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| TAIL FLIP |
Here we go again. Tails are a strangely controversial subject. People do all manner of strange things with them, from docking them off completely to braiding in extensions and literally everything in between.
I have a very strict tail care routine. I leave it loose, spray in show sheen about once a week, and brush it 2-3 times weekly.
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| pretty hair |
I know lots of people put tails up to protect them, but for me, seeing the beautiful tail every day is a part of loving my horse and tail bags/wraps/etc detract from my equine enjoyment.
So that's me. What do y'all do to take care of your horse's tail?
I neglect it. Only brush if it's got shavings in it or we're about to show, and I treat with Showsheen before brushing. I'm about to bang it and dye it black though, which is a new ball game for me!
ReplyDeleteSame^^ I'm very tempted to try the sock method just for kicks...but I normally only brush it if we're taking photos or if it's just disgusting and necessary. He has a half bald tail that was broken and killed by sweet itch. Oh well, it'll never be gorgeous lol!
DeleteI brush Gina's tail every time I ride her (so, 3-4x/week). If it's especially tangled, I will put a little Vetrolin or Show Sheen in it. I use a wide-toothed metal comb, start at the bottom, and work my way up. Gina has a fabulous tail- it's super thick and long. Poor Moe, on the other hand...for years, his tail has been thin and pretty short regardless of what I've tried to do!
ReplyDeleteTucker is follicly-challenged, so I am actually in about the same camp as you - I show sheen once or twice a week and brush it carefully the day after it's been show sheened, when it's the slickest. I tried the tail bag and found that it rubbed his tail at the top where the bag was braided in, which seemed to defeat the purpose. When we did the hunters we used a fake tail which solved all my problems. I want to use one at dressage shows too but I think that's frowned upon? I don't know. I plan to use one of the sprays with sunscreen in it this spring/summer to see if that keeps the ends from fading.
ReplyDeleteI have the exact same routine as you. Plus I trim it at least once a month to keep it exactly at his pasterns. If they get too long then the horses step on them when they back/rear/play in the paddock and rip hair out. Also, at the first hint of tail rubbing in August they get wormed...if that happens before my routine August worming.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Aimee. I love a horse's tail!
ReplyDeleteI brush it out every ride, and occasionally do the Show Sheen thing if it's especially tangled or gross. I also make sure to shampoo and condition the horse's tail too, but I don't condition every bath. For me, the tail is just as important as the mane and they should both be kept neat and clean and pretty :)
I brush fairly randomly, mostly ignore their tails. Never trim them. I never put in a fake tail for showing, always seems pointless. Usually I spray hair moisturizer on their coats and tails when I'm grooming to help remove dust in spring through fall. I did buy some awesome human spray conditioner/detangler that is amazing (Pantene maybe, can't remember right now). I can spray it in and their tails stay easy to brush for almost a week which makes the job of brushing them out so much easier. It actually makes their tails so soft that it's hard knot them up out of my way to do things with back legs.
ReplyDeleteI was taught that since show sheen has silicone in it that it's drying to the tail and should be used only for shows. I tried to verify that it contains silicone but their label is pretty quiet on what it contains.
I never used showsheen on Cuna--he had really fine hair and it didn't do much for him other than collect dust. Courage has fabulous hair and someone gave me a gallon of showsheen, so I'm using that sucker up.
DeleteI have a similar routine to you! ALWAYS spray (Cowboy Magic is my preferred potion) before brushing, and it gets a good brush 2-3 times a week. Before shows/clinics it gets a good scrub, deep conditioning, gel detangler, and CM spray. Then I let it dry and brush it out. My pony has the most glorious, sparkling, lush tail!
ReplyDeleteI brush Murray's tail every day (and I brush the tail of whatever horse I'm riding, unless I'm doing a super hack job of grooming) and just do it in small pieces to avoid ripping out tangles. About once a week I use some kind of detangler, though I've never been particularly fussy about what I use. (I once heard from an H/J friend that daily brushing breaks hairs but that's clearly a crock, since Murray's tail is longer and fuller than last year and I've brushed it nearly daily.)
ReplyDeletewith you on the tail brushing--if it's conditioned it's not going to break/rip the hair.
