Hogging to thicken mane

Jessey

Jessey

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Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
I don’t like hogged manes, but Monkey has such a weedy mane it drives me crazy so am thinking of a one off hog to try and improve it.

I don’t wash it much, maybe once/twice a year, only brush when it needs conditioning, he gets a good dose of biotin in feed and doesn’t obviously itch it. It’s just always been fine like foal mane.
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In the spring he grows in highlighted bits
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But seems to shed it in the autumn and his mane is back to weedy.
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Which seems odd, it can’t just be changing colour though 🤷🏻‍♀️

Read a few things that hogging can make it grow back thicker and courser, anyone experienced this?
 
My one experience was that the mane grew back very ragged and untidily. It was coarser, but not in a good way. This horse was only hogged because of sweet itch, and her mane was nothing special before, but I thought it worse afterwards. Only one example of course. Others may have different experiences.
 
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If it is anything like human hair then no, I doubt if it would grow back thicker or better. Its an old wives tale that cutting hair short makes it grow thicker, it might make it look less wispy on the ends but it does nothing to improve the overall thickness. I don't have any experience of hogging though so could be totally different - lol we aren't horses are we?! A blunt cut might make it look thicker but you probably already do that. I used to have a solo comb but haven't used it for years, I prefer to (don't shoot me cos I know scissors around them aren't the safest) scissors and just doing it that way.
Edited to add: those silvery looking bits that come in spring are unusual aren't they!
 
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Sparky Lily said:
My one experience was that the mane grew back very ragged and untidily. It was coarser, but not in a good way. This horse was only hogged because of sweet itch, and her mane was nothing special before, but I thought it worse afterwards. Only one example of course. Others may have different experiences.
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Eek! Good to know

Trewsers said:
If it is anything like human hair then no, I doubt if it would grow back thicker or better. Its an old wives tale that cutting hair short makes it grow thicker, it might make it look less wispy on the ends but it does nothing to improve the overall thickness. I don't have any experience of hogging though so could be totally different - lol we aren't horses are we?! A blunt cut might make it look thicker but you probably already do that. I used to have a solo comb but haven't used it for years, I prefer to (don't shoot me cos I know scissors around them aren't the safest) scissors and just doing it that way.
Edited to add: those silvery looking bits that come in spring are unusual aren't they!
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That is blunt cut with toothed scissors (often used for thinning but I just use straight across the ends so it isn’t perfectly straight!) yesterday! The bottom 3/4 is just so wispy it never looks full.
 
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I don't think it works, it's just that traditionally cobs were hogged and when a thick coarse mane starts growing back in it seems impossibly thick and wild until there's enough length to pull it back into place and soften it.
 
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Yep I'm with @carthorse . The one time I hogged Billy it was thick but got thinner as the length grew down.
Not brushing or combing and diet are the only things that I ever found. Think genetics play a big part.
 
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Have you got a photo from this time last year? I'd compare autumn with autumn, since he changes so much in spring. Might help tell whether it's actually getting thinner or just going back to his usual wispy mane.
 
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daniej said:
Have you got a photo from this time last year? I'd compare autumn with autumn, since he changes so much in spring. Might help tell whether it's actually getting thinner or just going back to his usual wispy mane.
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It’s not getting thinner, it’s just thin and the longer it grows the thinner it gets. I’d prefer he had a long mane to keep the flies off more.
 
I'm kind of lucky. People say I have thick hair. I don't really think so but I guess it is compared to others my age.
However my hair is so unruly. A nightmare to manage. It knots really bad and its a nightmare to brush so I rip loads out everyday when I brush it.
I've been trying to grow it and it's gone quite flat as a result of the length. Its getting cut soon probably a good 6-8 inches which will help thicken up as I won't be ripping the knots out. People will then start commenting on its thickness again.
 
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chunky monkey said:
I'm kind of lucky. People say I have thick hair. I don't really think so but I guess it is compared to others my age.
However my hair is so unruly. A nightmare to manage. It knots really bad and its a nightmare to brush so I rip loads out everyday when I brush it.
I've been trying to grow it and it's gone quite flat as a result of the length. Its getting cut soon probably a good 6-8 inches which will help thicken up as I won't be ripping the knots out. People will then start commenting on its thickness again.
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Have you tried using a wide toothed comb instead of a brush? I never use a brush because I am hair-sore anyway and I find they do tear a bit now its longer. I lop a couple of inches off mine every six weeks or so, it grows plenty but its so fine. I'm jealous of your thick hair lol. Mine used to be thick but when I turned 22 something hormonal happened and it went fine and thin - literally overnight, never been the same since.
 
Comb is even worse. I use a tangle tease brush. Supposed to stop hair ripping out, doesnt with me. I've seen your hair in your pictures and yes mines thicker than yours for sure.
Hormones and stress pay a big part for sure. My hair a few years ago fell out really bad. It was shorter then too. I was bunging up the shower outlet everyday. All over my clothes and bed. It was all the stress I was under due to family issues. Its never grown back as thick since then. Noticed it's now started falling out due to hormone changes.
Thinking in terms of horses i could understand it on mares being thin, given hormones and stallions. But in gelded horses hormone issues are drastically reduced.
 
chunky monkey said:
Comb is even worse. I use a tangle tease brush. Supposed to stop hair ripping out, doesnt with me. I've seen your hair in your pictures and yes mines thicker than yours for sure.
Hormones and stress pay a big part for sure. My hair a few years ago fell out really bad. It was shorter then too. I was bunging up the shower outlet everyday. All over my clothes and bed. It was all the stress I was under due to family issues. Its never grown back as thick since then. Noticed it's now started falling out due to hormone changes.
Thinking in terms of horses i could understand it on mares being thin, given hormones and stallions. But in gelded horses hormone issues are drastically reduced.
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Yes stress can definitely affect hair can't it. Mine was weird though as a teenager it was really thick and curly / wavy. Then when I hit 22 (I remember it like yesterday lol lol) it suddenly went flat and fine. I read somewhere that we undergo huge hormonal changes around that age, even though technically we have stopped growing.
Yes the tangle teasers are good aren't they. I've always used a comb mostly though I do have a posh bristle brush somewhere that allegedly makes it shine.
 
newforest said:
I think it's mostly genetics, but I wonder if you can supplement the diet to encourage any growth?
Overall I mean.
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Trewsers said:
Biotin is supposed to work for hooves and mane?
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He gets balancer, plus extra biotin, and turmeric and oil every day. His tail is lovely thick welshie tail (with ringlets in), and rock crunching feet, it’s just his mane that’s weedy.
 
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