It All Started With a Gray Horse
Cheryl Dauphin never wanted a gray horse. She knew exactly what she would be signing up for. Every blanket, saddle pad, and fleece she owned would be covered in white hair within a week. But when she met Presidio, Leo as he came to be known, she took the plunge anyway. He was the right horse. The hair was just part of the deal.
What she didn’t anticipate was Leo’s skin. As a Thoroughbred cross, he was sensitive in a way that ruled out most of the tools she had relied on for years. Shedding blades made him flinch and brushes barely made a dent. She eventually found that a shedding stone was something he would tolerate, but they wore down fast, left a gritty residue in his coat, and had a smell that followed her back to the barn long after she had left.
She needed something that worked like a stone but held up like a blade. Something gentle enough for Leo’s skin, comfortable enough for her hand, and bright enough to find in a bed of shavings when it inevitably hit the ground.
After years of trial and error, and more than a few impatient looks from Leo, she built it.
The Tool Leo Made Possible
The EquiGroomer was designed from the ground up around one horse’s needs, which turned out to be the needs of a lot of animals. The grooming edge lifts loose, dead hair without digging into the coat, working as a deshedding tool gentle enough for even the most sensitive animals. It removes what’s ready to come out and leaves everything else alone. It works across horses, dogs, cats, and other shedding animals of all coat types, and it’s gentle enough for sensitive skin, legs, faces, and the spots most tools can’t reach.
A New Chapter, The Same Mission
EquiGroomer is now owned and operated by sisters Ashley and Lexi Arnold, two animal lovers who found the brand and immediately understood what made it worth believing in. It wasn’t just the product. It was the story behind it: a tool born out of genuine care for an animal, built to solve a real problem, and refined until it actually worked.
Cheryl remains part of the EquiGroomer story, and her work continues to be the foundation everything here is built on. What started as a tool for one sensitive horse has become the go-to grooming tool for dog owners, cat owners, and equestrians who needed something gentler, simpler, and more effective than what was already out there. Ashley and Lexi are running the business with the same commitment that created it: to make grooming less stressful for the animal and the person holding the tool.
Whether you’re managing a barn full of horses heading into shedding season, trying to keep up with a Golden Retriever who sheds like it’s their job, or attempting to keep your cat calm long enough to get through a grooming session, the goal is the same. A grooming tool that works, and when used correctly, makes this process easier.
One horse changed how we think about grooming, and the goal has been the same ever since: a better experience for the animal, and a less frustrating one for you.
U.S. Patent (No. 9,474,250)
