My horses started to shed in January while I was still in Ohio…and it was COLD! Now that we are in Texas they are really letting go of their hair.
Did you know that the horse’s pituitary gland recognizes the change in daylight hours and triggers shedding?
I LOVE ‘shedding season’…I enjoy breaking out the brushes, clippers and having a ‘make-over day’ in the barn.
This is a photo of Jac’s butt on make-over day last week. I love scrapping off all the old hair (some mud too as he had fun in the turn out) and uncovering the hidden treasure, lol.
My favorite tools for this job are: an old fashion shedding blade and Shine & Detangler for after the bath (the trick is to put the detangled in the mane and tail while wet and let it dry before you brush).
Where do you live? Are your horses shedding yet? What are your favorite grooming tools or tips when they do?
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I am an artist who works with horse hair, both tail and shedded winter coats.[ I have 2 horses as well, 2 halflingers so I will have a whole]. I felt horses winter coats to make a sort of cloth that I then use to make sculptures. Hey if you have any hair that you are just going to throw in the garbage collect it let me know I will pay for shipping. Thanks for the Jac series and your articulate dialogue. Keep up the great and valuable work that you do! Check out my web-site http://www.topazemoore.com for more examples.
Shedding blade but after all the comments about the Furminator, I’ll have to check it out
I purchased a product called a SleekEZ. It comes in 3 sizes. It is fabulous and I highly recommend it.
i love it because it helps you get all the lose hair out
the currycomb
We are in Florida and have days that are 80 and then get down to 37 at night. I will not clip my horses but I will use a curry. If they have not shed out by mid April I give them a teaspoon of crushed chasteberries and the rest of the fur falls out almost over night. This is also a wonderful herb to give a horse with cushings without the side effects of sythetic meds!
I have never heard of chaste berries…interesting!
My appy has always started shedding late Feb into March. I like to use a rubber curry,a stiff brush and a plastic curry with a shedding blade made in it. After I get most of the loose hair off I like to use Cowboy Magic detangle conditioner mixed with water sprayed on a soft brush then brush my horse until conditioner is all over his coat. I also like to use baby oil and water or Skin So Soft and water. Just dont get too much oil. This puts a shine and helps loosen more hair. Works as a great fly repellent too.
Diego also eats rice bran whichs slicks him out from inside to outside.
Montgomery, Texas; shedding blade; was a bit priceie, but, works great!!! And yes, March 16, 2014, they are beginning to shed. <3
We live in Aledo Texas. Yes, shedding has began, although the weather has been so erratic this year my poor horses dont know if they should shed or grow hair!
I live In Alabama. My horses are shedding like crazy. My leopard appaloosa sheds more than then the others. Can’t wait to see the shiny spring coats. 🙂
Nancy
Don’t forget the song birds can use horse hair for nesting material. Recycling at its best!
We in CA are in full shed. My favorite tool is the Oster mane and tail brush. It takes the hair off well and it keeps it nicely contained in the brush. just a couple of taps and it comes to the top and easily and neatly thrown away. I then have the bucket of hair taken out to a more remote part of the ranch and give it to the birds who line their nests with yummy warm soft horse hair! Recycle!
I’m in very NE Michigan, so I’m not grooming our yaks yet… unless they get too muddy to get loft in their coats. They do knock off a lot in rolling (outside 24/7) Too much unpredictable weather here yet. Our typical last free date is the last 2 weeks of May. When we finally DO do some grooming (we don’t ride much this time of year) I feed some ground flex, then use a grill block to shed out. They work GREAT!
I LOVE the SleekEZ!! Works like a charm 🙂
I love using my Sleek-EZ as my main grooming tool all the time. In shedding season you pull out so much more hair than with just a regular shedding blade, and it pulls dirt and dander out of the hair all the rest of the time. I use my rubber curry and soft bristle brushes as well, but the Sleek-EZ is by far the best grooming tool in my box!
