hairstyle crisis!

[Sarah]

hello!

Tango and I have been selected to ride on the riding club team at the Area Qualifiers in a fortnight. That's all very exciting.

What is giving me major stress is how we should look. Tango is a Welsh cob so I usually wear my ratcatcher jacket and leave her mane and tail long, loose and flowing as I think it looks best that way. i am just a bit concerned that at the area qualifiers, a better standard of turnout is called for!

I have previously tried doing a running plait on Tango (with an entire pot of hairgel). It looks fab for about 2 minutes, then she shakes her head and it comes out so that won't be a winner. Am i going to have to try to plait up her long mane? Also, do i need to plait her tail, i can't remember if you are meant to as a 'grown up'.

Thanks!

Sarah

[Wally]

I really don't know what the judges are looking at, but if they are judging dressage they should take into consideration the type of horse. If the horse is a native type then a clean, flowing, well groomed mane and tail are, in my view, acceptable.
They should be looking at the way the horse and rider go together, not how many flippin' plaits they have!

A friend has a Haflinger Stallion who regularly competes at medium dressage, she NEVER plaits him and he really turns heads.

[cob-ozzie]

As long as you look immaculate that should be good enough. I had a native dales type and I used to running plait her mane as it was so long and used to get in the way of my hands! It looked lovely.
Tails do not need to be plaited and rarely are even on horses with plaited manes, when I watched some Grand Prix dressage the other week not one horse had plaited tails although some were pulled.
Good luck!

[Jillybean]

Is a running plait one of those ones that runs parallel-ish to the crest where u add a wee bit more mane in with each plait? sorry if i havent explained myself very well!!

[Sarah]

Jillybean,

That's the one! They look really smart (apart from when they start to fall out....).

Does anyone have any top tips on how to keep them in at all? I have tried lots of hairgel, but that doesn't work, not ont he amount of hair Tango has. There is abnout 1 inch thick of mane along her crest!

I think for this i will just go for the natural look

Thanks everyone!

Sarah

[Aly]

I have in the past done two running plaits by parting the mane, like you would a person, and then doing a running plait on each side of their mane. It can look georgous if done tightly and neatly.

My trick to keeping them in was to wet the mane with water, then spray a tiny bit of hairspray before beginning the plait, (this helps having a 2nd person to do the spraying). I then cover the running plait in Glad wrap (cling wrap) for an hour or two until the plaits are fully dry. Then take it off, spray some more hairspray and WALLAH!....

I dont know if you really need to plait your horse for this event, but if you are concerned you should call the organisers and ask them what is expected.

Goodluck with your show...
Cheers! Aly

[LindaAd]

Well done for being chosen! Sometimes with long manes, people make one long plait just behind the ear; it tidies up the jawline and looks as if you've made an effort, but I don't know if it would be appropriate for dressage ... ?

[Dizzy]

Once again, well done for being selected.

I don't know if this would help, but maybe if you use a conditioner, then plait, and possibly support it with some well placed stitches. Or another thing which may help is hair wax, being stickyish it might alllow more movement with out coming undone.

If it wouldn't reflect on your test, I think there's nothing nicer than a clean flowing mane and tail. Is there anyone in your riding club who knows what the judges favour?

It does seem rather silly that you would be marked down because of an unplaited mane and very disappointing, surely it would be an empty victory for anyone who knew some elses performance was better than thiers, but they got it because thier plait was better.

Good luck

Lesley

[~alison~*]

I wanted to add that braided tails are rarely ever seen in a dressage arena because they are more of a hunter/jumper thing. So as far as that goes, you don't have to worry about the tail. However, i would try to do a running braid so the judge can see your horses' neck better. Best of Luck to you!!

[myEllie]

Cut the mane and braid it properly and bang the tail. Correct turnout shows respect for the judge and fellow competitors.

[Aly]

Don't cut the mane, It looks awful and is difficult to do well....
Pull it and braid if you have too.

As I suggested above, a running plait done well, means that after the show the horse still has his long beautiful mane.

Please don't "Cut" it......:(

[myEllie]

Well, I didn't mean cut, I meant shorten. Everyone else here is saying to keep the mane long and do a running plait. Don't, SHORTEN the mane and do proper dressage braids. If the mane is thin and you don't want to pull it you can use a clipper blade to shorten it without making it look cut.

[Jaz]

I think the reason Tango has a full mane and tail is that she is a welsh cob. Welsh cobs should be shown with full mane and tail so it isnt practical to shorten it just for dressage. I think a good judge takes into account the type of horse.

What I would do is contact the organisers and see what they say. If they think plaiting is more appropriate try a running plait on each side like Aly suggested.

