Time for some new grooming kit - recommendations needed please.

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Expo

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My grooming kit is a ragged collection of different brushes and others bits and pieces collected over the years, much of it surplus to requirements or old and tatty and ready to retire. As I am in the process of having a good sort out of my stuff, I feel it is time to rationalise a bit and perhaps treat myself to a capsule collection of essentials, so looking for recommendations please. Thank you.
 
I was already old and clumsy when I started regular riding so I bought Oster grooming brushes which are easy to grip. One can wash them and I still use these.
At one point I rode my RI's grey Iberian type eventer whose coat was finer and whose skin was more sensitive than the Irish horses I normally rode. For her I bought a couple of Haas brushes. These are a traditional oval shape. The old brush design allows one to exert pressure on the coat of the horse, whereas Western stye brushes dont - so the brush design best for you will depend on your style of grooming.

Of the Oster brushes I particularly like the soft rubber curry comb and horses like it too.

I dont much like the Oster mane and tail brush and prefer to use the stiff brush instead. But their mane and tail brush was a best buy in H&H long ago and for years mine was lent to and used by a professional groom on the yard where I rode. The reason I dont like it is that it pulls out the hair tangles. I have long hair myself and like to brush the horses' tails the same way that I brush my own hair.
 
My two must have non negotiables are:
le mieux tangle tidy mane and tail brush
haas new generation curry comb


These are slightly more personal preferance:
Borstiq mixed fibre shaped brush (the one with yellow outter fibres and dark brown inner fibres) - great for every day
Borstiq medium shaped brush - great for muddy horses after a curry comb
Haas classic body brush - great for sweat marks
 
My two must have non-negotiables are:
le mieux tangle tidy mane and tail brush
haas new generation curry comb


These are slightly more personal preferences:
Borstiq mixed fibre shaped brush (the one with yellow outer fibres and dark brown inner fibres) - great for everyday use
Borstiq medium shaped brush - great for muddy horses after a curry comb
Haas classic body brush - great for sweat marks
 
my go to haas brushes would be the lippizaner, and the fellglanzburste. i have quite a few, but those are the ones i’d absolutely have to repurchase! i also really like the flick brush i have from them, that one lives in my show basket in the horsebox - i have a slip not bentley one, and a cheap shires one, that i really like too, long bristles and smaller handle so easy to keep hold of!
 
I swear by the following HAAS brushes (having two Appaloosas who live to cake themselves in every substance known to man and beast!) :

Schimmel (apparently for grey horses only but I've used it on many different coat coloured horses and it still works great)
Fellglanzburste (really great at getting the dust on the surface off and helping buff the coat for that elusive shine!)
Lippizaner (helps get right into the coat to get the crap and scurf to the top)

To be honest, I seldom touch any other of my grooming brushes (bar the curry comb of course!) and my boys have a lovely shine to them.

In terms of sprays (if you're looking for that route at all?) I swear by the below :

Carr, Day and Martin Dreamcoat - works fab as a detangler and coat shine, but with the added bonus of being able to use all over without causing tack to slip
Cowboy Magic Greenspot Remover - works quickly and easy to use
 
I'm pretty simple when it comes to brushes. I love a nice rubber curry comb, a long flicky brush, a wool body brush and I use a tangle teaser for their main and tails. I did get one of these recentley, and really really love it!

Sprays I just don't think you get better than the OG Canter M&T spray.
 
redfishbluefish said:
My two must have non-negotiables are:
le mieux tangle tidy mane and tail brush
Click to expand...
YES. One of the yard teens who has EVERYTHING Le Mieux told me it was good and I pooh-poohed it as I'm a terrible reverse snob but it really is very good. I think I was also using an Oster one before.

I have a Stubben synthetic flicky brush that outperforms every other brush I have tried (including Haas ones) and I can't find it anywhere on the internet so this is my realisation that I can't recommend it and I won't be able to replace it 😭

Someone got me a Shires EZ-groom body brush that is cheap and cheerful (and orange, which is why she got me it) but it is great! For everyday use that is my go-to now. The cheap and cheerful Kramer curry comb is also still going strong after 4 years.
 
Thank you all for the ideas …. The Haas brushes seem to be a popular choice, so I think a bit of (on line) shopping is needed.
 
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