Growing out hogged mane...

N

Noblesteed

New Member
Jun 20, 2001
96
0
0
Visit site
My lovely cob gelding Ben has a terrible time being clipped. He is fully clipped and hogged - something I have carried on from his previous owners. However I am soon going to change yards and change to a more natural regime for him i.e. all year turn out, stabled at night if necessary. So I would like to go natural with his coat and mane too. I figure it will give him more protection, summer and winter, and save him the terror of being clipped.

Has anyone else had experience of this 'growing out" process? I guess the coat will be OK, but will he have a mane, forlock and feathers by winter?

Best regards Cathy.
 
A hogged mane will take a while to grow, and it will stick up like a punk whilst doing so, or at least my Millie's did. She doesn't grow much of a mane anyway being part Apaloosa, but your cob might grow more. As to the feathers, I trim my other cob's feathers off during the summer, and let them grow from about September onward, and they grow thick & long during the winter. Some people take the feathers off during winter so that they can keep the legs clean & dry because of mud fever. My two live out all year, and I keep the feathers on, and if they get very muddy, I leave the mud alone. I've alway found the skin to be dry and clean if I part the feathers and have a look. Of course, various horses differ and care should always be taken in the wet and mud. My regime works for me, but maybe not for everybody. I don't have running water, so cannot hose clean. Hope this helps.
 
I bought Merlin at the start of June 2 years ago, and he was freshly hogged at the time. I didn't clip his mane at all; his forelock was short (trimmed but not hogged).

If I remember rightly - and of course it may vary depending on the kind of mane Ben has and how fast it grows - couple of months he'll be resembling a hearth brush; by about October you should be at the giraffe stage; starting to flop over through the winter and by spring, if you start pulling a tiny bit at a time, you won't be too embarassed to be seen out on him.

(I do think it's worth the wait, though. And elastic bands help quite a lot if you get desperate!)

By the way, feathers are a pain in the neck so I wouldn't be too keen to grow *them* in a hurry.
 
a hoged mane can take quite a while to grow out the polo ponies i used to hog where out for the 9 months between seasons and their manes grew about 10cm in that time and came back quite thick. feathers shouldn't take all that long.
 
About two years ago, we roached (like hogged right?) my TB's mane after our last show in November. By the time we started showing again in March, her mane was just about four inches. So what is that? About four months? Feathers I can't really help you with because I've never had a horse with any, but I can't imagine they would take long to grow back.
 
Hi
When I got CW 3 years ago, his mane was at the 'sticky-up, moheccan' stage. To give you an idea of how long they take to grow - after no pulling for 3 years it is now about half way down his neck! not very long really in the scheme of things.

Longer manes definately give some extra warmth, but there are many horses who are kept out over winter with pulled manes. Depends on your type of rug... if you have one of the ones with a higher neck maybe.

Re feathers, i tend to keep his 'natural' but then again, he is not cob-type so they are not v. long. Long ones can be a nightmare to get the mud off if you have to keep them clean due to mud fever. I think maybe keep them a little hairy with a trim now and again, this keeps them manageable, tidy and also gives them more warmth in the winter.

kate
 
If I neglect trimming the Fjords manes, they become scruffy in about 8 weeks, awful in about 12 and then start to lie flattish again after 4 months or so.

It depends greatly on the coarseness of the hair too. Stallion's mane is soft and like baby mane, Kina, the mare has mane like bog brush bristles and takes much longer to lie down and play ball!
 
hi

I've got a welsh cob, i hogged her mane two julys ago, i've done nothin to it at all and its about 8 inches long now but her mane and tail do grow really slowly.

Her tail has never being touched since she was born (5 yrs ago)and its still only just past her knees (sorry i've forgot what horsey knees are called, my minds gone blank).

I shouldnt worry about his feathers, i use to cut my mares off but i started to let them grow back, our old field was really muddy and she used to paddle in the canal as well and come out with mud up to her knees, and shes never once had mud fever.

mine lives out all year round, the winter after we hogged her mae she had hardly any i was worried about the cold getting to her but she was fine with a good rug and i'm sure shed av been fine without rug
 
i have heard that a hogged main takes approximately 12 months to return to normal, you need to spend a lot of time training the main, the lycra hood /neck covers are good for this.

feathers shouldn't take much longer than the coat I don't think.
 
don't worry ! I have grown out several hogged cobs manes with no problems- once you have got past the Punk/Mohican stage, should be by the autumn, get a good quality heavyish hood for the winter, and by next spring you'll have a lovely FLAT mane !
feathers grow back in no time !
 
growing out.....going for it!

Thanks everyone for your interesting replies. I am going to try growing out Ben's mane and forlock. It is part of my new regime for him.....moving yards to somewhere small and laid back with all year turnout.....we are going as natural as possible - in all aspects of his care. I'm also going to try feathers and see how he copes over the winter. I think he will be OK as the hair on his lower legs does not soak up water, it really runs off. But if not successful they can come off again. As for the mane, Ben currently has a rather handsome mohican which makes his neck look huge! I will try the hood you speak of if it get really bad!

Regards Cathy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back