I bought a GroomNinja last year. I really like it. Works good on the dog too!!
Agree- I made my own “sleek EZ” with things I had sitting around- hacksaw blade and wood. It’s nice to be able to customize the size/style.
Best shedding tool by far … a good set of clippers with nice sharp blades.
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Don’t like the SleekEZ, I borrowed one and it didn’t seem to do much of anything.
Like the three ring shedding blade, seems a little bit sturdier than the single blade, and holds a little more fur before you have to clean it out (like 2-3 passes, instead of 1). Horse approves of it, too, but he’s a little crazy when it comes to anything that can give scritches–the rougher the better.
I think the best part about the Hands On gloves is you can wear them while you do all your other grooming tasks, and both hands, so even when I’m using the 3-ring I’m also using the Hands On gloves if I get to some mud, or for tricky areas like hocks and fetlocks.
I use a jelly comb with the really fine teeth for his face, it’s the only brush that really seems to get hair up and off, without spreading a lot of loose hairs around (and potentially into eyes, etc.). Sometimes I’ll swish a jelly curry over his body when he’s clean but the loose fur will not stop, so we look decent enough in public.
I love my shop vac for dust and getting really clean, but it doesn’t really seem to help with shedding (maybe you need one with serious suck, mine is just a normal one)–mostly the fur just gets static-y and sticks to everything (including the outside of the hose/vac). Blow is slightly better than suck, but not much. I do sometimes use suck mode around his face (carefully, with a crevice attachment, and my horse is not normal/is a saint)–when the loose fur has gotten overwhelming and even the jelly curry isn’t getting it away from his eyes.
Overall, though, it sheds when it sheds–tools are just for getting it tidied up after the shedding has happened.
Sometimes I rake up all the fur to take pictures for non-horse people who say things like “my cat sheds a lot this time of year, too”. One of these piles was mistaken for a groundhog–right size, right colour, and roughly the right shape. This is 2-3 times a week every week for two and a half months, with half a month on either end of lesser shedding. And it comes out in patches, shoulders and rear down to summer fur when neck and barrel are still long and fluffy, and legs are shedding from the bottom up…looks like fluffy pants.
I curry really well first and then use the SleekEZ…works great.
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Any tool that has someone else’s arm attached to it!
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I like the Hands On gloves - they keep the hair relatively contained so I don’t get so much in my mouth. Apparently I am unable to brush a horse with my mouth closed. Second best is the Epona shedding flower. I use a soft jelly brush on the face.
I’m a furmerator fan!
Another vote for the shed flower - that goofy little thing works a charm!
That old classic shedding blade. The Hands On gloves work well for faces and legs.
For years I used the heavy round rubber Grooma curry; now I’m a Shed Flower convert. (Although I do wear down the teeth after some time). I find the Sleek EZ more comfortable for working on different areas. The metal shedding blade had to be held at odd angles when doing the sides and belly; EZ is more comfy. A quick blow with my mini Shop Vac, sucking up the extra hair and dirt if the coat is short, and a final brushing. For the face I use small pieces of the stinky block. I swear my horse thinks I’m scraping his brain when I use it around his eye sockets.
Hands on grooming gloves, furminator, and haas hard large curry. It takes an ar,y of tools to get the woolies off
This gets my vote too
Another vote for a good place to roll!
I like the old tear drop shaped shedding blades where the handles hook together. Mostly I just let nature take it’s course.
On the other hand, you can always just wait until it comes out on it’s own that’s what elk, deer, coyotes and other critters do.
I keep a slicker brush in the grooming kit for getting fuzzies out of velcro. I recently, in desperation, tried it on the neck and hindquarters of the woolly beasts. It worked great! Pulled out a lot of hair without letting it fly everywhere. Not a replacement for currying but a nice option to try.
The even better result was using a slicker brush on dried mud. The little wires work perfectly at breaking up the mud and getting into all the nooks and crannies. The best was that the mud did not get caught in the brush, allowing me to flick and keep going. A $10 options I recommend.
(If you don’t know what a slicker brush is: https://www.amazon.com/Safari-Self-Cleaning-Slicker-Brush-Large/dp/B000YIWVA0 - any dog supply store should have it)
I thought I was doing God’s work with the SleekEz and then I impulse purchased a shed flower. That thing makes me feel like a 6 year old AND works better than anything else I’ve used.
As a burgeoning old lady, I wish they made them in more conservative colors, but you better believe I’ll be buying another one to have on hand in case this one gets tired from all the mustang hair it’s pulling off!
Another fan of the Equigroomer. My gelding gets incredibly fuzzy and takes his time shedding. After 16 shedding seasons I’m finding the hacksaw blade style to be the best. He also usually gets a bit of rain rot on his rump in the summer. Just scattered dots here and there, probably because he on pasture board. It’s not nice to pick the scabs off with your fingernails. I let them run their course and the Equigroomer pulls them off nicely when they have dried out and easily detach.
I love my HandsOn gloves and so does my big mare. The smaller mare finds them to be too nubby for her delicate sensibilities, so she gets a slicker block.
I love the HandsOn gloves, and my horse is one to shed slowly rather than blow it out all at once. They are amazing for the legs and other areas where you can’t use a blade easily. I use them year-round as a curry, and also use them at bath time.
For the horses who shed quickly I like the round metal curry or a blade in a block type.
