Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Mane Pulling----the Easier Way....

Just so you all know, I love this thing and IT REALLY WORKS GREAT!!!!
Found it cheaply, check out web site at bottom of page!!!!

Pulling manes can be worse than pulling teeth – unless you try one of the new high-tech gadgets. Now and then, nearly every horse needs his mane tidied up. Some thin-maned horses or horses who keep their manes long just need a little shaping, while other horses need major work, and frequently. There are a variety of methods of dealing with long manes – from the (forbidden) scissors approach to the old-fashioned pulling the hairs out. The difficulty with the first is that the result looks like the mane just got chopped off – which it did. The difficulties of the second approach are many – irritating to the horse and hard on your fingers, just to mention two.
So we experimented to see if spending money for newfangled tools would be warranted. We took two tools, the Grooma ManeMaster and The Mane Puller, to a busy barn with professionals, adult amateurs, children taking lessons and moms who don't ride. Just for fun we asked the experienced mane pullers not just if they would spend the money for these tools, but to mentally compare them to traditional tools – mane pulling combs, thinning shears and so forth. To our amazement, everyone voted for the gadgets. While some nearly choked at the price at first, in the end even they felt the money would be well spent if they had a number of horses or a horse with a sensitive mane. Which tool to use depends on the horse's mane.


ManeMasterThe Grooma ManeMaster ($44.95) is an ABS plastic comb with two stainless steel cutting blades hidden in it teeth. It comes with a cordura pouch that clips to your belt, so keeping it with you is easy, which is important because at that price, you don't want it misplaced or sprouting legs (if you know what we mean). The housing that covers the blades is locked into place but can be removed so you can clean the blades, which you should do periodically.
The ManeMaster doesn't pull the hairs out, but cuts them off. You hold the longer hairs while backcombing the rest. When you have only the hair you want to cut left in your comb, push the lever on the top of the comb and the hairs will be cut. The comb is a good fit for the hand and even little kids could manage it, though we'll warn you, it takes a bit of practice.
Some testers found it more convenient to depress the lever with their thumb, while others found it worked easier with their thumb below the comb and the first finger depressing the lever. The trick for gaining speed is to have only a few hairs in the comb at a time. Ironically, the fewer hairs in the comb, the quicker you can move through the mane.
If you want a professional-looking shortening job, be mindful of how close to the neck you are cutting or you'll end up with hairs of greatly varying lengths, which can stick up or be difficult to braid. This product is also helpful for tails, either shaping the top of the tail or trimming the bottom.
Horse & RiderFebruary 1998, page 70.

We passed the Grooma ManeMaster to English riding coach and competitor Susan Gustafson of Bridlewood Stables in Woodland Park, Colorado. She tested the mane-shortening tool on two horses: one with a long, thin mane; and one with a medium-thick, kinky mane.
Susan was amazed at how this comblike tool with stainless-steel blades cut her mane-trimming time in half. She was able to complete an entire mane in 30 to 45 minutes. She also reported that the tool-which cuts hairs to thin the mane instead of pulling them out-made the task virtually painless for her horses. As a result, they were more cooperative than when she pulled their manes by hand.
Susan realized she had to be selective about which hairs to cut, or she'd end up trimming the mane too short. With practice, she found if she used a comb to tease the shorter mane hairs out of the way, she was able to snip off only the remaining long ones, creating an even appearance. Overall, she reports the ManeMaster contributed to the best mane-shortening jobs she's ever done-especially on the medium-thick mane.

–I found one at Dover Saddlery for $34.90 AND at shanestack.com it was only $23.98!!!!!

6 comments:

  1. At the time being, our fillies are doing all the hair trimming - except for on themselves, of course! :-) Our poor mares are almost bald from all their chewing! Does Jacks have a thick mane?

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  2. THERE you are! I was wondering if you got dumped on your noggin or were just busy. Glad you're okay. I've missed your posts.

    LOVELY thing, this swine flu scare, eh?

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  3. HI there!
    Thnkas for the poll answer!
    I am still out to lunch on my way to go...but, like most said...if I am notn higher compettion.what the hay!
    Kac
    I will look ionto this thingie though..looks much easier and I can't do the repettive stuff already being a hairdresser for 21 years..my mare will get a creative scissoring job..so far-no one knows the diff!

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  4. Kac--They say the scissoring jobs look like someone just hacked at them...BUT i bet since you are such an experienced hairdresser no one will ever know the difference!!!! :) Why spend the $ if you have a modicum of talent for getting it into the H/J look and are gonna braid anyway?
    Leah--Yeah, thanks, just took a break tho' not really a planned one--I really needed spring to get here! :)
    Esther--How funny! Why do you think the little ones are nibbling like that? Yes, Jacks has a CRAZY thick, long mane--he has enough to share if you'd like me to send some over--oh right, wrong color!!!! Sorry about your dad's car, I LOVE those types! Glad it can be fixed, eh? Sure was the main event--sooooo funny as u see a fender bender like that at least 2-3 times a day to week here in our lovely old San Antonio, Texas!!!
    Thanks for writing guys!
    -mindy

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  5. Hi again...
    That little verse /poem I posted today, I have had up in my salon for years, it is on a post card we found in an Antique shop...I love itl This year someone from church told me it is actually a part of a hymn!

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  6. Whohooo! What a nifty tool! And you got a great deal. I like Dover, too.
    Thanks for sharing this info.

    ~Lisa

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~Slainte' Mhath!