Those who 'solo comb' (tips please)

Jill Crewe

Jill Crewe

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My solo comb has arrived today - so am off up the yard this evening to give it a go!

Please tell me all the tips you wish someone had told you before you used yours for the first time - I (and my horse!) will be very grateful!! :):)
 
Just use mine like you would when pulling put without the pulling bit. Don't do what i did the first time when i got bored halfway through so started taking bigger chunks at a time to speed things up a bit, It doesn't lead to a good look when you've finished :rolleyes:
 
I hate them, they are fiddly to use, if you are not really careful they cut the mane so that it grows back spikey, they are not too bad if the mane is already thin but for a thick mane I would never use one. A rake and scissors used carefully will do a better job, sorry:)
 
DizzyDoughnut said:
Just use mine like you would when pulling put without the pulling bit. Don't do what i did the first time when i got bored halfway through so started taking bigger chunks at a time to speed things up a bit, It doesn't lead to a good look when you've finished :rolleyes:
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Ditto. If your horse reacts badly to being pulled it may take a while for him to accept the solo comb, mine thought she was going to be pulled when i pushed the comb back up to the roots. Also be careful not to get the comb tangled and inadvertently pull hairs out you will be back to square one.
 
Same as using a comb, only you are cutting, not pulling. Mine does a great job on a thin mane and looks quite OK and grows back naturally.
 
DizzyDoughnut said:
Don't do what i did the first time when i got bored halfway through so started taking bigger chunks at a time to speed things up a bit, It doesn't lead to a good look when you've finished :rolleyes:
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Thanks for the tip - that's definitley the kind of thing I would end up doing! I'll do a bit each evening then :)

be positive said:
I hate them, they are fiddly to use, if you are not really careful they cut the mane so that it grows back spikey, they are not too bad if the mane is already thin but for a thick mane I would never use one. A rake and scissors used carefully will do a better job, sorry:)
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whisp&willow said:
solo comb will not thin the mane, only shorten it. i learned this the hard way with mine. :o x
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Thanks - I'm planning on raking it first as it is very thick! :)

On the demo it shows them snipping it at the required length - not at the root - so I don't see how it ends up growing back spikey? :)

Magicmillbrook said:
mine thought she was going to be pulled when i pushed the comb back up to the roots. Also be careful not to get the comb tangled and inadvertently pull hairs out you will be back to square one.
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Over the last few nights I've been just back combing his mane and nothing else so fingers crossed he will be okay - sounds good in theory doesn't it :D
 
My mare has a bushy mane and will try and splat me against the wall if I pull. Gently with the solo comb works, take the underside hairs as if you are pulling but don't be tempted to speed things up and do larger clumps. It can work if you are careful but plaits are never the same, they are a bit spiky however well you use the comb.
 
Works well on a fine mane only. Definitely don't use on anything thicker. Especially not a thicker forelock or you'll make your horse look like a Lego man. Which is not good and will cause people to point and laugh. I speak from experience.
 
VickyP said:
My mare has a bushy mane and will try and splat me against the wall if I pull. Gently with the solo comb works, take the underside hairs as if you are pulling but don't be tempted to speed things up and do larger clumps. It can work if you are careful but plaits are never the same, they are a bit spiky however well you use the comb.
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I'm not planning on plaiting anytime soon so that doesn't matter :)

philamena said:
Works well on a fine mane only. Definitely don't use on anything thicker. Especially not a thicker forelock or you'll make your horse look like a Lego man. Which is not good and will cause people to point and laugh. I speak from experience.
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Conflicting opinions here on use on thick manes - do I go for it and risk 'clip-on-lego-hair' or do I abort mission and save him from the potential ridicule?!? :D:D
 
I tried the rake and solo comb route with my youngster last year- she has a THICK mane, and hated it being pulled to plait up for her yearling showing...

I will NEVER ever do it again. Looked fine for a short while afterwards, but not neatly plaitable and looked horrendous after a few weeks.

This year I will dice with being splatted against the stable wall- it is the only way i am going to get a neat and manageable mane.

Otherwise she will just have to be hogged... that is my threat to her
 
whisp&willow said:
I tried the rake and solo comb route with my youngster last year- she has a THICK mane, and hated it being pulled to plait up for her yearling showing...

I will NEVER ever do it again. Looked fine for a short while afterwards, but not neatly plaitable and looked horrendous after a few weeks...
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That doesn't sound good :( What do you think the reason for it being horrid after a few weeks was? I must say I had doubts about the rake - as it just seems to break all the hairs and seems quite harsh. Do you think it was more the raking than the solocombing that had a negative effect?
 
whisp&willow said:
DONT DO IT! :p unless you have a horse with a very thin mane (i'e typical tb mane) then don't touch it with a solo comb!

solo comb will not thin the mane, only shorten it. i learned this the hard way with mine. :o

x
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Yes it does thin it if you use it like this:

Comb through the mane first, then starting at one end (I start at the withers) back comb small sections and snip of at the roots. Do this until mane has been thinned evenly, then start again at one end taking small sections and snip at required length.

