solo comb

Wouldnt be without mine as horse just wont let me pull it properly!! although the result isnt as good with the solo comb ( it doesnt thin the mane out as well as pulling it properly ) i can still get a reasonable result without having to fight her to pull it properly!
 
I think it can depend on the thickness of the mane. I did my welshx with a fine mane and it was good, my friend was so impressed that she got me to do her horse (thick mane) it was awful looked like it had been hacked with a knife and fork.
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If you want to thin out a thick mane you might be worth trying a mane and tail rake. I've used one successfully to thin a mane, then I shortened it using solo comb and scissors.
 
I tried a mane and tail rake on my mare at it made a right old mess looked great lovely and thin till it started to grow back and as i had taken it all out the underneath it made all her mane stick up everywhere. Is there a special nack to doing a mane with one??
 
ooh I don't like them personally, used it a couple of horses. One had a very thick mane a pulling it was just a nightmare, but a solocomb just made it look awful and didn't really thin it that well at all.

It's only really given a decent result (in my opinion!!) on one horse who had a pretty thin mane. As much as I hate it, I'd pull everytime..
 
I use solocomb - my horse goes balistic if she even thinks you are going to pull. Someone commented on her nicely pulled mane last year, didn't have heart to say it wasn't. I use it as though I was pulling. Tiny amounts, backcomb to roots and cut. I think if you use it to snip ends or try to do too much at once you get problems. Probably not as neat as pulling as the cut ends are always more spikey than a pulled mane, but if your horse objects its better than getting into a battle.
 
I think it's quite easy to overdo the thinning with the rake, I just used it a little bit each evening until I'd got enough out. There's a few threads in here and the stable yard which have got some good advice on how to use them.

And there's some good tips on the website. I just combed through the forelock on mine to get it much thinner and it's worked really well.

http://www.clippersharp.com/smart_tails.php
 
I have to use one on my boy. His mane is course and thick especially in the middle. If you back comb to the roots underneath then it does thinnen it and it doesnt look hacked at or cut. Just make sure you do a small amount at a time as you would when pulling. Pulling gives the best results but with practice Solo combing gives a decent finish.
 
I really don't like solo combs, I use a large serrated knife instead it's much better. I use the knife to get the mane to the right length and then i slide it underneath the mane from roots to tip to thin it. The end result looks like a traditionally pulled mane.
 
Now having been brought up in showing and using traditional methods I wouldnt entertain a solo comb.
However, had a very very difficult horse who wouldnt let me near his mane so I tried a solo comb and it was fantastic.
As long as you take your time and dont just *cut* you get the same affect with a much happier horse at the end of it.
I also started to use it on the tail too! Ive had a lot of nice comments about my pulled tails from ppl who were utterly gob smacked that i had used a solo comb!
So you can get the same natural pulled look IMO.

However, YO has a pony who has a huge mop of a mane - shes always clipped it which looks awful, so she used a solo comb but not properly so there were uneven lenghts - her son went mental and has now promptly cut it like a show jumpers mane - arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! drives me bonkers lol
 
I'm not a fan - they give a "false" look IMHO. I prefer the traditional method but saying that my boy has a thin easy to pull mane. I guess if I had to attack a thick difficult mane I'd consider other methods. A lady on my yard strokes her horses mane with small clippers and that gets a good result (does not thin though I guess).
 
Our chap is a lighweight cob with a VERY thick mane, and he just hates his mane being pulled - would have to sedate him to do it! So over the years the best approach we have found is use thinning comb with built-in razor first to really thin the mane, then Solo Comb - backcomb right up to base, taking just a very few hairs from the underneath of the mane each time. The end result is a very neat mane, and a chilled horse ...
 
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