I personaly think a welsh cob with full mane and tail looks stunning if it is immaculatly turned out.

[Sarah]

My Ellie,

Jaz is right, as Tango is a Welsh cob, i like to keep her hairy as we do a fair amount of showing and she needs to have a long mane for that. Also, as she lives out 24/7 i like to keep her mane long to help her keep the flies away.

I ahve a test this weekend and i may try seeing if i can get a running plait to stay in or even try some normal plaits (just to see if I can) as the riding club is keen that i do plait up. If i can't then I can't!

Personally i'd rather leave her mane flowing, but it isn't me who is paying for the show entry and transport to get there, beggars can't be chosers.

Thanks for teh congrats, but to be honest i think it was a case of no-one else wanted to do the competition that meant we got into the team!

bye!

[LindaAd]

Hmmm.... perhaps if the rest of the team is so keen for you to plait, they'd be willing to come and help you? If you leave yourself plenty of time - about three times as long as you think you need - plait really tight, and lots of them, you might manage it... I wouldn't ruin her main for the sake of one dressage competition, though.


There's no way you could be marked down for being unplaited, though - that would be quite wrong.

[Mehitabel]

native breed societies are getting more flexible about manes - they're usually quite proud that ponies can do dressage and accept that they may have to be plaited and pulled for competing in other disciplines. i know the forester society has said this year that manes are acceptable "short enough to plait".i do a lot of m&m classes, and a fair amount of welshes have pulled manes. unless you're doing really serious showing, it shouldn't make a difference - if the judges say anything, just say you do serious dressage and have to plait. of course, if you like it long and flowing, then running plaits look fine. i've found that keeping them tight to the crest and loads of hairgel keeps them fairly respectable!

[Lgd]

My friend's Fell Pony does dressage in his natural unpulled state and has never been marked down and that is in affiliated elementary and medium dressage. She is also on the RC team and he competes 'au naturel' there as well. The one concession made is that he has to be clipped because he gets so sweaty, but again the native societies are recognising that these ponies are competing in other disciplines and it is OK for showing as long as the clip is starting to grow out. He has won or been placed in the top 3 in all of his ridden M&M classes and the judges often comment that it is nice to see him so fit and obviously a working pony. One of the British Pony Dressage squad comes from our area and competes on a Section D cob - his mane is kept a bit shorter but is still pretty long and his tail is plaited for dressage comps.

[Sarah]

hello!

Well, I have made a decision (which Wally will tell me off for!). Seeign as the RC have asked me to plait I had better do so - but only for this one competition, i like Tango as a hairy horse and a hairy horse she will remain.

I had a practice this saturday at plaiting her up for a local show the conventional way, with a bit of an unconventioanl method that worked a treat! I started to plait the plaits, tehn when i got about half way down the hair (where it started to thin a bit), I stopped and put a band in. I then wrapped the rest of teh loose hair in each tape up with cellotape, rolled up the hair so the tape was totally hidden, and secured the lot with white plaiting tape. Although i say it myself, she looked very smart indeed and you wouldn't have guessed I had cellotaped her hair together at all. This also meant that there were no flyaway hairs at all and her plaits were still perfect several hours later.

I think I will do that again this weekend, then give up on plaiting her mane altogether!

Another question, is what am i meant to do wtih her tail? I can never remember is an unpulled tail should be plaited or not for dressage? As I am plaiting her mane, do i need to do her tale too?

Thanks

[Lgd]

I always plait tails as I dislike pulled tails anyway. I do think a nicely plaited tail looks elegant and you will find that most dressage people do plait rather than pull.

[Cochise]

I agree with Aly, your best bet is to call the organisers to see what is expected. Good luck and let us know how you get on!! Its an interesting one!

[Sue Watson]

Shame on your Riding Club - it should be absolutely celebrated that your native has got where she has against all the warmblood opposition, and she should compete in all her glory. My Dales (now advanced) was never plated and was much admired by the dressage fraternity.

[Sarah]

hello!

Well, i did plait her up (and will never do so again!).

If we did get bonus marks fro turn out, they came in handy! i was a total bag of nerves which Tango picked up on. I went wrong once, then got stressed so Tango galloped out the arena (oops!). We did some okish bits in the test and got a couple of 6's, btu that didn't compensate for the 1 and the 0 i got for other bits!

Somehow we ended up with 40%, which all things considered was a very generous mark! Ah well, never mind. Tango did her best, she just didn't have any guidance from me at all!

bye!

[Cochise]

Well done!! As long as you enjoyed yourself as this is what it is all about!! Don't let it put you off and use the judges comments as constructive and remember its all a great learning curve!!
Congrats again.