Taking the threadjack where it belongs - Haas brush thread

Right now I’ve just been running a Haas curry over my brushes every few strokes. Hope that doesn’t damage the bristles but that seems to be the accepted way to clean them as you use them. :slight_smile:

I’ve got the Haas stiff curry. Does anyone have an opinion on the new generation (softer) curry? For use on the horses I mean, I doubt the brushes care what curry I use. :grin:

Oh, I have found that the “rice root” brush does NOT remove the mud as well as the Schimmel. I handed my riding teacher the “rice root” brush to get the mud off my super sensitive skinned lesson horse, and he got irritated because she had to use to repeatedly to make progress on the caked on mud. I handed her the Schimmel for the other side of the horse and it went a LOT quicker and the horse was less irritated.

Awesome! The Shimmel is on my wish-list.

I’ve found the same thing with the rice-root. It’s a GREAT brush but for actual caked on mud, I use the metal shedding blade.

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The two really sensitive skinned horses at my lesson stable will stand quietly when I use the New Generation softer Haas curry comb. These are horses who got really irritated by the six or so other types of “softer” curry combs we had tried.

I wish I would have tried one of those instead of 2 hard curries. I ended up with 2 because I didn’t know if the cute little Pummel Einhorn curry was the same as the “gute” curry. Except for the color, it is.

The Schimmel is the brush that I use most consistently on my gray dirt-collector. It’s almost frightening how much dirt it brings up from the coat. And my horse loves it.

I have both the Amazone and the Cavaliere. They’re a bit different: the Amazone is (I think) a bit stiffer, and the bristles are all one length. The Cavaliere has edge bristles that are about 1/4 inch longer, so I think it does a better job of sweeping hairs and dirt off the coat.

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Same. I find it’s the only brush that doesn’t cause static build-up in the winter, either. The other brushes seem to give my mare a zap every now and then … I’m guessing that’s the effect of the synthetic bristles (?).

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I’ve noticed the same with the Koko mane brush! It’s also coconut fibre like the Schimmel, the only brush that isn’t staticky

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First, I want to thank @seabreeze for her description of how her sensitive mare accepted the Haas brushes, this is what encouraged me to explore the Haas brushes. I thank you, and my lesson horse MJ also thanks you (or would if he understood.)

I had not had a lesson for two weeks, and MJ had at least one ride from his part-leaser. The young lady who helps me groom had few problems grooming MJ, he had just one spot that bothered him, the spot where the blanket tail cord hangs. Otherwise he just chilled out as she used the New Generation curry (the soft one), the Military, the Cavaliere and the Coat Gloss. It was cold this morning so his coat was not lying down enough to show a good shine, but MJ was happy with his life.

I was not expecting much at all from MJ since usually we have to take several minutes before he realizes that he can’t ignore me even if someone else rode him. Not today.

The Haas brushes did not do a miracle warm-up, but his movements improved quickly after I decided that today was the day to warm him up at a super-slow walk. He had no problems understanding my “slow down” leg aids (my reins were sagging) and he did not question my aids. He used this super slow walk to get his legs sorted out, get the kinks out of his leg joints, and then he was prepared for me riding him.

First time ever–I finally got a decent leg yield from him, crossing hind legs and all. He UNDERSTOOD me this time instead of going "What? What in the world are you asking for? and “Why in the h*ll are we doing this?” His turn on the forehand improved beyond belief, he “planted” his forehand by the second step and kept it planted without much aiding from me. This continued all through the 4 TOF I did with him, with light leg aids and usually without a hand aid beyond tweaking my sagging rein. My riding teacher liked his improvement today, and she liked that I was working on getting him to cross one hind leg over the other one.

Being groomed with the Haas brushes may not have warmed up his muscles, but in a way his brain was warmed up because I had no difficulties getting him to do what I wanted. Cooperative, always reaching forward with his muzzle, he “heard” and understood my aids quicker than before and he gave me much better results than usual.

The Haas brushes are making it easier for me to get a good ride from my lesson horse.

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Update on my Haas purchase, and a question:
How do you keep your brushes clean when your horse is shedding?
Photo below is of the Cavaliere brush after rubbing over the curry over and over. :flushed: I’m having a really hard time clearing the hair out of the brushes (it’s February, in Michigan… :dizzy_face: I don’t know what he’s thinking).
I ended up getting the Diva brush (he LOVES this on his face), the Military, Cavaliere, Schimmel, Grundy, curry comb.

He really likes all of them. It’s hard to say that they’re creating a miraculous shine, since he is white, and since it is winter time. He definitely enjoys being brushed by them. But I’m having a horrible time trying to keep the brushes clean, now that he has started shedding a little.
Note: this is not the avalanche of hair to be expected in March/April in Michigan, but the brushes are already coated in white hair, and no amount of scraping over the curry seems to clean them.

