Mane rake - whether to use and which one!?

[cyearsley]

My boy has a very thick unruly mane and am desperate to thin it out but he hates his mane being pulled. I don't plait him up that often but do need to do so about once a month....question is would a mane rake be just the job? Have read that they are good but not if you need to plait the mane.....have used a solo comb, thining scissors etc to no avail. Anyone got any experiences, how is best to use it and which one to buy. Have seen Smart Mane rakes, Oster... and also they come in fine, medium, coarse etc - help !! He is an ID x TB so it's quite thick and tough! Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[spaniel]

I lent my tail rake to someone as she couldnt pull her horses coarse mane without the mare going vertical. Its no good used on the top but if you run it through underneath it does thin it out a bit. It takes ages though as it just doesnt do the same job it does on tails.

Mines a Smart Tails one and has the coarse teeth.

 

[Kenzo]

They do have there advantages, specially with horses that don't like there manes being pulled or with horses that do naturally have thick manes, as this could become quite sore for both your horse and your fingers!

I agree if your not plaiting up nor want that perfectly pulled look then yes they are a great tool for a quick fix tidy up job.

Always run it through underneath, never ever on top, some may say brush the mane over to the opposite side so its easier, but even then the mane will not lay correctly as the roots are used to growing in a certain direction so you could be easily misled, just in case people say do it that way, don't, you'll make a balls of it.

Thinning scissors a useless for thinning manes all the way through, I only use them on the end of the mane, otherwise you can't plait up and to be honest your not actually taking any of the mane out, just thinning it but with the rake, it does actually pull some of it out but feels more like a brush/comb than somebody rips strips of hair out bit by bit with a mane pulling comb, hence why many horses will tolerate the rakes.

I have in the past cut the mane (wait for it.. wait for it!) then raked it, then finished the ends off with thinning scissors so it does not look like it has been cut or a dog grooming pulling knife thingy or what ever its proper name is and been able to plait up well too, so it can be done but you just have to be careful as you can easily make them look stupid if you mess up

I don't like solo combs at all, I think there a useless invention.

.....-----------------------

Just edited to say, just incase you were looking and thinking it, don't look at the manes on my sigi, the mane on the Welshy has not been touched (rubbed by rug) and as for Macka's, his mane has not been touched since last summer, hence why its frizzy mess, still got a bit of baby mane in it too.