My horses are normally clipped all winter, but this year, I have a few fur balls that weren’t clipped and they’re shedding like crazy! I keep seeing ads for different shedding tools and I’m wondering: which are worth the investment?
I think I own all of them! At some point or another each gets put into use so hard to recommend just one…
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I use the Furminator all the time. Definitely good for heavy/thick coats. Between the Furminator and a regular shedding blade, I can get through anything.
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I like the SleekEZ (or any other hacksaw-in-a-block-of-wood tool)
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I’ve been contemplating getting myself some tyvek coveralls and going to town with the curry comb and my shedding blade. De-sensitising AND de-woolly mammothing all at once!
On a more serious note, I do like my metal curry/round shedding blade. It works pretty well.
I just buy hacksaw blades and use them like regular shedding blades. It is cheap, works great and since they come in packs with multiple blades, I always have a fresh sharp one that really grips those loose hairs.
round, firm, long-toothed curry combs and a standard shedding blade have always worked just fine for me - I’m in TX and we’re almost completely shed out already, but even in MI/OH that was enough. A nice pile of sand that the horses can roll in will get off quite a bit of hair with no effort on your part, lol.
:lol:
Remember not to wear any kind of lipgloss or lip balm :eek:
I like the handled blades with a smooth side & a toothed side to the blade.
Hacksaw-like, but w/o any chance of me shredding my fingers on an actual hacksaw blade.
The shedding blocks work pretty good, but cost too much as I go through them too quick when cleaning hair off by scraping on a hard surface. Every scrape takes off some material from the block, soon just a nubbin left.
I got a BBQ grill cleaning brush with a handle for ~$5 that works the same way & lasts a lot longer
I too find that the grooming blocks aren’t as useful as I’d like. That and they don’t get have the currying action, so it might get the long hair off the top… but I still have to exhaust myself for another hour getting the currying done. I like the grooming blocks for minor cleaning up, but not the large projects like shedding out.
I do really like the round shedding blade with the handle! I still sometimes manage to catch it on things now and again, but it’s reasonably safe, blade-wise. I haven’t tried the hacksaw shaped one, but I think my neighbor one stall over does so I may borrow it to experiment.
I’m a huge fan of the Equigroomer. I bought the smaller dog size one because it fits in my hand better and I can maneuver it better. Takes off the hair so easily, and leaves their coats super soft and shiny! My horse loves it. He actually drops his head for me so I can (carefully) run it over his blaze. It gets all the itchy spots :lol:
Another vote for a hacksaw in a block of wood type of tool.
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Not a fan of my Sleek EZ…maybe I need to revisit it. I love my cheap shedding blade + the HandsOn grooming gloves! Those are the best. Like a massage and shedding in one. Great for legs/belly/sensitive areas and hands don’t get tired from gripping a handle.
Furminator for the spring ‘high’ shedding season. SleekEZ block for minimal shedding or later in the year when summer coats are blowing to make way for winter ones.
I have a pair of HandsOn ordered, so hoping they get here soon…
Current horse sheds slowly over 4 months starting Jan 1 so it’s not a big deal.
Pony when I was a kid got huge coat and seemed to blow it out in one week. Back then I used one of those long flexible shedding blades with one toothed side and one smooth side, and leather on the hand grips. That was the only shedding specific tool back then but I can’t imagine anything working better. Used to get rolls of white hair on the ground like I’d just sheered a sheep!
I like the shed flower: https://www.sstack.com/product/shedding-flower/
Note - I have a TB who barely gets a winter coat (he’s in work all winter and I don’t clip, and he needs blankets). However, the shed flowers do a good job of grabbing all the loose hair, and as a bonus, the hair tends to fall out of the flower easily so it doesn’t get clogged.
I’ve also heard of using a dull rasp instead of those expensive shedding blade-in-a-block tools. I’ve got a couple old ones from my farrier and gave it a try. The horses seemed to accept it well and it did appear to work.
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Since you are in Nevada and are probably getting warm days, I would highly recommend bathing them and brushing out the shedding hair during the bath. It is so much nicer to deal with that hair when it is wet as opposed to having it fly all over and get in your face and clothes and barn and… everywhere. Another advantage is that when you bathe and brush, it seems to do a more complete job of loosening up the hair and getting it out than just a simple thorough grooming.
I use an old-fashioned circular metal curry comb and a bristle brush and it works well. I also use a metal shedding blade.
I’m amazed at how much better the HandsOn gloves work compared to everything else. And my horse likes them the best as well. I will sometimes follow that with the SleekEZ, but it seems to help to loosen more of the undercoat with the gloves first. The SleekEZ does get out more of the dirt and dander that the gloves and curries just seem to smear around.
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ShopVac --it took about 10 min to desensitize the boys to the ShopVac --I use two different tools on them --the one that looks kind of like a round brush, and the sort of “car vac L shaped one.” --sometimes I use a SleekEZ AND the ShopVac --one in one hand, one in the other —sucks the hair right off. The boys seem to fall asleep while I do it —one really likes the “action” under his chin down his neck. He keeps positioning himself to “get a rub.” I don’t tie --just stand them in the aisle until I have had enough. Then they head out and I dump 16 gallons of hair outside the barn. OH --meant to mention that the geldings come from “cow horse” backgrounds --completely ok with (gentle) Power Washing and ShopVacs –
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I go for the classics (shedding blade and a rubber curry)
