Lather it nightly with any shave soap. Let the soap sit on it and dry every night this week. It will speed up your break in process. Don't judge that brush until you've used it 30 times. I think you'll like it.
Sadly the feed store here only carries feed , I live in a one horse town. ... 3 if you count the 2 foals
heheh. Anyway, I believe that victoriasheng, and ganvillage_green both have horsehair shaving brushes on ebay. Make sure they've been sterilized.
There are several places that sell the Vie-long horse brushes. BullGoose and maggards to name a few. My favorite is the 12705. Maggards has it at a good price I think.