alternative to pulling mane

[HorseyGurl]

My quarter horse needs something done to her mane. Right now it is long and ratty looking. I want to get it to the short thinner quarter horse look, but 1) I've never worked at making a mane this long to the short length I want. and 2)I really don't like pulling horses manes. I know some people have said it doesn't hurt the horse as much as you think and blah blah, but I still just can't help but think that there has to be a nicer way to shorten a horses mane.

Any one found a good alternative?

[galadriel]

I use scissors :D I know, I know, and my horses look scruffy for a few weeks after I cut their manes. But it grows out.

No, actually, if you take scissors and hold them parallel to the horse's mane (so the blades are pointed up into the mane) and snip-snip-snip, you can get something like a pulled look without pulling. It takes practice, but can be done.

There's also things like the Solo Comb, which is a comb with sort of built in scissors. You use it almost like you'd use a pulling comb: you select a bit of mane to pull, comb the rest of the mane back from it. But instead of pulling it out, you then run the Solo Comb up the hair to the crest of the mane, and cut that bit of mane at its base.

[Scarlett 001]

So if the point of pulling to both thin and shorten the mane? I don't really understand what it is all about. :rolleyes: Galadriel, do you just shorten the mane with the scissors or also thin it as well?

I like manes a bit longer so am growing out Skeeter's mane a bit. But I will have to tackle this in the end. I am not so sure I want to pull my horse's mane. But a friend at my stables claims she does a great job with scissors (her horse's mane looks fine to me), so I was thinking of asking her to help me out.

[Casey76]

You could always use thinning scossors, as they can thin the mane (obviously :rolleyes: ) as well as shorten it... and because the blades are 'broken' they wont leave that totally straight look either

[hackedoff]

get a bladed trimming comb from pet shop and use it along the hair not against, my gelding's mane was eaten away by over-zealous mutual grooming and had chunks missing now I've evened it up quite nicely with this technique.

[Trewsers]

Get a solo comb - I know a lot of people don't like them, but I've used them on both ours and have been very pleased with the results. Just take it slowly, don't get carried away - it can bring new meaning to the term "happy hacker" :D You can get them from www.rideaway.co.uk but am sure you'll find something similar over where you are.

[Kanuma]

echo the solo comb if you dont have to plait. they are brilliant on my M&M's but you cant plait afterwards!

[andreaB]

another vote for the solo comb , i do plait mine , but you do need to make sure you don't go too mad on the thinning aspect with the solo comb or otherwise you end up with horid spikey bits

[galadriel]

So if the point of pulling to both thin and shorten the mane? I don't really understand what it is all about. :rolleyes: Galadriel, do you just shorten the mane with the scissors or also thin it as well?

The point of pulling is to make the mane short and evenly thin so it can be braided more easily. I'm not big on braiding :) All I do is cut it to an approximately even length. But then again, you know how much I've been able to ride/compete recently (sigh) so I don't exactly have a reason to have braidable manes.

[dcp]

I've yet to try one of these combs. At the moment I pull a little bit but it's hard because I'm starting from scratch with no real experience. I also use scissors and cut up the way to think it a bit.

[cvb]

another vote for the solo comb , i do plait mine , but you do need to make sure you don't go too mad on the thinning aspect with the solo comb or otherwise you end up with horid spikey bits

Thats what I figured would happen if you used them at the base of the hair ! I've just used the solo comb to take the length down - Fi's mane is quite wispy and fine anyway. If you use them this way, you don't back comb up to the neck but simply use the comb to shorten the long bits up, but without getting that "sharp" edge scissors can create. Solo comb or clipper blade etc give a more feathered edge.

[No_Angel]

i use a solo comb on my girls, or scissors and a comb. i comb it thru and then back comb the underneath to the length i want and cut it off, then back comb the front and cut it a little bit longer.
amber has quite a thick mane, so i go over the ends of hers with thinning scissors so it doesnt look so chunky.

[HorseyGurl]

hmm, this Solo comb sounds interesting. I'll have to try and find one. I'm not very experienced with pulling manes to begin with, mostly just tidying up already well maintained manes, so starting basicly from scratch is a new thing for me.

With the thinning shears, I've only ever used them on dogs (I use to work at a dog groomers). The way we use to thin a dogs coat with the shears is to go in at the base of the coat(near the skin), cut a couple strokes then comb out what you cut off. Repeat until you get the desired thickness. Is this the same with horses??

Then, again with dogs, to get a short but still feathery look (such as on the back of the legs) you go in with the shears at the length you want and take a snip, comb out with you snipped off. Then go back and thin a little more so the fur lies flat rather then puffing up like a cotton ball. Again, wouls I do the same with my horses mane?