Any ideas or techniques that I have somehow missed? I know there’s always something to learn… :blush:

My horse is starting to shed really good too…but she’s black so the hair doesn’t look as bad in the brushes as yours. :wink: I do have a coat gloss that has predominantly white bristles but I haven’t used it much yet. Note to self: make sure future brushes are the same color as your horse’s coat, lol!

I have been doing exactly what you are, running the curry over it and sometimes yanking hair out with my hands. I’ve sort of decided that the hairs that escape and make their way into the brush can stay there and act as extra bristles. :laughing: Seriously, I wonder if they will just align themselves with the existing bristles and make the brushes fuller? Probably wishful thinking, but I’m not going to go crazy trying to get the hair out unless it proves to be a problem. I am still in my first few months with Haas brushes too. Before that, I hardly used a brush and mainly went over my mare with a metal shedding ring as her main grooming tool.

I wonder if washing the brushes would help much? Maybe running a comb through the bristles?

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I run my brushes over the corner of the barn door. Gets all the hair off.

Same shedding white horse problems here with my new ones. I have been using one of those sweat scraper/metal loop shedding blades to clean off the surface a couple times per brushing. IDK if it’s the best way to do it, but it helps.

I got one of the “Eqclusive Brush for Brushes”. It is basically like a slicker brush with longer tines, 15mm long. The brush area is 85mm x 40mm and it has a comfortable handle. There is a video of Marta using it at the Eqclusive site and on YouTube.

After I got home from my lesson on Wednesday I went outside and cleaned my Haas brushes first with the New Generation curry comb then the the Express brush. Interestingly it took me three times as long to get most of the dust out of the Military brush as it did with the Schimmel, Cavaliere and Coat Gloss brushes. Later on that day my Eqclusive Brush for Brushes arrived and I took my brushes out again. My brushes were pretty clean, I did not get much extra dust or dirt from the Schimmel, Cavaliere, Coat Gloss or Kopfburste brushes, but the Military still had some dust in it.

Marta said on the video that you can use the Brush for Brushes on natural hair, synthetic bristle, the sheepskin on the Diva (I’d be rather gentle there) and on gunked up Velcro. She also mentioned using it as a shedding brush on the horse (or any animal which sheds.) It did help getting all the hair out of the brushes, and when I cleaned my boar bristle hair brush with it I got a lot of gunk out of the bases of the bristles.

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What three brushes would you all recommend having as a solid base set for grooming? I have a bay mare that historically doesn’t mind grooming but doesn’t necessarily love it. She typically enjoys being curried though and doesn’t mind a soft finishing brush. However, she is a hairy Morgan and will be shedding heavily soon, I normally just use a shedding blade.

I do have the Haas Grundy brush and she actually does not mind this one at all! I would like to get a couple more Haas brushes to see if she can find grooming more enjoyable and make the process more effective for me. Which additional two or three would you all recommend?

Just by adding in the Grundy to my grooming line up has made her coat so much more shiny! I know there is still plenty of dirt and dander at the base of her coat though. It will be fun to see how much better her coat will be with more Haas brushes.

I would recommend the Schimmel. Its the best multi-purpose brush that I have. I use it for caked on mud, as a water brush, for getting dirt off - and if you wet it, it works against finer particles as well.

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I don’t really have a collection yet but would definitely recommend one of the coconut ones, either the Schimmel or the Koko! I have the latter and my hairy Morgan really likes it! Granted, she really likes grooming anyways but it really gets all the gunk and no static either

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Based on recommendations here, I got the Schimmel and the Amazone. I find that a good combo for stiff and then soft without being too soft.

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I’ve been using a metal shedding blade to get the hair off of the brushes. I run it over the brush very lightly, and most of the hair comes off the brushes after a couple of passes.

With my gray, who does not get much of a winter coat but who loves mud, I use the Schimmel, then either the Amazone or the Cavaliere (the Amazone is a little stiffer I think), and then Grundy’s Finest. I have a Diva, but I don’t use it that much; my horse actually likes the Schimmel on her face (!) and especially for her very hairy ears.

If I just want to get her groomed fast so I can hop on, I’ll just go with the Schimmel and a quick pass with the Amazone.

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I take 2 of the brushes and rub them together to get daily dirt and hair off. Not going to get all that clean during shedding season, but enough. I think it works better than using a curry because if you can pair one of the brushes with another densely packed one (even if different in stiffness), it seems to help bend the bristles enough to dislodge some of the hair. Ultimate hoofpick, used gingerly, can get tufts out of the bottom on thick bristled brushes like the Schimmel. My horse just started round 3 of shedding this winter. I can already see his brand (it’s very faint), and he’s still dumping hair. This is more like April type shedding.

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