Then with the sponge wet the top of the tail,

Put the soap on the tail and work into lather (just like washing your hair), remember to work the soap well into the dock.

With the Dandy brush, brush the tail through to remove the knots, (the soap acts like a lubricant helping to remove the knots whilst not pulling all the hair out of the tail).

When you have removed as many knots as possible, starting from the bottom of the tail, use the mane comb to remove the last few knots, working up the tail.

(From the bottom to the top will take the knots out of the tail and not put them all together in a heap.)

Rinse the tail out with the remaining three buckets of hot water. The last bucket should be clean, if not use more hot water until the water is clean this makes sure all the soap is removed from the tail.

Lastly swish the end of the tail around to remove as much water as possible.

How To Trim The Horse's Tail

Now the tail is clean and knot free, it is much easier to trim as all the hair is now straight and not tangled up.

• Stand to one side of the horse and run your left hand down the tail
• Decide how long the tail should be, about 10-13cm or 4" - 5" below the hock
• Then with blunt ended scissors cut the tail just below your hand.
• Stand back and make sure the end of the tail is a level, if not then repeat from step 1.

TIP - It is better to leave the tail slightly unlevel than keep trimming. It is amazing how quickly the tail can get very short!