I live in Texas weather has been very nice! I have hot water so I can wash then condition , curry , I use cowboy magic shine & detangler the best for me . I have been looking at product called Sleekez curry do you know if it works ? Thanks Deb
I have used the SleekEZ on my Bashkir Curlies for almost two years now, it is soooooo worth the money!! I ended up buying the combo pack with the three different sizes too. It has notet me down once!
A good curry and definitely the shedding blade. We love to loosen the “leftovers” with the grooming block, which works great! Of course, once we have the first bath out of the way (still a long way off here in Western New York), things are really looking up 🙂
A furminator works amazingly well. I use it with one hand and with the other collect the hair that gathers, that way I don’t have to pick it up from the floor. You can get huge hand fulls in no time.
I love my curry comb, and I couldn’t live without the horse vacuum. It really helps pull loose hair, dander, and dirt out till the boys shine! At least until it’s warm enough for a soapy bath.
I love shedding too,I’m always so anxious to see them nice and sleek.Here in Quebec I don’t have to worry about the mud for quite a while, we’re still waist deep in snow. I also start out with a shedding blade and if I have enough energy left after four horses I’ll give them a good rub with a curry comb.The washing will have to wait for warmer weather.
I’m in South Dakota. My black mare is nearly finished shedding, but some of the others are just starting. I bought a furminator a few years ago for the little pony (and my dog) and found that all of my horses love it! It does a really nice job of getting the loose hair out. This year I’m noticing how still they stand for a good spring brushing. All of that loose hair must feel as itchy as it looks.
I live in St. Augustine Florida…we have stalls with run outs and pasture turn out. I have an AQHA Buckskin mare. Although she does not put out much of a winter coat, she is shedding. I am an avid groomer…I use the “old” fashioned shedding blade, (I like the “concentric” circular one), a Furminator, (I am careful how and where, no tender areas for my mare, I use it… but it is GREAT on heavy coats), a grooming stone…and last… a stiff brush…For her mane and tail I use Eqyss conditioner after washing and Cowboy Magic detangler and shine, (I leave that in).
We are in Maine and even as cold as its been the hair falls off if you so much as look at them! I always use the sheddig blade, I just got done my two horses and was brushing on them at least 45 min each and theres no end!! Its still chilly even with our one warm day today but Ill be so glad when I can finally give tem both a much needed bath!
We are in saskatchewan and Pebbles starting shedding allot last weekend. I really like the shedding tool, it cleans her up nicely. She is still wearing her blanket because the weather is not that warm yet.
Yes my horse is shed out on his
Neck and shoulders under his long gorgeous mane
I gave him some artificial daylight
Lots of brushing and hand rubbing
Vacuum too never mess with mane and tail till dry also love detangler and healthy haircare too
I use a Flower Shedding Curry. It’s hard plastic shaped like a flower cookie cutter with teeth. Use it like a rubber curry and watch the hair come off. My farrier comes in and uses the side of her rasp to rub the hair off. I sometimes have to remind her that she needs to do the feet and not just shed the horses out.
We are in northwestern Montana, and even though we have had a pretty tough winter, my colt from last spring has been shedding for over a month now. The two older horses are just starting to shed. But that little colt had a winter coat like I’ve never seen! It was so dense I couldn’t see his skin. I tend to use a shedding blade and a regular hairbrush to shed mine out. The biggest downfall for me is I am not in a barn, just a pasture with run in sheds, and it has not gotten warm enough to bathe. When I was in a barn (and in a more temperate climate) I would just body clip all of my horses because I hated shedding season. With fairly severe allergies to animal dander, I figured it was easier to just get them all done at once in a day or two.
I live in Maone and my horse grows a serious winter coat. He is starting to shed but won’t be fully shedded out until the end of May. I like a good ole fashion shedding blade as well as a curry. Seeing a giant pile on the floor makes it all worth it! Not to mention is shiney summer coat!
An old farriers rasp, they work wonderfully and your farrier generally throws them away. Cheap and works GREAT!!!
