HELP!!!!! Dressage emergency!!! urgent help needed!

[louise4oscar]

Hey guys!
I really need your help here.I have entered a dressage show with my 15.3.hh bay cob called oscar. We are hoping to do really well. but I have gone back over the show programme and it says everyone entering dressage classes MUST plait their horses mane and tails. My horse has a really thick mane which cant stay in plaits if you do it the traditional way by sewing it up into balls or just normal plaits and leaving them hanging. NOTHING WORKS! i read somewhere that maybe we could try a running plait, which is plaited running horizontally along the ends of the mane. I would like to try this but dont know how to do it. if anyone has any plaiting links or other suggestions of how to plait him please let me know! i only have 2 weeks 'till the show and i am starting to panic.
Thank you
x x x

[alfie1410]

Do you really have to plait up? I was at an affiliated dressage on good friday, I did not plait my mare and was placed, I did compete in the unaffiliated class but there were many other unplaited.

[Kelly_Milton]

I've done this plait, and it is easier that it sounds.

Start right up the top of his mane, take a wedge of hair and divide it into three then do your first two cross overs. Then start to add more hair a little section at a time moving down the mane. Its a bit like you doing the tail plait but it's only one sided. I did it with a little ponies mane and it did look really nice. When you get to the bottom just carry on plaiting and band the end. I've tried looking for a site to explain it better but can't , anyway hope this helps.

[S_F_S]

What utter rubbish, if you don't mind me saying! (nothing against you - but I dont see their logic!)

Many people don't plait for dressage believeing that it helps the horse to relax and avoiding unnecessary tension in the neck -AND avoiding unnecessary 5am starts for the rider!!

On a more practical note - could you do some thinning (with a pulling comb) or do lots of little plaits so they dont appear too thick? (very 'dressagey' anyway LoL!) Reccomend plaiting the day before to avoid the aforementionned Ridiculously-Early-Start :D

Or.......
Hog him?

[IrisSilverMoon]

I can understand the manes i suppose, especially if this is affiliated, but the tails? what? horses tails aren't supposed to be plaited for dressage. What happens to the people who do competitions all the time and actually have their horses tails pulled? you coudln't plait that.

the running braid isn't hard, but it taks some practice, i'd be better at showing it than explaining it, but lots of people around here seem to know how to do it, so maybe someone has a nice website with some good instructions...:)

[louise4oscar]

Or.......
Hog him?
SORRY BUT I AM NOT HOGGING HIM!

[DITZ]

ok no need to shout SFS was only offering you a suggestion which you asked for. Either you need to pul the mane and tail to make it thin enough to plait, do the running braid or dont enter. I've never done a class which insists on plaiting and agree with SFS that its unneccesary but I guess its their show and their rules.

[star]

my god. i've never plaited even for affiliated shows as i have a native. i think i would have words with the show organisers if they demanded i plaited! it's not even a BD rule!

[Kanuma]

i dont plait stan no matter what we are doing, pride has a pulled tail so that would make plaiting it rather difficult.

i would be inclined to pull his mane realy thin, double up the plaiting thread and use loads to sew the plaits in folding the plaits rather then rolling them and use rubber bands to secure the plait down then sew it up.

[DITZ]

my god. i've never plaited even for affiliated shows as i have a native. i think i would have words with the show organisers if they demanded i plaited! it's not even a BD rule!

Ditto. I dont plait and I dont even have the excuse of having a native! I regularly get placed affiliated too. If BD had it as their rule I wouldnt have joined!

[holiday]

Im afraid i always plait - but ive had this argument before!!! but never tails ever if fact i have this argument with my livery who always plaits the tails for hunting i just pull them and be done!!!!!!! All you can do if its in the rules is either braid the mane up as best as you can or pull it short and do tiny plaits. You could always check if it is under bd rules as it isnt essential if under them!!!! Ive also seen natives put into bands in pony tail type and split all the way down mane in sections - in a haynet look type, that keeps it tidy and would be sort of plaited!!!

Good luck!!!!!!!

[louise4oscar]

thanks guys! i phoned the show organization and they said i dont need to plait for dressage, it was a typo and should have been in the tack and turnout class, in which cobs and natives are restricted (they have their own class) thanks for your help, panic over lol!!!! x x x

[ajhainey]

if you do ever need to do it - ask someone to show you how to do a 'french plait' (on a person!) - I think the braid you are after is the same thing on a horse :-) aj xx