I second using two brushes together for cleaning hair off!
That’s my trick as well.
Sounds like the Schimmel is definitely one to get, everyone has recommended it so far. Yes, static is so bad this time of year. I have been spraying a coat conditioner lightly before grooming because of it. I will look into the Koko. Thanks!
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Thank you for listing the order you use them in. That really helps!
When my pony/yak is shedding, I tend to go back to my Winner’s Circle brush with longer bristles to get more of a ‘flick’ action with the coat. My Haas will just get filled with hair and slide right over him. When he’s down to summer sleek, the good brushes are used again.
I have been using the Haas Shining Pack brushes at my lesson stable.
Currently my lesson horse is a sensitive QH chestnut gelding, so I use the New Generation curry, the Military, Cavaliere, Country (pig bristle, as an old timey body brush), and the Diva. Unfortunately this horse has navicular disease, and after a few years of being serviceably sound for WTC lessons his navicular is bothering him again. While my riding teacher goes through the hoof X-rays and consultations with the farrier and veterinarian I will be getting my lessons on another horse.
I talked with my riding teacher and we sort of settled on my using another school horse, a skewbald overo mare, mostly chestnut the rest white, and I am curious if anyone else has groomed such a mare with the Haas brushes. I have not handled this mare though the few times I saw her getting groomed she was quiet. The Haas Shining Pack cards tell me to use the Grey horse brushes on her, the Schimmel, Lipizzaner, Coat Gloss and Diva.
Right now, after currying, I am planning on trying the Schimmel on her first to see her reaction to the stiffer bristles. If she objects I will go back to the Chestnut brushes I’ve been using. If she accepts the Schimmel, preferably with pleasure, I will do the Lipizzaner, the Country and the Diva.
My question comes because she is mostly chestnut. Do the less than 30% white patches on her make her skin less sensitive than a regular chestnut horse?
I will find out next week since my lesson tomorrow is probably going to get rained out. I was just wondering if anyone else had to groom such a horse with the Haas brushes and your results.
Since the skin would be pink under the white patches and not gray, I think it’s fair to treat her like a chestnut horse as far as her skin goes.
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I hope I get to try on Friday. Today we have needed rain, possibly thunderstorms, so my lesson got cancelled.
Until I end up with a regular lesson horse again I have to bring a well equipped grooming bag. Right now I know that I may end up riding: a chestnut, a bay, a grey, a dark brown/black, or an Appaloosa.
Variety is the spice of life. 
Sounds like lots of pretty horses!
I would just bring a well equipped grooming bag and use the brushes that the horses seem happy with. I wouldn’t worry excessively about the “color packs.” I think that seems to be mainly something created by Exclusive. At least, I don’t recall Haas selling any brushes catered to particular colors except the Schimmel? (It’s been a while since I looked at the online catalog, I could be wrong about that). The color packs are great but they are probably more a suggestion than a rule. I think some horses just prefer harder vs. softer brushes.
I discovered my black MFT mare isn’t overly sensitive and even lets me use the “rice root” brush on her face. She probably prefers something a little softer like the Amazone but if I have a rice root brush in my hand and give her a few swipes on her face, she’s good with that.
PS. My long-awaited, forever backordered Cavaliere was supposed to arrive today. But at this point it doesn’t look like it is going to make it. Even though it says “out for delivery.” Hopefully tomorrow. I really want to try it.
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It is not so much that I am worrying about the horses and the brushes than it is that I am trying to find SOMETHING to think about other than the current messes we face–war, pandemic, inflation and now possible famines. Learning about the Haas brushes has helped me this way.
An odd thing is happening to me. Whenever I think about the Haas brushes I “get” waves of relaxation and pleasure. I have never gotten such a thing from other grooming tools, with the possible exception of the HandsOn grooming gloves for horses with itchy skin. I get this odd feeling that the horses are “telegraphing” their pleasure from being groomed with these brushes, especially the two who hated being groomed.
At my lesson stable at least three horses have Haas brushes sets in their grooming boxes, and possibly 2 more horses depending on how my teacher distributes the surplus Haas brushes.
I finally got the Eqclusive Shining Pack for the other stable where I ride, plus they have various of the smaller Haas brushes.
I just like making horses happy. Happy horses tend to give me better rides.
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This gave me such a great visual. Now I want some!
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It was that post that inspired me to start down the Haas rabbit hole.
I trusted that mare’s reactions to the brushes.
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I was foolish enough to click the Riding Warehouse link above. It’s all over but the cryin now. I have four brushes in my basket!
