It’s that time of year when you run your hand over your horse, and it comes back looking like you are wearing a mitten!
I love shedding season! It is so satisfying to brush and brush and have a shiny horse after all your hard work!
I have always thought that shedding happened when the weather got warmer. I was wrong. It happens as the days get longer! The pituitary gland knows when there is more daylight, this produces hormones that cause your horse to shed its long winter coat.
There are so many great reasons to help your horse shed out their winter coats. I think that my favorite part is the time you spend with your horse. I’m not going to lie – I talk to my horse the whole time. They never answer but I know they get what I am saying! 😊
I recently tried 4 different kind of shedding tools and here are some of my thoughts ..
Electro Groom Vacuum – Our horses love a good vacuum, the little nubs on the vacuum end give a little massage while sucking out the hair and dirt! I love the Electro Groom Vacuum. It has been in the barn for years and keeps on going! Easy removable filter bag to catch all of the dust and debris! The vacuum comes in handy all year long!
Equigroomer – This tool has smaller teeth to really get into the hair. It was great for pulling dirt and dander up from below the coat. The Equigroomer was very effective on the hair as well. When the teeth get full, the hair comes off easily. Highly recommended for very hairy, dirty horses.
Metal Shedding Blade – this is the old school tried and true shedding blade. The teeth on this shedding tool are a bit bigger than the Equigroomer. Works great for those extra hairy, dirty horses. The handle can come apart if you would like to get more area done quickly. I also like that this can double as a sweat scraper when your horses aren’t shedding!
Betty’s Best StripHair Groomer – I love this tool for my horse that has sensitive skin. She doesn’t really love the teeth on the other groomers, so this is perfect. There are little rubber nubs that are great for hair removal, bathing, massaging and more. It bends so it is easy to get to places that the stiff groomers can’t get into. Love this for an everyday groomer!
Hands on Grooming Gloves – These are great grooming gloves! They fit my hands perfectly and I can really get into a great grooming/massage! There are little nubs on palms and on the fingers. The nubs are bigger than the nubs on the StripHair so you may be able to get a bit deeper down into the coat. You can use these for bathing as well!
So, at the end of the day, I would love to have all of these tools in my grooming bag. They are all great, depending on what you would like to accomplish that day.
I had a great time spending time grooming my horses and letting them know all my thoughts! I left the barn knowing that they felt loved, and I felt loved by them.
Happy Grooming!