Favourite Things #2

Haas brushes.

I have 3 of them. Well, really 4, because I liked one so much I bought a second one for the second horse.

I have a grooming kit overflowing with brushes, some of them from when I first started riding. But I use these Haas brushes every day.

The Schimmel
This brush is a made of coconut fiber bristles and is described a working especially well on white or grey horses. Apparently Schimmel translates to white horse. This is the one that I bought a second one of. It just works so well. Whisks away the dirt on the surface after you have curried and gets into the hairs to remove more. I have tiny hands and don't have a problem hanging onto this brush.

The top one is about 3 years old. The bottom one I have only had for a few weeks. They have added stitching to the strap on the new one instead of just the single layered leather strap.

Which one is the one that is 3 years old? (It's the top one again.)

Red Star
A large body brush made of horse hair and natural fibres. Short, dense bristles. Moves nicely along a horses body. I tended to skip over using a body brush until I started using this one.

A big difference in size!

Kopf-Burste (face brush)
A small brush made of very soft white horsehair. Fits very nicely in my hand. Has an elastic handle so you can keep it snug. Boy horse approved.

The bristles are so thick!

I prefer natural bristle brushes and generally just use the synthetic ones to get rid of wet mud. In the past some of my natural ones have broken down fairly quickly, and after a year or two you only have half a brush left. The Schimmel has been in use for the last 3 years, and is still in great shape with little sign of wear. The other brushes are more recent acquisitions, so I cannot comment as to their longevity yet, but I am pretty confident that provided I don't put something heavy on top and squish them, they will last a long time.

I would love to switch out my whole grooming kit to Haas brushes, but they are fairly expensive at the local tack shop. So whenever I place an order from my favourite European tack shop, www.calevo.com, I add one into my cart.