Once all of the stalls had been mucked out, and inspected, it was time to move on to a more pleasant task. Since they already had the mares out, Lei'lira decided to start with them. She took Star to work with, then assigned a mare to everyone except for Teirue, who was just too little to be able to manage the task. Eri took Kaiyu, Atreyas took Smokey, Lil'ari took Lightning, and Kei'iru took Stormy.
"When it comes to grooming a horse, the first thing you need to know are the different brushes you will need, and what each of them are used for. The first one is called a curry comb."
Lei'lira paused to show the children what her curry comb looked like.
"The curry comb helps to loosen dirt, hair, and other detritus from a horse's coat. It also stimulates their skin to produce natural oils. When you use the curry comb, you go in a circular motion in order to work loose any material that has been embedded in the horse's coat."
After explaining what needed to be done, Lei'lira showed them what she meant. She started with her curry comb, moving it in small, circular motions as she began with Star's neck, and made her way slowly down to her shoulders, then her sides, and finally her withers. When she was done with that, she repeated the process on the mare's other side. Teirue wanted to help, so Lei'lira picked the little girl up, and gave her the brush. She guided the young girl's hand as she stroked Star's coat with the brush a few times. Then she set Teirue back down so she could finish the job.
"Ideally, you want to have a set of grooming brushes for each horse you own. Unfortunately, I only have one set at the moment."
"It's like people, isn't it? I wouldn't want to share a brush with Kei'iru, either. Or anyone else for that matter."
Lei'lira nodded.
"That's exactly right, Lil'ari. And it's for the same reasons that you wouldn't want to share your brush with anyone else."
Lil'ari beamed at her adopted mother's praise. Lei'lira handed her curry comb to Eri, and watched as she used it on Kaiyu. A few times, she offered advice, or corrected mistakes she saw the younger girl making. But after a while, she got the hang of it. Once Eri was finished, she gave each of the other children a turn. Atreyas seemed to catch on quickly. Kei'iru on the other hand, seemed to be struggling. Lei'lira thought part of the problem was that since she was too short to reach the horse unaided, she had to stand on a stool as she worked. That meant that she had to concentrate on balancing on the stool while trying to learn a new skill. Splitting your focus while trying to learn something new was never easy.
"The next brush you are going to be using is called a dandy brush. It has stiff bristles, and is used to remove the dirt, hair, and other detritus that were loosened when you used the curry comb. When you use the dandy brush, you want to move in the direction of the horse's hair coat growth. Short strokes going from front to back are best. The only exception is at the flanks where the hair grows in a different pattern."
Just as before, Lei'lira demonstrated what she meant after explaining what needed to be done. She used short, straight, flicking motions to remove the dirt and hair that had been loosened by the curry comb. Like before, she started at Star's neck, and worked her way down.
"Do you see the way Star is leaning into the brush as I groom her?"
The kids took a closer look, then nodded.
"Most horses love to be groomed. For that matter, most people enjoy grooming their horses. It's hard to know who enjoys the experience more; the horse, or the person grooming them. Grooming a horse can be a good bonding experience between horse and rider."
When she was finished, it was the kids' turn to try. Lei'lira left them to it, but she watched closely as they worked, ready to offer help or advice as needed.
"After you use the dandy brush, it's time to move on to the body brush. Unlike the dandy brush, a body brush has soft bristles. It is used to remove dust and the finer particles of dust and detritus from a horse's coat. Using it will also add a nice shine to your horse's coat. Horses often find this part of the grooming process very soothing."
Star's pleasure was obvious as Lei'lira demonstrated the use of the body brush. When she was finished, she offered the brush to Lil'ari, and watched as the young girl copied her movements. Once all of the children had had their turn, it was time to move on to the next step.
"A smaller version of the body brush is called a face brush. You use it on a horse's face, ears, muzzle, and around their eyes. When brushing around a horse's eyes, you need to be especially careful. Accidentally poking them in the eye with the bristles will cause a lot of pain, and could damage the eye severely."
