supply is another alternative to the curry comb. This is very flexible, the horses seem to like it, and it virtually “vacuums” extra dirt out of an already groomed horse. It also is very good for shedding horses though it is harder to clean the hair out that with the HandsOn grooming gloves. Great for the horses’ heads and lower legs too. I can really get into scrubbing this brush over a horse’s coat, it is amazing how much extra dirt will come off.
The Tiger’s tongue grooming tool has already been mentioned. Since I got my riding teachers the Tiger’s Tongue tool they have to use the dandy brush a lot less. It looks like a sponge, but it really grabs onto the loose hair and dirt. This tool can save you grooming time and the horses seem to enjoy it.
Along with the Cat Zoom Groom Multi-Use brush (available through Chewy.com) the horses I ride now enjoy being groomed more than ever before.
A type of dandy brush you may want to look at is a “Flick Brush”, with long nylon “hairs”. It seems to me that the Flick Brush gets a lot more dirt out of the coat than a regular dandy brush.
Thanks, I never thought of grooming gloves before. Now that I think about it I might get them instead of a curry comb because my curry comb that the lessons program provides always slips out of my hands SO easily. It get annoying after a bit.
Many curry combs have a strap to slide your hand through that will stop this from happening.
Another grooming tool that I really love is the Epona Shed Flower. IMO one of the best things for removing mud or shedding hair.
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