I like the regular steel curry and a good brush. We drop some of the hair on the ground for birds to use in their nests. I can’t figure out why I can never remember to put my lip balm on AFTER I do the brushing. 😉
SleekEZ grooming blade! Awesome!!! They are all shedding full blast now. I’m in Southeast VA
I start with the metal curry comb then when all hair breaks lose I go to the shedding blade but so few hairs are coming off because we are highs of 30’s and freezing at night still. I live about an hours plus drive north east of the Twin Cities in Wisconsin. I hate it up here!!!!!!!
I love the curry comb for what it does for me, too, when I use it! Stacy, I just blogged about this very thing myself today! Must be something in the (Spring!) air. I love reading your blog and I think your new logo is BRILLIANT. Here’s my take on the curry comb and body brushes: http://christiancowgirlpoetry.com/2014/03/15/let-there-be-light/ enjoy! 🙂
My tobiano paint, Charley, just started to really blow coat. I have been using a shedding blade and I feel like it’s a process that takes forever – maybe I lack the skills. I’ll try the furminator – I have one for my indoor pets, never thought to try it on my horses! Hopefully warm weather is finally here to stay too – we’ve had an unusually long and cold winter in Houston.
I use a dog shedding tool to start with. The teeth aren’t as deep which the horses appreciate and also stimulates the skin without irritating, can use it over the more ‘boney’ areas such as legs, gets the mud and usually has a more hand friendly handle that is easier to grip, VERY important when you have 9 to groom and arthritis! Then use a lava stone in combination with a rubber teeth curry and then brush with medium bristle brush to bring out the oils. I have 3 different rubber curries, sometimes called rubber massagers, that I use depending on location of the body and how much hair is coming off. When weather is nice enough to give a bath, the rubber curries are great at getting the hair and dirt as sponges get clogged with too much hair to be of much use. First bath of the year boys get a sheath cleaning too. Once clean and while the mane and tails are wet I will use detangler such as Silverado (the best), Vitrolin or Cowboy magic and work it in as they are much more effective that way and go further. I don’t comb til it is mostly dry and lightly damp. Then clippers to bridle path, face, ears and legs. Only one that get full body clip is the mini. Usually takes 2 days to get everybody done but they sure look good for a few minutes til they get turned back out and roll in the mud lol!
Definitely a shedding blade to start. I also use my dogs shedding tool, great for manes and tails. Love how they “lean” into you when you hit an especially itchy spot! I’m midway between Buffalo N Rochester NY in Medina. Can’t wait for spring!
I love the shedding blade but when you bathe for the 1st time during shedding season, use a water curry. It gets all the dead skin, dander and loose hair off that you couldn’t get off dry. My horses are in Northern CA so they have started shedding.
Mine started about a month ago. I told him I was going to get out the tape and tape it back on as I knew we would have some more cold weather coming even though we are in Georgia
My horses have been shedding just a little up until recently. The weather got nice in SD & Bam here comes the hair! I’d heard about the SleekEZ grooming blade & decided to try it. It is amazing! Before that I was using a round metal curry, it got the job done but not quickly. All of my horses enjoyed being groomed with the SleekEZ, even the sensitive, thin skinned QH mare. That grooming blade is going to make shedding season a breeze this year!
Love my SleekEZ too.
Just woundered what you thought about the SleekEz sheding groomer ! I do the same as you but, this is really suppose to pull that extra hair off.
I used to use the shedding blade. This year I switched to the Furminator and won’t ever go back to the blade.
I had a pony that got a super thick coat, no matter how soon she was blanketed, and during shedding season she would gets matted from the shedding hair getting caught with her none shedding coat. After years of dealing with that we bought a Furminator. Like the dog brush but bigger. She shed out in half time and she no longer got matted in her under coat.
Definitely the shedding blade. 🙂
Grace Kobilan Sent from my iPad
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Shedding blade is the only way to go for me. My TB gelding started shedding back in January too and is now going full steam ahead. We’re in southern Michigan. When he started in January I told him he might want to rethink that…we still have a foot of snow on the ground. My mare only got with the program about a week ago. Smart gal.