Curry Combs

Caveat: I have limited personal experience in the use of curry combs for their intended purposes.

• Currycomb: A tool made of rubber or plastic with short "teeth" on one side that slides onto the hand of the groom. The horse is rubbed or "curried" to help loosen dirt, hair, and other detritus, plus stimulate the skin to produce natural oils. The currycomb is usually used in a circular motion to work loose embedded material. Alternatively, you can use multiple short but swift strokes, following the direction of hair growth. Currycombs are generally too harsh to be used on the legs or head, though varieties made of softer rubber are available.
• Metal currycomb or Fitch currycomb: A currycomb made of several rows of short metal teeth, with a handle. While useful for caked-on mud, particularly on horses with a heavy winter coat, they are primarily designed for use on show cattle, and are frequently used to clean horse grooming brushes by moving the brush across the metal currycomb teeth every few strokes. The metal currycomb is not designed for use directly on the summer coat of a horse as the metal teeth can damage the skin and hair. It should not be confused with the shedding blade.

Serration

The attribute that makes the currycomb unique is it’s serrated nature.

Other items we commonly see serration in our everyday lives might be; bread knives, other kitchen knives, steak knives, saws, the edge of the leaves of numerous plants, and even sharks teeth.

Serrated blades are particularly good at cutting things that have hard outer surfaces with softer inners like breads or melons. They also are good at getting cuts started in harder materials, think about the teeth of a wood saw.

Why Do We Care

Implements with serration can be used in play to create a variety of sensations and aesthetics outcomes.

To do so with an eye towards risk awareness requires some consideration.

Forces

Resources: