The curry comb is the first step in the daily grooming of the horse. It is a type of brush that loosens the dried mud and the dirt lodged deep in the animal's hair and cleans its skin. The curry comb is used on the fleshy parts of the horse i.e the neck, the back (except for the spine), the flanks, the belly, and the rump, by making circles towards the hair. There are several types of curry combs - American, oval, Finnish, etc. - with slightly different actions but used the same way. Made of metal or rubber, they consist of tangent or concentric toothed or spiked circles.