So, I’ve read a lot of people on here singing praises about the grooming tool “Tigers Tongue”. I saw one person even list it on the “things every owner needs to have” (or something along those lines). I bought one and was excited to give it a try and I just don’t get it. What’s the big deal? Why does everyone love this? Am I using it wrong?
It seemed to work decently on the legs but anywhere else it really didn’t do the trick. I’ve gone back to a curry because it worked better at getting the mud off the coat. Surely I’m using this thing wrong since people seem to love it? Can someone enlighten me?
I bought one because my trainer loved hers, and I didn’t get it either. Until I did. Suddenly I realized IT DOES EVERY JOB! It’s a brush when you need a brush, it’s a curry when you need a curry. Dried dirt inside your horse’s boots? No prob! Now the only drawback is that they wear out a bit quickly. I’m not through my first one yet though.
It’s like anything else… some of it is marketing hype, and some of it is great. My horse despises brushes, regardless of how expensive or how cheap they are, and does not stand still for being curried even very gently, but he is very pleased with the Tiger Tongue. And, it is so much faster than brushing (for us). I do agree that it is really nice for de-crusting heads and legs.
I love mine, but I have a TB who hates curries and yet loves to use his pee spot as a pillow…in South Dakota…in the middle of freaking winter. The Tigers Tongue gets the dried urine gunk off without pissing precious pony off too badly. It is better for bathing and scrubbing purposes than actual grooming with a good curry and stiff brush.
I think many of the likes are people who have sensitive horses who get offended by currying (which mine can). I like that it does a great job on legs & faces & knocking mud off blankets & Mr. Sensitive appreciates it.
I don’t like that it began disintegrating in less than a year - I wouldn’t have even minded that as much if it was labeled to that effect. So I now consider it like a Magic Eraser - a great tool, but a temporary one.
I use mine as a brush, and it’s pretty much replaced my body brushes. My horse is the filthiest animal alive, doesn’t generally appreciate being curried (though we did get a super soft Epona curry recently that is okay). He tolerates the Tiger’s Tongue just fine - I don’t curry with it, just brush in the direction of hair growth to loosen dirt and get a nice shiny coat! I also use it as a bathing scrubby.
This, but I kind of expected it to have a life expectancy. it is my all-purpose curry for TBs and closely clipped horses. it gets the stuff off without irritating them.
I also love my long toothed soft curry from Haas. I find them pretty interchangeable except the Tiger Tongue is better for legs and faces. So I use the Haas on the body, as it will take forever to wear out, and the Tiger everywhere else. The Tiger is also good for post-riding saddle and girth marks, better than a standard or Haas curry.
I should also say I don’t use either in a round motion. they work best stroking with the hair. I should say, they might get stuff off circularly, but my sensitive horses like that it can get the curry job done without reversing their hair ever.
I used it as a clipping aid this year, as it was too cold to bathe. worked great. I got through 2 horses on a set of blades, which is as good as bathing. I might get another 1/2-1 horse but ran out of victims. Pretty sure I could do a trace on the blades still if I took my time.
That black foam looks just like the 5"x48" long stick of Gutterstuff you can get at Home Depot for just over $6.00. We had a stick of Gutterstuff in the garage that I used to make a filter for something. Not sure it’s still there. If it is, I’ll try a piece out on a horse. I’m trying to find out what type of foam the Epone Tiger’s Tongue is made of so I can compare it to the Gutterstuff.
I love it. First it is my go to grooming tool, then the slightly older ones are the best bath scrubbies and the really old ones (compressed and maybe leaving bits behind) are absolutely fantastic for cleaning the wheels on my carriage. OK, so that last one is probably only useful to a fairly small group of people, but my non driving friend donates her used ones to my cause. Which is good since an old tiger tongue doesn’t clean too many clay encrusted wheels before it is a deceased tiger tongue.
But I would argue against the idea that it was good marketing. I’ve never seen an ad or any form of marketing. What I have seen is a whole lot of word of mouth (it became a topic of conversation on a thread on coth a few years ago) So yeah it might not be your thing, but it’s not exactly popular due to Madison avenue!
Also, they now have one that is half sponge half tiger tongue. It does double duty applying equiderma at home and cleaning off manure stains with waterless shampoo at shows.
I like mine too - I use it after a ride to remove sweat marks and go over the coat. Before ride I use a rubber curry and dandy brush. My horse really likes it on his face as well. It’s also useful for removing dried poultice.
Different consistency, the Tiger Tongue is more flexible and Gutterstuff denser.
But you’re reminding me I need to go get more Gutterstuff.
I use the Tiger Tongue as a bathing implement. It’s scrubby without being abrasive, easier to hold than a bathing poof but dries out much faster than a sponge, and because of the material you can sanitize it without ruining it. Good as a sponge replacement for busy farms with lots of horses sharing equipment.
For grooming, I don’t get as much use out of the Tiger Tongue, but my horse wants to know what took me so long in buying Hands On Grooming Gloves. Those things are fantastic.
I ride a sensitive redhead and she likes it!
They do get worn out quickly, but I really like the “magic eraser” quality on her legs, especially in winter.
I agree I really don’t think it’s as good as a curry (or at least not as fast), especially not on properly caked on mud.
I have noticed a big difference in how clean she is under her blankets since starting to use one.
She’s no longer pre-dusted as soon as I take her blankets off, and last winter she’d get dusty buildup around her saddle pad during a ride, which she no longer gets. So I guess maybe overall it does do a better job than currying + brushing.
I have a string of sensitive and bratty chestnut mare polo ponies and tigers tongue is my EVERYTHING. The ones who run from a brush actually love the tigers tongue. I actually have 2 that I decided not to clip this winter because once they got to California, the combo of religious blanketing and tiger tongue rubdowns has their coats looking absolutely amazing and shed out nicely. Even the least friendly of the bunch begs for a face rub with this thing. it does an awesome job with mid-to-low levels of mud caking and also rubbing out sweat marks when it’s too cold to hose off.
i have to add that the best way to get through major mud clumps is an older and kind of hardened clear scrubby thing. The kind you can put your hand inside and there’s nubs in one side and bristles on the other. I’ve converted all my friends to that gadget for really bad mud situations.
