Favorite brushes for shedding?

[Edre]

Shedding season is upon us (whether the weather agrees to cooperate or not)!

I am the first-time owner of a bona fide woolly mammoth. My experience with shedding season before now has been with a fluffy (but modest) sort of coat that just sort of all puffs out quite politely over the course of one week of rigorous grooming (for which of course, I had my favorite curry comb to assist).

However, I’m finding that I may have been a wee bit spoilt with this in the past.

So, COTHers - what is your current favorite grooming aid for the shaggy beasts out there? It doesn’t need to be a shedding blade in particular, if there’s a curry you find does an excellent job, introduce it!

My submission: this (softer than normal) rubber curry was my go-to with my first horse. I have no idea what brand it is, mine is so old that all markings have worn off. And I’ve had to re-attach the handle. But I love it to death, and am dismayed that it’s not really making much of an assist with the current mammoth situation.

[Frog_Pond]

I have two mini’s and a Cushing horse — all are woolly mammoths! I start with a homemade shedding blade — it’s a hacksaw blade embedded in a wooden handle. You can buy them commercially — sleekeze, something like that. Tons of hair comes off, but you have to stick to the fatty body parts, no legs or bones parts. Then, I don those new gloves, with the nubs all over, and scrub away. Then I use an old fashioned metal shedding blade to knock another layer off. Good luck!

[Bogie]

Clippers. Seriously, you get rid of the hair in one fell swoop!

[PalmPony]

I love those “magic” brushes, they’re great for mud, shedding, everything! And they dont wear out!! Practically indestructible. I tried to post a link but am woefully incompetent at computer things. They look a bit like a plastic scrubby hard brush

[furlong47]

Epona shed flower - also fantastic for getting mud off.

[Malda]

“Sleekez” blades are great. I used to have an Icelandic in Los Angeles and the Sleekez blade was the best for his shedding coat.

[Cbonadeo]

I started to brush my pony today with one of the plastic miracle brushes (I assume same thing PalmPony was referring to), and it was almost immediately clogged with grey hair. Easy to scrape off, but a hassle when I’d only brushed half of one side of her neck :rolleyes: I switched to my Sleekez instead and had a better time of it shrug

I’m assuming a wooly mammoth horse probably isn’t sensitive to stiff curry combs or anything like that, but if you’re at a barn with other folks who might have a Sleekez or shedding blade, maybe see if you can borrow one to test out just in case your horse decides he hates it. One of my barnmates saw me with the Sleekez and mentioned that her more sensitive horse hated them - would suck to buy one and find out your horse won’t tolerate it. (My pony loves it and is half asleep by the time I finish using it lol)

[Edre]

:lol: Considering baby mammoth’s preferred brush is the mud curry (on what I would typically consider “sensitive” places), I am fortunate that I do not have a thin-skinned sort, so can probably get away with a variety of more aggressive implements. Good call on checking that out though! I hadn’t considered that part of it.

I have told her that she is the reason why people body clip… working on teaching her about clippers, so hopefully in the future it will be a viable option as she gains more familiarity with them.

Some great suggestions to look into! I’m excited now. Hopefully success is in sight (somewhere!) Thanks very much, all.

[Highflyer]

@PalmPony

I love those “magic” brushes, they’re great for mud, shedding, everything! And they dont wear out!! Practically indestructible. I tried to post a link but am woefully incompetent at computer things. They look a bit like a plastic scrubby hard brush

Another vote for the plastic miracle brush! My horse who hates to be groomed even semi-tolerates it for some reason. https://www.statelinetack.com/item/roma-miracle-brush/E015371%20YEL/?srccode=GPSLT&gclid=Cj0KCQiAn4PkBRCDARIsAGHmH3eDz04fI2YpmOyLH2g8MJ5QOavFFeFrhpMIpKousdW4YJj9cSDwcdcaAompEALw_wcB

[Bluey]

@4LeafCloverFarm

I’m old school and use a shedding blade. Can’t beat it for area covered in one swish of the blade (used open, two handed)… Plus, the dull side doubles as a sweat scraper!

Wolly Cushing horse here also.

The shed-n-blade as above is hard to beat for shedding.
You do need to have a soft touch with it for the more sensitive types.

Our horses seem to really like it, they enjoy the scratching also.
Never had one that doesn’t like it.

A bath if it is warm enough seems to help loosen hair big time, so it takes less of an effort.

Our horses have not started shedding yet.
Smart of them, we were 3F a few days ago.
With 75F yesterday and more light hours, I expect they will now any day.

[Jo]

I love the Sleek EZ. Works great on wooly mammoth hair. My older, sensitive mare doesn’t like it so I use those hand gloves with the nibs on them. I’m having a mind blank on what they are called though…

[skipollo]

@4LeafCloverFarm

I’m old school and use a shedding blade. Can’t beat it for area covered in one swish of the blade (used open, two handed)… Plus, the dull side doubles as a sweat scraper!

^^^that’s what I use as well. My horse is semi sensitive, not SUPER touchy but doesn’t like really stiff hard brushes. He does just fine with this.

All of my curries (different types) clog up with hair too fast to be effective for shedding. The old school blade is so much easier and is really cheap.

[KBC]

Sleekeaze or similar for ‘round’ areas, Handson Grooming gloves for bony areas, and for massaging all the crud out all over.

[Somantu]

Best shedding tool ever:
https://handsongloves.com/

[ecileh]

@Somantu

Best shedding tool ever:
https://handsongloves.com/

YES!

[MissAriel]

Love my HandsOn gloves and so does my horse!

He isn’t a wooly mammoth, though. I definitely like the old school shedding blade for those mammoth coats.

[rockonxox]

I use a metal spiral curry. I have the shed blade… but I think the spiral curry gets more and is easier for me to hold. Both work fine. Thankfully I went ahead and did a trace clip this year so won’t have a ton of hair to contend with.

[event4r]

Love the handson glove for shedding! I also have a old rubber curry with finger length things on it. They are soft and round at the tip and it works well, I use it before the glove

[fanfayre]

The HandsOn gloves are the only grooming “brushes” my horse will tolerate.
It’s funny, I can get right in and use elbow grease to the max all over her with the HandsOns, and she just loves them, but as soon as I switch to a goat hair brush for a final polish, she gets all twitchy and cranky, even on her neck.

[SolarFlare]

@furlong47

Epona shed flower - also fantastic for getting mud off.

Seconded. Cheap and horses seem to like it. I’ve used it on two thin-skinned TBs for shedding and to remove mud, even on legs and other bony areas.

I do find they get dull after a season’s use, so for maximum effectiveness they should be replaced, but they’re about $5 so I don’t mind.