first time with a horse

[binowatch]

No, not a quote from Catherine the Great!! Finally picked up an inexpensive horsehair brush made in Pakistan, low grade wood handle, about 10 USD on the bay. I stared at it for a few days, even after doing the same prep I would for a used brush, remembering pictures of cutaneous anthrax, but finally got the courage to use it. Used MWF as I would any other brush-very interesting. It felt like a cross between a broken in boar and a pure badger. Soft but a little scritchy-nice, not unpleasant, but with good backbone. Lathered easily, held soap but did not hoard it-easily enough for three passes. After initial lathering it seemed to work best with a paint brush technique.It rinsed very easily and dried very, very quickly after a gentle towel dry and shake. It was enough of a difference to make the experience worthwhile.

 

[fluffman86]

I bought a Vie Long horse off the BST. I'm less than impressed with it. Seems to hoard lather and is floppy without overly soft tips. My Frank's Shaving finest and silvertip--the old ones with the 55 mm loft--is softer, has more backbone, holds more lather, and releases it easier. Same goes for any of my semogue boars.

Maybe it's just me.

 

[HeF]

In my experience horse hair hogs lather a lot less (in fact, lather seems to accumulate outside) than badger and boar. On the other hand, I think the horse smell lingers much longer.

 

[Argonaut]

"You smelling them Blackfeet?"
"No, I'm locating my horse. Filthiest animal this side of Hell."

 

[malocchio]

I have 5 vie-long spanish horse hair brushes, 2 barbers "extra" pro models,and 3 of their 23mm brushes,,,My first horse brush was tiny 18 or 19 mm vie-long brush,way too small and not enough hair for generous lather.the 2 pro brushes are designed to be used utilizing the tips,and taking your time working up a thick lather.on the three 23mm brushes I never have had any problems producing a rich ,thick lather. they do not suck up any more lather than my silvertips,perhaps even a bit less.I would say lack of a nice lather is due to inferior cream or soap,or an improper cream/soap to water ratio...I will add that between my 5 vie-long horse hair brushes, in the past year since purchase, they have lost a total of no more than 6-7 hairs between the lot.the fit and finish and quality of the handle material is first class.I do not see any other country besides spain producing superior quality horse hair brushes,as vie-long does.

 

[LarryAndro]

... Lathered easily, held soap but did not hoard it-easily enough for three passes....

And, this is exactly why I like my horse hair brushes, all Pakistan imports by the way.