DeleteI practice benign neglect too. Agreed that Show Sheen can be very drying for tails (I don't use it at all for anything personally) and brushing too often can just cause breakage. Usually when I bathe I condition really well, then gently brush it out afterward. Other than that, the only time I brush the tail is when I bang it. If there's a lot of stuff in it I just pick it out by hand. I also dye the tail before show season to get it all back to black... the conditioner that comes with hair dye is THE BEST.
ReplyDeleteI left my mare's tail alone all winter, other than picking out the leaves/twigs she manages to pick up. Last night I broke out the show sheen and combed it out in sections, starting at the bottom. I do a little more with it in the summer since she gets hosed off a lot, but generally I feel like less is more.
ReplyDeleteI brush out a few times a week and use spray conditioner regularly. I love brushed tails that float behind the horse. =)
ReplyDeleteI bag 24x7 in a 3 tube tail bag unless I am at a special event. Show, picture day, etc. Saves me the daily brushing and the tails get super long, super fast as the ends never get broken off. Plus it helps my short tailed Apps swat bugs in the better weather because the "tail" is longer and can kill via a single thwack.
ReplyDeleteTried tail bags ... useless and detrimental for tbs that like to tail-swish. Now I just use cowboy magic or ecolicious de-stress. No sprays, as Eli would fall over and die or something like that if I sprayed anything anywhere near him. I brush 2-3 times a week, wash with baby shampoo and mild/not thick conditioner periodically. I trim his tail but keep it fetlock length. No banging at the hocks for me.
ReplyDeleteI've been having a meltdown with Olivia's tail recently. With her recent health problems she is shedding her mane out like crazy. Like you touch it with your finger and it falls out (you'd think she just completed chemo. Its that bad). I know it will grow back healthy but it's been upsetting. Most recently someone said "wait til her tail starts falling out". Does that happen?!? Her tail has always been crazy beautiful and thick. I only brush it if it's wet with conditioner in it (I buy conditioner for African American women). I do dye it if it starts getting bleached out just because I think a striking black tail is pretty and since my girl is a baby and we don't ride yet, life is all about grooming and being pretty :)
ReplyDeleteNormally I neglect tails except after they've been shampooed and conditioned. Alas, Paddy has started pulling out chunks of his gorgeous, thick tail when he lays down, so I'm now keeping it braided. Debating on a tail bag/swatter for the summer - he needs SOMETHING to bat at the bugs!
ReplyDeleteLeave it alone! I pretty much don't touch it until showtime, when I bathe it and then brush it before each of my classes. That's it.
ReplyDeleteI braid it during the winter to help with the mud and yuck but then pretty much ignore it the rest of the year unless we're showing or going off the farm. I would LOVE to know what to do with the top - it fans out like a crazy brush but I don't want to pull.
ReplyDeletePongo is one of the few appys blessed with a lovely tail. I barely touch it. Maybe brush it once a week tops but only after I douse it in Canter Spray Detangler (my FAVE). I wash/condition/bang it several times a year, but it's got about 50 different colors of hair in it so it never really looks dirty. Now, the REST of my barn, totally different story. They use equi-fuse and brush tails every day/every ride and if it's not brushed out it's in a loud colored tail bag. I dunno, I think a brushed out tail is pretty, but I'm just not into the care I'd have to employ to brush it all the time without it breaking. Extensions weird me out, I mean, what if it FALLS OUT while you're showing, LOL!
ReplyDeleteI ignore it. A lot. Wash it once in a while (before a show). Pick it out by hand before ever coming near it with a brush. Only brush it when it's dry.
ReplyDeleteI *LOVE* the Fairy Tales serum from Equi-Spa for detangling!
I love a good tail on a horse and there is no way around it! Even before I had horses with massive amount of hair I took great care of their tails. Mine are always braided and in the winter they are braided, folded in half and vet wrapped up. I will braid it and leave it for weeks before breaking out the EquiFuse and making it all pretty again. Really brushing it out and braiding it doesn't take long if you do it more often.
ReplyDeleteI leave them alone. If they get filthy enough, I'll wash them, but I don't regularly brush tails as I don't want to pull out hairs. My gelding has such a long flowing tail, he can literally stand on it so the neglect method really does work.
