Learning About Horses - Different Types of Brushes

Lilly is coming home in 47 days and I need to be prepared for her. One of the things I will be doing every day with her is grooming. Grooming helps us bond as well as keep her skin and hair healthy. So I wanted to find the best brushes I could that would work the best. I found a company Eqclusive that makes grooming kits specific for different horse hair types. But they are in England so shipping would be expensive. The packs are made with HAAS brushes. BUT they do not reveal their secret brushes in the pack or the order to use them..... So I looked up who sells HAAS brushes in America and found Riding Warehouse where they talk about the specific HAAS brushes for each part of grooming. I also found another blog with a review of the Eqclusive pack for black horses - Brace Yourself. So with these three resources I am putting together my own HAAS grooming kit. 

I am comparing them below:

Making My Brush Kit
Eqclusive Set	HAAS Brush	What the Brush Does
Eqclusive New Generation Curry Comb	1. Haas Striegel New Generation Soft Curry Comb Blue	Made of a flexible yet durable plastic, this curry comb's "teeth" maximize the massaging effect while grooming. The softer plastic is also great for removing caked on mud and dirt from your horse's coat without causing irritation
1st brush removes the dust and that matt effect that each of those horses has	2. Haas Parcour Horse Hair Bristles Body Brush	Used to remove dust from deep within the coat. This brush stands up to the toughest grooming jobs and effectively removes dust and dandruff to reveal a soft, shiny coat.
2nd brush removes sweat, sweat combined with oil and really clears the skin underneath the coat	3. Haas Lipizzaner Brush Haas Lipizzaner Brush (had to get from Amazon)	Removes sweat and oil to really clear the coat. The border is lined with longer bristles which work to remove dust while the shorter bristles in the center provide a more gentle cleaning and lasting shine.
3rd brush removes all the dirt that was brought up by the previous two brushes to the top coat	4. Haas Cavaliere Medium Horse Hair Bristles Body Brush	This brush removes the dirt brought up by the previous brushes. lift dirt, loose hairs, and dander from your horse's coat.
4th brush still removes residue in the top coat and gives a gloss	5. Haas Fellglanzburste(Coat Gloss) Grooming Body Brush	Removes any final bits of dirt whilst providing a shine to the coat. It is ideal for removing dust and dirt from the body and legs while enhancing the natural shine in the coat.
5th brush gives a final show ready polish look	6. Hass Diva Exclusive Horsehair and Lambswool Center Brush	The final brush makes the coat super glossy for a show finish! Combining the softest horsehair and lambswool, this luxurious brush leaves your horse's coat silky smooth with an incredible shine that is sure to be the talk around the stable. The black wood-look-alike back and exclusive silver writing add a touch of elegance
HAAS Mane and Tail brush	7. Haas Brenig Madoc Grooming Brush Purple	Gentle 5 cm bristles effectively lift mud, dirt, and dander from your horse's coat, mane, and tail to reveal soft and silky hair.
SleekEZ for Horses	8. SleekEZ Horse Grooming Shedding Blade 10"	Shed loose hair and dirt from the coat year round without irritating the horse. Provides the perfect massage and relief for animals, while giving them a beautiful, shiny coat in the process.

I also watched videos (and read blogs) on how to groom horses with the brushes. Here is the video from Brace Yourself I like her technique that she used she had the curry comb in her other hand to clean the brush between brushing the horse (EXCEPT FOR THE DIVA BRUSH) it was a great way to keep the brush clean during brushing

1. Parcour - made out of a mixture of grey and black horse hair - creates an superlative cleaning effect
2. Lipizzaner - made of an exclusive horse hair mixture - removes dirt whilst giving a gloss to the coat
3. Cavaliere - made of robust main and tail horse hair - creates a shiny coat
4. Coat Gloss - made of light, soft, thickly woven horse hair - finishing brush good for sensitive horses
5. Diva Exklusiv - made from lambswool with a soft horsehair border - perfect for glossy finish

Horsin' Around 

I absolutely LOVE how shiny he is!!! WOW! I can not wait!

It is also really important to keep them clean so watched a few video the best one is from Eqclusive. You should wash them monthly. 

Things to Prepare:

• Tub with warm/hot water
• Tub with cold water
• Soap or shampoo that you use for your horse (this helps them not be allergic to their brushes after they are cleaned as well as the brushes are made with horse hair so it makes sense to clean them with what you use on your horse's hair)
• For best results - use the Haas Striegel New Generation Soft Curry Comb Blue
• Get your brushes ready
• Fill tub/sink with warm/hot water and a little of the soap to make sudsy water
• Place brushes brush side down in to soak
• Use curry comb rub the brushes as shown (about 1:15 in video)
• DO NOT USE CURRY COMB ON DIVA BRUSH!!!!!!! Use ONLY your hands. The brush is too soft
• Soak brushes again for a few more min in the warm sudsy water
• Drain water
• Remove any soap from the brushes using COLD running water and curry comb and your hands
• Shake brushes to drain them
• Special instructions for DIVA brush
• squeegee out the water on the DIVA brush with your hands (about 2:58 min)
• rinse again under cold running water
• shake water out
• Once washed and drained make sure there is NO soap left if there is go back to previous step and put them under the running cold water again
• Once soapless and Drained place them on your radiator or in your stable to Drip Dry
• Brushes usually dry within 12 hours so it is best to dry them overnight

Now I run into the problem of how to carry all these brushes with me every day. Since they are not cheap - I do not want to leave them at the boarding place - PLUS I have nowhere to leave them. So I need to have a way to carry them all as well as the other things she needs. So I am now looking for how to carry it all in an organized way.

I feel very confident in grooming Lilly and caring for the brushes! Looking forward to her first brushing session!