I use different tools for different jobs:
Metal curry comb: big chunks of mud
Equigroomer: hair on muscly areas. Yeah it’s just a hacksaw blade but I like it! You don’t have to clean hair off it, unlike other tools
Rubber curry comb: bony areas*
Jelly scrubber: face, super ticklish areas
*make sure your rubber groomers are washed in detergent regularly - they pull much more hair when squeaky clean.
I have 2 SleekEz, and find that they make my hand hurt after a while. I can’t do 2 horses without my hands hurting. I bought a Furminator for horses and it’s da bomb!!! But very pricey, and the rubber covering the handle slides off. But much more comfy to hold, I easily do 2 horses without any aching hands.
I have the Equigroomer and like it. I curry first, then use it to swipe out every single loose hair.
I just got a sleekez and that thing is a miracle worker.
I have no experience with any of them. I just did a full body clip from a trace clip. My horse hates being groomed (sensitive) and have to use the softest plastic/rubber curry comb possible when he is only trace clipped. Now that he is fully clipped from head to toe other than a small patch where the saddle goes, grooming takes only a couple of minutes.
Anyone tried the strip hair? Apparently it has no blade and the videos of course look wonderful. I was going to buy an equigroomer because I have a yeti shedding out currently and my combo of currying, epona shed flower, and shedding blade is working, but if it could be easier I would be in heaven!
I was given a Strip Hair and the Hands On grooming gloves for Christmas. (I guess they are things that somehow popped up on non-horse people radars…I blame Facebook.) I’d say the Strip Hair works about as well as a curry comb but some people may find the motion easier. It’s sort of like using a sweat scraper instead of currying in circles. Actually what I like it best for so far though is cleaning hair off saddle pads before washing them.
The Hands On gloves are quite effective too because you can easily use two hands at once, although I find that the hair flies into my face worse that way.
I don’t think I would have bought either of them on my own but now that I have them I guess I’ll use them. Thankfully two of my three horses are clipped though so shedding season isn’t too awful.
The donkey has his own shedding tool that’s actually for dogs but works very well for his coarse coat. I guess it’s a Furminator knock-off but it was only $14 with excellent reviews on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PLRY3NM
I like the Furminator sized for a horse. I don’t think it’s really cutting hair at all, or not in any major way. You can feel the patches of hair that have a lot of dead hair to take off versus the places that don’t through the way the Furminator drags through the coat. In the places with less drag, there’s also less hair that comes out.
I also like the pumice stones; the Farnam Slick’nEasy is the most common one, and costs about $5 or so. It wears down over time, but it does a nice job in really making the horse look “slick.”
Still love my Epona Shed Flower, and they’re cheap enough that when the teeth wear down, you can replace it without breaking the bank. But now y’all are making me want a Sleekez…
My gramps used to used a hacksaw at shedding time for his ponies. I’d recommend a dull one. 
So if you are really looking for an innovative product at bargain pricing–an old hacksaw!
My BO got a Strip Hair for Christmas also. I’m not impressed with it, it’s basically a chunk of stall mat with a label painted on. You could make about 50 of them for the price of one stall mat from TSC. But you’re right, I do like the small one for cleaning hair off of my saddle pads, works much better than the curry comb I used to use!
I have horses with dense, thick winter coats with a lot of guard hairs. I’ve been using one of the wooden-handled hacksaw blade devices (an inexpensive one from my local tack shop, not the nationally-advertised brand) with great success for several years. I curry thoroughly first with a Grooma curry (the small, jelly rectangular one, not the big, round heavy black one, as I have small hands), then I use this, then I follow with a shedding blade (not in a loop) to do the curving, rounded areas. We’ve looked at our local big box home-improvement store, and haven’t seen a blade that looks equivalent to what is on this tool; we would like to replace it (still works, but does show wear), rather than the whole tool, as the handle is still in fine shape.
I bought a Furminator a few years ago, but it couldn’t handle my horses’ coats, and wasn’t worth the money or the effort in using it.
I, too, received a pair of the Hands-On gloves as a gift and finally used them last week. They’re great! I really like being able to use both of my hands in a circular fashion, and currying with them as I go. They remove quite a bit of hair on my horses, loosen what’s left for easy removal by the hacksaw-type tool, and are not tiring to use.
When my horses blow their winter coats, grooming them leaves a pile of hair surrounding their feet that resembles that from a full body clip; songbirds hang around to pick up hair for their nests:).
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I got got the strip hair given last year… seriously it’s just a thick piece of harder rubber! My curry mitt works just as well, don’t waste your money!
You will have to pry my SleekEZ from my cold dead hands. I LOVE it. Most of the horses in my barn love it too, and really lean in to it and make happy faces when you use it. But my thin-skinned redhead isn’t a huge fan. It works 100% better on his fine hair than any other tool I’ve tried, so I like it. He tolerates it, but I think it makes his skin a little sore. I try to not spend too much time working on any single area, and I don’t use it on back-to-back days.
My husband bought me a Ferminator a couple of years ago. It has held up and worked on both of my horses. One is an OTTB mare, who hates to be groomed, yet tolerates the Ferminator fine. The other mare is a wooly Mammoth. That tool works really well on her. I have not noticed cut hairs.
You all have me coveting a SleekEZ!
I think the key with the blades (SleekEZ, Furminator, Groom Ninja) is to be careful not to cause something like a “razor burn”, especially on the sensitive-skinned ones. Don’t swipe too deeply or too fast.
@Palm Beach , you may find the grip/contours of the Groom Ninja more comfy for hands and wrists. I found the SleekEZ effective, but tough on my hands and wrist joints. I can use the Ninja easily, even less strain on wrists than a Furminator. (I save my medium size Furminator for the dogs.)
Is there an easy MacGyver-method for making a Strip Hair block? We need that for saddle pads before washing, especially in shedding season!
Seems like some of these items are “grabbers” (the ones with blades), and others are static-magnets (the ones with rubber nubs). I like the “grabbers” because they seem to result in less fuzz flying around, getting in eyes, mouth, all over clothes… :dead:
A kind friend gave me a Sleekez as a gift. It certainly works, but I also find it very hard on my hands and wrists. I keep looking at it wondering if it would be easier if it were half the size.
My “hates to be groomed” wooly mammoth/shark cross is surprisingly happy with it–much more so than a conventional shedding blade.
They do make them smaller…all the way down to a super wee 2.5" version: https://www.sleekez.com/collections/all
My SO decided we should buy some kind of shedding tool for our English Springer Spaniel. It’s his first go round with a dog so to him he thinks he sheds a ton…he really doesn’t compared to how my labs shed. So he bought a small Grooming Ninja. It actually works fairly well on the dog, to be honest. I haven’t gotten a chance to use it on my yak-appearing horse. I’ve always just used a typical shedding blade and round rubber curry.
I have to admit too that the Striphair also works really, really well. I don’t like to spend money on these types of things because I think a curry, hard brush, soft brush and a little elbow grease go a long way, but I was shocked. I would definitely recommend it. Especially this time of year since it removes all the white, scuzzy grime that builds up after months of wearing blankets.
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