Grooming question

[Angel_bear]

Hi,
I don't have a horse yet, never have had one, but I am getting there. I need to know how you trim your horses tail and mane. I have read that if you take sisors and cut it, that it will look thick and coppy, they also wrote that you have to "PULL" the mane and tail to keep it thin looking and nice. Thank you for your time!

:rolleyes: ANGEL:rolleyes:


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"For God so loved the world that He gave His only beggoten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not parish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:16 nkjv(new king james version)

[Maci]

This how I was taught to cut a horses tail (I apologize in advance if it's not too clearly written!). Cut the tail on an angle (the tips) towards his butt. I was told that that way, when they raise their tail when being ridden, it will be even. I was also told not to pull a tail if you plan on showing, because you won't be able to braid it. I've never actually pulled a tail, because it looks painful! ;)

I like to pull manes rather than cut (only if the horse has a thick mane to begin with- if it's really thin- cut). If you cut thick manes short, it puffs out (I know by experience- a mistake that will never happen again :o) and looks ugly. If you pull, it's short, thinner and whispier. Some horses may fuss though, so do it when the pores are open (warm water before hand on the mane's roots).

Maci :)

[floppy]

dont you gather the tail together and pull it round bhind on of the back legs and then trim it?

i have never done it before personally but i have a picture of how to do it somewhere.

[Showjumper]

I've only cut one tail and it looked alright. A friend of mine put her arm under the dock to raise the tail, and I cut it up to fetlock height (yes. She had a VERY long tail!)

[cvb]

"pulling" is the same as plucking the hairs out. You need to get the action right or the hair snaps off rather than coming out by the root. If the hair breaks off, it is more likely to end up looking frizzy.

Pulling not only shortens, but also thins. The idea with a mane is to take out the longer hairs only, till you get the length you want. And on a tail you are only pulling right at the top, and from underneath. I don't like pulling tails because (a) I'm not very good at it (b) a horse that is living out needs the protaction from weather etc and (c) I happen to be able to do a neat tail plait. You can not plait a pulled tail, and I like plaited tails.

Of course not all horses think this is such a good idea. Best bet is to do it when its warm - weather or horse - because then the pores are more open and it does not hurt so much. (Imagine plucking your eyebrows or getting your legs waxed ...)

There is an alternative. When I was younger everyone always said they pulled manes etc, and there were these gorgeous looking show ponies. And we never looked like that. Then I found out that a lot of them used a clipper blade to thin/shorten the mane. And today you can get special combs that do this too - at least for their manes.

The combs are especially useful if you have a horse that already has a thin mane and you just want to shorten it without it looking weird.

There are lots of books with pictures in of how to do this.

[Julew]

there used to be a how to do it section on this site. Haven't looked lately but its probably still there under horse care.

[Angel_bear]

Thank you everyone!
I was just wondering about trimming the tail and mane. I will check out the how to do it section on this topic..... Thanks again!


:rolleyes: Angel :rolleyes:

[Wally]

We only trim tails when they start to tread on them in rein back! Then we only take off enough to get them free of the ground. The tail is there for a reason, the longer it is the more efficient it is.

Manes I either pull, in the case of Fat Cob, or just leave well alone in all the others.

[Dizzy]

I was taught to wrap the tail around the horses upper leg and hold it too the outside edge of thier hock and chop the excess.

Lesley

[Rachel C.]

I have had great success with a "pulling knife" they are about £2 from Robinsons, and I like them a lot! They get quite good results, when you get the technique, and pulling a mane this way takes about 10 minutes, instead of 30 minutes when I try to do it with a mane comb, wrapping the hairs around, then pulling them out. It's kinder to the horse too!