Springtime has arrived. At least it has at the Rotten house. All of our horses are shedding. Shedding like crazy! Pat one and the hair flies. Brush one and it comes out in globs. They roll and leave half their coat on the ground...
This is a good thing for a lot of us. The weather is finally warm enough, we don't worry about frozen water pipes. The water coming out of the hose no longer feels like it came from the Arctic and we can FINALLY rinse or bathe the horses after a workout. It is so nice having them dry in a short time in comparison to a few hours at best. (I know, not everyone is there yet, in all areas, but it won't be long before you are.)
Some people prefer a shedding blade to do the deed, others a metal curry. To me a metal curry would be much like using a Scotch Brite pad in the shower to exfoliate. If your horse can tolerate it and actually enjoys it, so be it. But a lot of them can't. Some horses have sensitive skin and this would be pure misery. Tess couldn't even tolerate a stiff brush, so for her this would not work.
If the hair is just not coming off, there's always the option of body clipping. Which makes short work of shedding for one thing, but all of ours have pretty much shed out completely already. I may have to scalp the COB mare though. Her legs are just woolly, even still. And she would look funny with bald legs and a semi fuzzy body, so it would all come off...
For the most part though, I use the rubber curry combs. Grab them by the side and use straight strokes with the hair. It will get a lot of the hair off the horse and leave an incredible shine as the skin is massaged and the oils come to the surface. Ours have always enjoyed this and lean into the strokes. A few of them make their funny faces and Kat will stand there biting the air as he is 'grooming' an invisible horse. Pal sticks his nose straight up in the air and the mares just all seem to relish in what is referred to as SPA DAY.
When rinsing them with the hose and a strong stream, it is amazing how much more hair seems to come off... And when you finally think you got all of it, well, it's about the time they start growing the fuzzy's back for next winter. Never ending process I tell ya. *shakes head & mumbles about hair* Now off to find the dogs and get them shed out...
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Spits random horse hair out ! Yup we are getting there too! huge fluffy clumps of it ! yay
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of the black, oval, rubber curry dealies. They fit my hand really well and do wonders when worked in a circular motion.
ReplyDeleteWhinnie is never a big deal to shed out and surprisingly neither is Big Buck, but old man Spunky and Wizard who is half pony, totally different story. I could have a horsehair couch made every year, LOL!
I got after everyone with the clippers doing bridlepaths, noses and the goatee hairs on the underside of their heads. The rest of the shedding should be done shortly and they will be their beautiful selves again!
I like the metal shedding blade, and I also really like the circular curry combs with the thick, stiff fingers... they seem to pull hair out like crazy, but it's too rough to use on legs.
ReplyDeleteLOL @ it "just now" being warm enough to hose off in phoenix... I heard you guys hit 90 degrees today!!!!
Amy- I am a product of an office environment and a controlled climate... What can I say? lol
ReplyDeleteYeah, it hit 90 yesterday and the forecast is 91 tomorrow, 93 Sunday then 'down to' 88 on Monday. At least that is what I am being told by the local weather stuff online. Oh and partly to mostly cloudy at that. Of course if you check 6 different forecasts you get 12 different outcomes, because as the hour of the day changes so does everyones predictions...
So if I am outside I will get cooked, only without realizing it until too late. That's why it's long sleeves and hats for me.
Between the clumps of hair and clumps of dirt & mud from all the rain- a few of ours you could just pull it off in handfulls. Leaving a shiny sleek horse underneath and TONS of hair all over the place.
UGH, hair!!!!!
ReplyDeleteChip has been shedding like a mofo, and has a mild skin ick (a lot of horses seem to have that in the spring) and I wanna give him a good bath with some Aloedine....
But the nights are still too chilly for that, and even though it was 75 today, tomorrow will be 53.
I took the scissors to his beard so he no longer has dinosaur head, and cut a bridle path, and took some wool off his fetlocks & lower legs.
I kind of wish I boarded at the place with the fancy hot & cold washrack, but it's $75 more a month, and there's just SOMEthing about the barn owner....
Anyway, when you wear contacts, it's sooo much fun getting dusty hair all over your face!!
I like the double-bladed shedding blade for big areas, and a nubby black rubber curry, and the curry mitt for legs & face.
I need a grooming halter.....
This looks good, and also pretty enough for leadline class:
http://www.chicksaddlery.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=LGH440&Category_Code=
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ReplyDeleteewwwww, delete THAT forever.
ReplyDeleteyuck.
Just saw the old Movie again on TV.
Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful HAIR!!
Ah, Treat Williams, as the treat he was:)
old fart out.
I just discovered the dog grooming tool Furminator! Woohoo! Works kind of like a clipper with a long blade, stays sharp forever...it's a razor comb with teeth that really works well on horses. On my dog...not so much.
ReplyDeleteGL- Google translator shows this-
ReplyDeleteTong purple-Hoon said ...
The difficulty is not a new concept, but avoid the old concepts.
Not sure on the link- not going there either though.
I will delete it only for the reason of the questionable link. If it is reposted without by the original author- I have no issue with that.
Kestrel- Cattypex has also recommended the Furminator. Our dogs are blowing coat like crazy. To the point of blowing up not just one, but two vaccumes. A 'pet model' Bissel and also a Dirt Devil. We are looking at something else but for now- the Shop Vac will have do. Not great, but better than nothing. And the dogs are outside most of the time anyways.
I have an ancient Rainbow vacuum, it does really well but emptying the water is a pain. With 2 black dogs and one white one, no article of clothing is going to escape unscathed! Especially since their combined weight is about 450 pounds. Big dogs!
ReplyDeleteAdd the woolly mammoth horses, and the birds have plenty of nesting material around here.
A coworker has an old Rainbow... she loves it, says you can SEE dust being pulled out of the air and into the water.
ReplyDeleteMy mom has a Dyson. We borrow it every so often, because it REALLY pulls up the hair. But if you have a wood floor with rugs, like we do, you have to be careful - it pulls the fringe right off.
I finally washed part of my horse the other day with some Aloe/Iodine shampoo - the ick was getting to me. Then I rubbed it all over with some Shapely's, which I've never used before, but the barn owner swears by.
We shall see.....
Just reading the title made me itch. Mine are only getting started here, so I have volumes of hair to go. No metal shedding blades here. Skin way too thin and sensitive for that. Mine do, however, mirror yours in their appreciation of said currying episodes. There is no greater appreciation from a horse, me thinks, than that quivering lip action overhead. LOL
ReplyDelete