You can also use a mane rake if the mane is particularly thick, but make sure you comb the mane to the wrong side before using it.

You can also use scissors to finish off if you like the show jumping sharp cut effect, but wet the mane first. If you use scissors and want a more natural effect, then cut upwards in tiny rapid snips so you don't get the sharp cut effect.
 
that is fine if you don't want to plait up... but I was pulling to plait. The problem with doing as you suggest is with spikey re-growth.

As I say, it looked lovely and neat when first solo'd and raked, but it was not plaitable and within weeks was the most horrendous mess that I hid her away and left it to grow back again to pull next year!

I'm talking a THICK mane here- she has the mane and tail of about three horses. Never seen anything like it. :rolleyes:
 
Magicmillbrook said:
Ditto. If your horse reacts badly to being pulled it may take a while for him to accept the solo comb, mine thought she was going to be pulled when i pushed the comb back up to the roots. Also be careful not to get the comb tangled and inadvertently pull hairs out you will be back to square one.
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Same here, I had to give up and now have a warmblood with a long mane that gets a running plait in it! It's the backcombing bit, they expect you to then pull. I prefered the mane rake, but the upkeep was too tricky and we had a very bouffant hairdo for a while when the hairs were growing upwards in a mohican style from underneath.
 
Well I must say.....not sure what all you solo comb haters are on about...but you are all bonkers/incorrect/have no idea what you are on about ;);):D:D

I have just had my first attempt and it was bloomin' fantastic - so easy to use and effortless. Must admit it got to the stage where it was a bit like having a paint brush in your hand and I started eyeing up other bits to snip away at such as feathers and tail. Give it a week and he won't have a single hair out of place :D:D
 
well done.:cool:
I use the "comb to the roots", on the thick bit of mane and "to the required length", on the thin bit. Make sure that the "to the roots", parts come from underneath. Never had problems with plaiting, and if it looks a bit chopped initially it grows out by the end of the week.:rolleyes:
 
I have used a solo comb for years with a very thick mane. I have always used the solo comb to remove the lenght and some of the thickness then used thinning scissors to remove more thickness out of it. I used to show so i needed to plait up regularly and it always worked well for me.
 
I use one regularly too. Never had any problems with mohawks growing back etc - more likely to get that from accidentally clipping the edge when clipping. I use a rake for a few days before to thin it, then do it like I'm pulling. I do find it not quite as neat to plait as a pulled mane, but I manage.
 
One of my horses will absolutely not tolerate having his mane pulled, in fact he becomes downright dangerous! So I bought the solo comb thinking it would solve all our problems haha! However, I learned the hard way that the solo comb does not thin the mane, so what I do is use it in conjunction with a pulling comb and scissors. Basically I go along the mane thinning it with the comb and scissors (back combing and cutting a very small section at a time to make it look as natural as poss) then I go over it with the solo comb to shorten it up. It works okay, never looks as good as pulling though but I have no choice if I want to keep my teeth haha!
 
Please can one of the solo-comb haters explain why a mane that has been solo combed down to the roots is different to a pulled mane that has grown back in so it's a few millimetres long?

Pulled manes grow back in ... so what's the difference between cutting it short a few millimetres above the skin, and pulling it out from a few millimetres below? Genuinely interested - I can see why you'd end up with a bog brush if you solocombed a very thick mane in one session, but surely if you solo comb little and often all you end up with is hairs of varying lengths through the mane? Exactly as you do if you pull little and often!
 
Not sure if this has already been said but - only cut off at the length you want the mane to be - NOT at the top of the mane like I did on my first time! My poor boy ended up nearly bald!! :o
 
ive used solo combs for years on thick manes, thin manes, long and short. Cant remember ever having a problem. But then im not the type who has a breakdown over a couple of hairs out of place, in fact i havent even brushed my own hair today!
 
Put back in the box and send it back! Sorry never seen a good mane including my TB fine mane look good after being "done" with a solo.
Although a rake and tidy with scissors (snipping up) has been my solution for uncomfortable horses
 
just cut the few hairs each time (from the underneath at the root) that you would pull and dont set out to do it in one go,a tiny bit every day over a few weeks
 
Hi not read all replies and it may have already been said but I would say the trick is not to cut at the root, cut at the length you require and err on side of caution. You can always take more off. Also just work on small sections - no more than you would use if you were pulling.

I love mine. Works great on my connie x who has quite a thick mane if left to grow out.
 
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