Tips for mane and tail care

[Rubic]

A friend and I were discussing this the other night. She said she rarely brushes her horses' mane and tail because she says it makes them brittle and she ends up with no mane/tail. I've always brushed Rubic's mane and tail a few times a week at least and never had an issue. I'm growing Rubic's mane and tail out but that conversation made me wonder if I'd be better leaving her mane and tail be or continue brushing every couple of days? Rubic's tail is now very thin but we believe one of the pony's took a chunk out of it as we found a rather large chunk of tail in the field! It is growing in at the top as it was pulled so I think it will be thick and healthy again by winter. Her mane is nice and thick and growning in nicely with no rubs.

What would you do? Would you continue to brush and spray with mane/tail conditioner? Would you leave it until you really had to (say for a show - I want to do some interdressage)? Would you plait it loosely to stop it getting too tangled?

 

[Flipo's Mum]

I don't brush often - and do so only after applying detangler and do so very gently with a wide toothed brush - I don't let anyone else near my horse's mane. Lots of friends have children that want to come play with Flipo's mane and I won't let them near him after someone ripped most of his forelock out in a bid to 'tidy' it up.
I've just bought a bottle of cowboy magic and boy is that good stuff, much preferred to canter mane and tail that is good for detangling initially but apparently makes hair brittle in the long run.
I've just bathed and applied a tonne of hair conditioner as well to moisturise the hair.
I plait, but am careful not to leave them in for too long as after a few rolls he is likely to be a fuzzy mess. I would try for a happy medium Rubic. Keep it from getting too messy but don't brush it all the time or it thins out. Also watch for hazards your horse will scratch on - Flipo was attacked any electric fence insulator things as they were good for scratching his ears - I removed all of them as kept finding chunks of mane! He now also wears his fly mask so he's not so itchy.

 

[domane]

Mine all get their manes and tails brushed every time they are groomed. Largely because being hairy cobs they have an abundance of hair and it is better to keep on top of it as they can get very tangly very quickly. Also because I can't bear to look at them when they get that "feral" look.... I have to make an effort, even if Boo will immediately roll after I've worked up a sweat on getting him looking smart! Jack gets wind plaits too if left for too long, which are tiresome. I favour Canter Mane & Tail conditioner, although I'm being a meanie at the moment and using my own concoction of a baby oil, conditioner and water mix.... which works well, but not AS well as Canter. I never brush the bottom of their tails without first spraying to make the tangles easier to coax out nor without holding the end of it up so that the force of the brush is not pulling the hairs out from the roots. Tail hairs are too precious to risk pulling out as they take a long time to get long. I'm not so precious about their manes as they all have thick ones so I'm happy for them to lose a few

I would never plait them and leave them turned out for fear of them rubbing against something, becoming hooked and pulling away in a panic... that would be painful and may result in the loss of a large chunk of hair!!

I would like to use a tail bag on Albi but I fear Boo would see it as a big toy and would pull it..... see my previous paragraph!!!

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Ziggy, like his owner, is folically challenged. We only brush his tail when we have to and his mane when it needs it, and we always use Canter, though next time I run out I will try cowboy magic!

 

[Trewsers]

I rarely brush or comb mane and tails. If I do I use Canter mane and tail. Both have lots of both but I guess its just laziness on my part that they don't get done more often.
Used to cringe on old yard watching folk drag brushes of the hard plastic variety through tails - eeeek! They lost so much hair that way.

 

[Rubic]

Rubic has her fly rug on and isn't an itchy horse so rarely rubs herself on anything! I'm glad I'm not the only person who brushes frequently. I find that if I keep on top of it then her tail doesn't get tangled and she doesn't lose a lot when I brush it but if I leave it for a while it just turns into a scruffy mess! Her mane is never really a bother at all. I might just continue as it then. I'm going to give her a bath soon because I want to do a little in-hand interdressage class with her and there are marks for turnout

 

[Kite_Rider]

I'm a lazy so and so and Belle hardly ever gets her mane/tail brushed, I'm very lucky though in that she is quite a naturally clean young lady. One thing I have noticed as I've seen her do it is when her tail is very long she stands on it when she gets up from a roll and ends up pulling massive chunks out of it! Maybe that's what is happening with Rubic's?

 

[Rubic]

I'm a lazy so and so and Belle hardly ever gets her mane/tail brushed, I'm very lucky though in that she is quite a naturally clean young lady. One thing I have noticed as I've seen her do it is when her tail is very long she stands on it when she gets up from a roll and ends up pulling massive chunks out of it! Maybe that's what is happening with Rubic's?

Rubic's tail isn't that long (I'm quite quick to chop it if it is starting to get long and dirty at the end) and she's never done it before but it could have been that, I'm more inclined to think that a certain cheeky pony had something to do with it as it was one huge chunk. Her tail has always been lovely and thick until the other week!

 

[popularfurball]

I only brush the dock bit to remove scurf really. Occasionally I brush the ends.

I don't/won't use mane and tail as it has silicons in. Most supermarket shampoos have them
In and my hair is thickening up now after six months of body shop rainforest shampoo so I figure it will do the same to their hair.

Though I've yet to find a silicon/paraben free shampoo in mint which will reduce itching! Maybe she's not itching her bum because it's not being washed weekly

 

[Mary Poppins]

Ben has a very thick and long mane and tail. I comb it through with a wide comb every single day so it is completley tangle free. It costs me a fortune in mane and tail conditioner. Everyone makes fun of me because he always smells like he has come out of a salon. I get great pleasure from grooming him to perfection everyday and he enjoys it too. I hate to see people brushing out manes with wire hairbrushes. The only way to look after a mane properly is to detangle with your fingers and comb through. It takes ages to do but you end up with a lovely looking mane.

 

[Kite_Rider]

The only way to look after a mane properly is to detangle with your fingers and comb through. It takes ages to do but you end up with a lovely looking mane.

Unless you are lucky enough to have a horse like Belle who has a fabulously lush, thick, blonde and tangle free mane all by itself

 

[Rubic]

Rubic's mane is tangle free most of the time but her tail is a different story. I might try a wide toothed comb actually. I have been using a paddle brush (for human hair) with quite wide set bristles and that seems to work ok.

 

[Mary Poppins]

But can you completely run your fingers through it without any knots at all? I can't ride Ben until his mane is perfect - his hair is so much nicer than mine!

 

[Kite_Rider]

But can you completely run your fingers through it without any knots at all? I can't ride Ben until his mane is perfect - his hair is so much nicer than mine!

Yup, her tail gets knotty in the summer as she's always swooshing it at the flies so can't run fingers through that so easily but her mane is amazing. I just put it down to her own oils doing there thing as her coat is amazing too, everyone always asks me what sprays I use on her as she always looks like she's had a bath and polish.

 

[Trewsers]

Well this has shamed me into doing our girls manes and tails!!!!! Stormy loves having hers done, Chloe isn't too keen! I wish my hair was as thick as theirs.....

 

[joosie]

We only touch ours as part of their show prep - so 1 or 2 times a week for most of them. I don't brush Mouse's at all because he loses so much throughout the summer from itching. I never did the New Forests either as their hair was so thick I didn't see the point!