ReplyDeleteI use cowboy magic detangler and brush every day :) That stuff keeps everything out. I wash once a week and condition in the summer.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on tail bags. They drive me nuts and I feel like horses can't properly swat flies with them. I pick the hay/shavings/grass out of my horses' tails everyday, but only brush it before I show. I bang so that it's right above the ankle when they're moving.
ReplyDeleteWell, since my horse's favorite activity when stalled is peeing and then immediately lying down to sleep in his fresh pee, I'm constantly washing it or spraying it or at the very least brushing it.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I totally worship how fancy you've made Courage's tail. That thing was so sad when you got him.
Seeing my horses tail everyday makes me depressed lolz
ReplyDeleteI kind of go the neglect route also, but instead of show sheen or laser sheen which tend to dry out the hair, dilute some conditioner in a spray bottle and use that instead. It conditions as well as detangles and leaves them smelling nice too.
ReplyDeleteI go with the neglect routine, but that works for me because my boy is a wanna-be wild stallion at heart - ie, loads of hair everywhere! I have to watch his tail, because it will grow and touch the ground if I'm not paying attention. I chop it shorter if it gets that long though - I don't want him treading on it!
ReplyDeletebonita of A Riding Habit
Nobody has mentioned Carr & Day Canter Spray yet! Everyone, get thee to a bottle, immediately!!
ReplyDeleteum what is this? i think i want it.
DeleteRico's was brushed whenever I felt like it, sometimes once or twice a week, sometimes it would sit for longer. I'd normally put Cowboy Magic or Mane n Tail conditioner in it.
ReplyDeleteTC has a huge friesian tail. I wasn't sure what to do with it for a while so it got pretty tangled, but I've found that if I brush it 3x a week while he's eating his grain after I ride him, it stays a lot nicer. They have show sheen at his barn that I use.
We brush out shavings- I love a conditioned tail!
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to read everyone's comments when I have time. All I do with my two thin-tailed guys is pick out straw and leaves and whatnot when I'm grooming, and wash/condition it when I'm bathing them. I DO NOT EVER EVER BRUSH THEIR TAILS (though I'll brush really thick tails, like my mom's horse or M's kid's pony). I hand-pick them if I'm going to do anything. Red's tail has grown back pretty well since he got here, thanks to good nutrition and not being so itchy. Mo's is about the same: minimally sufficient. Good thing I'm not making him a hunter or I'd have to buy a tail extension, blah.
ReplyDeleteI very very rarely brush tails. I will hand pick it after a bath and that is about it. I want to avoid breakage as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteMy pinto has a black and white tail that she loves to pee on in the winter, so for the winter months it lives in a tail bag (we don't have an indoor wash rack) and only comes out for lessons and shows. I only use Canter Spray, it's 100x better than any other spray I've tried.
I neglect it all winter. I pull big sticks and hay chunks and will massage out mud wads, but that's literally all. On a warm and relatively dry day in spring, I will shampoo out all the mud, coat in MTG, and braid. I leave that in for a week. Then I shampoo again, condition heavily, rinse lightly, and leave-in condition. Then I either braid again while still damp, or wait until it's full dry and spray with Vetrolin shine and detangle with my fingers and wide comb.
ReplyDeleteUsually, I only detangle fully for shows, clinics, and to bang the thing.
After the first spring shampoo, I only ever use either a vinegar rinse or a conditioner rinse to clean it.
If I brush more often, it breaks and gets terrible. If I leave it alone it looks much fuller.
I wish my horse grew a tail as luscious as his mane.
I also try not to leave it braided for a long period of time (usually just while it is grossly muddy out). A horse on full turnout + a braid can really do damage to a tail, I've learned.
DeleteI do nothing until show time. I let it be and let it grow. At show time I wash it, use show sheen, and cut it if it needs it. I only brush it once washed and show sheened. This has kept my horse's tails thicker and healthier.
ReplyDeletemy mare has a pretty excellent tail - and i mostly leave it alone. i spray in vetrolin shine every now and then to brush it out - but not often bc of the silicon, and usually only just the muddy ends anyway
ReplyDeleteDepends on the trainer I'm riding with:
ReplyDelete1. Brushed out every time they get ridden, add in Cowboy magic detangler if there are tangles.
2. Pick out obvious debris but leave untounched until the show.
I think I prefer daily brushing and regular upkeep so it isn't a huge job right before the show.