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Welcome to the club, you are now an addict, there is no escape
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This is what I was told by a Civil War historian: The South had more deaths due to infections of injuries because they used cotton thread to suture wounds. For the North, cotton was not readily available, so they had to resort to using horsehair for sutures. Because the horsehair was so stiff, the surgeons would boil it to make it softer. They did not realize that boiling it also sterilized it, hence fewer infections in the North.
So, yes, “cooking” it would change the structure.
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@Event_Horse, I love learning random facts like this. And @Jackie_Cochran, I hear you on the need for distraction nowadays. I need more Jeopardy-worthy factoids and less doom-scrolling in my life!
All the “exactly alike” brushes I requested for Christmas are still back-ordered, but my Schimmel is going strong, in spite of my grey’s best efforts to completely plaster himself in late-winter mud. Maybe by the time he sheds out, some more new toys will have arrived. I can’t wait to play beauty parlor after the first spring bath!
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Since I am still waiting on a Haas New Generation curry comb from RW I decided to order some of the incidental brushes from Eqclusive. The postage HURTS, but–
My original Haas Fetlock brush, well my riding stable has it and they find it very useful and effective in cleaning the horse’s legs below the knee. I ordered 2 more, one for my grooming bag and one for the other stable.
I also got myself some of the Haas Koko mane and tail brushes. I have been using the Schimmel on the manes so I know that the coconut fiber works and all the people who have used it on their horses agree about the mud removal powers. This will be like having a mini Schimmel, one that is easier to hold, plus we will be able to get mud off both sides of the horse at the same time (if MJ consents to this, that is.)
I ordered two more of the Eqclusive Brush for Brushes. This tool looks like a long pronged slicker brush, and it gets a LOT deeper into the bristles of the brushes than the curry comb or the Eqclusive Express brush. The Haas brushes pick up so much more of the super fine dust, dust, dead skin cells and dirt that keeping them clean will be a challenge unless I want to wash them a lot (I don’t).
That is probably it until the situation in Ukraine resolves. I am expecting worse supply chain problems with everything, and with the increased cost of oil I know that the shipping charges will get worse. IF the majority of commercially sold horse hair comes from Mongolia, is Russia going to allow horsehair shipments through just so we can get these wonderful brushes?
I am so glad I went ahead buying these brushes, as well as the Fager bits I needed the reins with the color coded rein stops. The days of ready availability of whatever we want to purchase at a cheaper price may be OVER. I had been looking at poll relief bridles, but since what I use now works fine I’m thinking about waiting until later for this latest want. If a horse came to me NEEDING no pressure on his poll I am sure I could get into creative padding on the crown piece of my bridles.
I just received my Haas Cavaliere and synthetic rice root brush from Riding Warehouse, so there’s definitely hope of the out-of-stock items coming back into stock at any time. Yay!!! I had ordered these sometime in early December…I think, it’s been so long I don’t remember exactly when. But they are here! Haven’t had a chance to use them yet, but probably tomorrow.
That’s in interesting question of where the horse hair comes from. Certainly Mongolia is a possibility. But I also wonder, since Europe still slaughters horses, if they come from some place like that? I have no idea at all. Just throwing that out there, because I would assume they would try to salvage all saleable parts of the horse? But yeah, I have no idea.
At any rate, I whole-heartedly agree that we need little happy distractions at times like this. Talking about horses and brushes makes me happy too! It seems like we just survived this pandemic (assuming no worse variations come along) and now we have this stupid war going on. It can be hard to stay positive at times like these. But horses are here to make us happy. 
I look forward to trying the Cavaliere to see if I like the function of the raises edges. My horse is shedding so much right now that I might not get an accurate assessment, but that’s okay. She will be shed out soon enough and I look forward to seeing her slick and shiny! Then I can polish her up with my brushes all I want.
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I decided to jump on the bandwagon and have 4 in my cart. Can you (g) give me opinions on these? I know the Schimmel is pretty popular here and the Diva but the others? I have a very sensitive horse who hates stiff brushes so soft is the key word:
Grundy
Schimmel
Diva
Diamond Gloss
If you have a sensitive horse who hates stiff brushes, the Grundy will definitely be a favorite.
The Schimmel, though, may be too much for him. It’s a fairly stiff brush that is great for pulling embedded dirt up and out, so it’s great for horses that get filthy.
I don’t have the diamond gloss, so I can’t comment on that, but I have found the Cavaliere to be a useful, slightly firmer brush (firmer than the Grundy).