Once again, Lei'lira demonstrated what needed to be done before having each of the kids try. When it came to Kei'iru's turn, she paid especially close attention in case the younger girl had trouble.
"If you want to, you can take a cotton rag and rub it over your horse's coat once you finish using the face brush on them. It will add even more shine to their coat. But unless you plan to enter your horse in a fair, it is probably not worth the extra effort. It doesn't benefit the horse in any way, and all of your effort will be wasted the next time he or she rolls in the grass. The final step in grooming a horse is to use the mane and tail comb."
Lei'lira paused to show the kids the comb in question.
"It does just that; comb out your horse's mane and tail. You use it to comb out dirt and loose hair, as well as to get rid of any tangles that may have formed since the last time you groomed them. Depending on how many tangles there are, this last step may take quite some time."
Star didn't have too many tangles, so it didn't take that long for Lei'lira to brush out her mane and tail. She gave the mare a carrot as a treat before handing the mane and tail comb to Atreyas so he could finish grooming Smokey. When each of the kids finished grooming their mare, she gave them a treat to offer as a reward.
"It's always a good idea to check a horse's hooves after you groom them. If they've picked up a stone, it will cause them considerable pain until it is removed. A stone can also damage the horse's hoof if it isn't removed quickly enough."
"How do you remove a stone if they have one?" Eri wanted to know.
"By using a hoof pick to pick the hoof that needs it. Here, let me show you."
Lei'lira lifted each of Star's legs up, and checked her hooves carefully. She didn't have any stones that needed to be removed, but Kaiyu did. While holding Kaiyu's leg up gently, she called the kids to gather around while she pointed out each part of the hoof in turn; the walls of the hoof, the toe, the sole, the frog, the quarters, the bars, the heels, the cleft of the frog, the commissure of the frog, and the white line that was actually yellow in appearance, and the sole of the hoof from the wall.
"When checking a horse's hooves, you want to make sure that they are haltered properly, or that someone is holding them for you. Don't just puck a horse's legs up the way I did. Unless you really know what you are doing, and the horse trusts you completely, that's asking for trouble."
The kids nodded. Lei'lira demonstrated the proper stance one should be in when picking a horse's hoof, explaining the need to bend their knees as they bend over to pick up the horse's hoof to reduce the stress on their back. It was something she did automatically at this point, but she took the time to explain it to the kids since they didn't have the experience that she did.
"I don't know if you noticed this, but before I lifted Star's and Kaiyu's hooves up, I ran my hand down their legs as a signal that I wanted them to pick their legs up. Star and Kaiyu are both very responsive to this. But some horses aren't. If you're working with one that isn't, you should use your shoulder to lean some weight against them as encouragement to lift their hoof. But if you do need to do this, you have to be careful not to use too much weight."
Lei'lira waited for the kids to nod in understanding before she continued.
"You want to use a verbal cue such as "hoof up" to ask your horse to pick up their hoof. When they do, hold their leg at the pastern, which is just past their foot. You can also hold under their hoof itself to give the hoof the support it will need."
Lei'lira leaned back to let the kids see what she meant. Then she demonstrated both ways of supporting the horse's hoof.
"This is where the horse pick comes in. You use it to clean out any rocks, dirt, or other debris from around the frog. If your horse is wearing shoes, trace around the inside of the shoe to check for and remove any pebbles. And if it isn't wearing shoes, clean around the area where the hoof sole meets the hoof wall. When you're finished, gently guide the horse's hoof to the ground. If you let them put their hoof down themselves, they may hurt their toes. This is especially important with older horses because dropping their hooves may hurt them, or cause them to lose their balance."
Lei'lira considered giving the children a chance to do it themselves, then decided against it. They were simply too inexperienced for that yet. Instead, she had them practice asking a horse to lift their foot up for them, and holding it properly as if they were going to pick the hoof out. Then she checked the other mares. With that task done, Lei'lira decided that they had some time to devote to socializing the foals before moving on to grooming the stallions.
Teach them babies, learn lores along the way. 
Lei’luna is a good pupper too. Watching over her bonded.