Share your thoughts on tail braiding.

[Crookedblaze]

I am internally debating tail braiding.

Mac has the worst tail ever, it is short, thin and gross. (His mane however, is thick, lush and amazing.) Mac is the bay below.



Rocket has a gorgeous, thick tail that drags a few inches on the ground, but the ends are getting frayed because he drags it everywhere. (His mane, however, consists of 15 hairs that he is constantly rubbing off.) Rocket is the sorrel above.

...I just have to say, I love my Quarter Horse butts!

Stormy pees on her tail. Her tail is thin, short and grossola!



But I am not sure if I want to braid their tails. I had a braid in tail bag for Rocket which is why his tail is amazing, but that was hard work and we are still in the middle of fly season. Rocket and Mac both have fly allergies, so they need their tails to swat flys. With tailbags I generally wash twice a month, rebraid and wash the tailbags, but I'll have to start all over getting tailbags for everyone.

Hmm.

[RenosGirl]

I only braid Reno's tail during endurance races. He always poops on his and takes forever to clean....I only really go a little ways down his tail..and it just makes his pick up his tail more (hes a arab btw) but ya hes the gray butt on the right side of the picture

[Carri]

I only do it the night before a show, to keep them clean, but I know people who keep them braided and bagged and it sure creates a gorgeous, long tail!

[jkponies]

During fly season, I keep my horses' tails braided with tail tubes, because it keeps them clean and also adds some length. You can also braid the tail together with 3 strips of cotton sheeting, or I've even used 3 tube socks. The advantage to these over braiding and putting in a tail bag is that the tail isn't braided as tightly, because the fabric makes each section of the braid thicker, and then the tail keeps a little more of its fluffiness. (Sort of how you can train a mane to lay down by braiding or banding it--braiding a tail can "train" it to be less thick.)

[rivervu2]

Arab owners I knew would wash the tail, apply a lot of baby oil, then braid most of it, leaving long pieces loose on the sides for swatting. They would braid it down to the bottom, then loop the end up through the top of the braid a few times, start vet wrap through the same spot from top to bottom, then wrap it all the way around the sides. They would unwrap and wash the tail once a week, then pick it through stand by strand to detangle then rewrap it. Those horses had the most beautiful tails! If anyone needs pics on how to do this I can take some and send them.

[DappleGrayMyWay]

I'm with you on this dilemma. My mare has a lovely tail and it's fun to braid it for looks, but it serves no purpose braided, and it grows fine. My gelding, on the other hand, can't seem to catch a break on growing his out. He snags it on bucket handles and rubs it on walls and generally seems determined to never have a 'decent' tail. But he also won't really tolerate me messing with it, to help it grow. I keep telling him that if it's nicer, thicker, longer, it'll make a better weapon against the flies he hates so much, but it's like he doesn't speak Human.

I've considered tail bagging. I might wait until the first freeze though, for the flies to die off. Then I can get to work and have a few months' tail growth time.

If you live where there's no freeze for dying of the nasty biters, then I'd say at least wait until the weather cools some more (maybe October?) then bag away.

[Crookedblaze]

Dapple, I wish it got cold enough to kill the flys! The coldest San Diego gets in the winter is 50 (at night, when it rains), we have a year round fly season. :-/

[DappleGrayMyWay]

Oh dear, a year round fly season...that is no fun. My grandmother lived in San Bernardino, so I am familiar with that problem.

So, what about doing a few loose braids towards the top, leaving the ends free for fly-swatting, and using MTG or something to help?

Of course there's always weaves Another horse could make a contribution to the cause!

[Crookedblaze]

Ohh! I'll do a hunter braid.

I braid all of my friends horses for shows. I love to french braid, I learned on Rocket. I tied him up and braided and braided until it was dinnertime.

[DappleGrayMyWay]

Here's what I like to do in my mare's tail, it looks so pretty and it lasts a few days.

[Raaslita]

What I used to do on my arab mare, is I used an old tube sock..I washed and conditioned her tail thourghly. then braided it ..I would then cut the top of the sock in half just to the end of the elastic. stick one put the tail in the sock.. Stick one hlaf of the sock through the braid, and tie the sock ends in a knot, hen tape (duct tape or electrical tape work best) the top of the sock and cut a hole at the bottom of the sock..

A hole you ask, yeah that was so I could make my own swisher..Take a piece of the corded baling twine (not metal of course) stick it through the hole in the sock so its even on both sides then tie it in a knot wrap the knot with a little more tape to close the hole.. cut the end to be the length that you want and untwist the twine...

This always worked on my mare.. her tail got so long it drug 3ft on the ground when I let it down..Of course it took years to ge it there..

[A J]

I'll admit that I'm a fan of the tail bags. I really like the braid in ones, but due to cost have settled for the regular ones. I've found that if I'm good about the fly spray and using SWAT on their bellies they still have enough with the tail bags to keep the flies from being too bad. You could always add a whisp to the end with a bunch of cloth strips if you wanted more "swishing power" with your regular tail bags!

[GreyDot]

The reason Dot's tail is always braided is to keep it snow-white - and to keep its length from dragging on the ground behind him.

First of all, don't brush the tail. Ever. I was always told that every tail hair broken is $1 off the horse's price. So, touch it as little as possible. As long as there's no landscaping hanging out of it, just leave it alone. If you really feel the need to separate the hairs, use your fingers - and then a wide-tooth comb. Always comb from the bottom up, and take your time. If you hear snapping sounds, you're breaking hair.

For any colour horse, it really does help to braid and put up the tail. The top may still rub a little, but at least the lengths won't break. I have braided ridicoulously long tails using this method, and they stay in for MONTHS.

Shampoo well, making sure to scrub the skin of the dock, and use a LOT of conditioner. I've found that Fructis conditioner seems to work really well on horse hair. Use a good double-handful, and really work it through the tail, top to bottom, and into the hair roots on the dock. Leave it on for a good 5-10 minutes. Rinse very well, and let dry. Don't brush it. Once it's completely dry, saturate it with ShowSheen or any other silicone spray, and let it dry again. Once dry, carefully separate the hairs using your fingers and a wide-toothed comb, and braid it - braiding in a long piece of baling twine. I use the whole piece of twine, so that half goes into one section of the braid, and half goes in another. Just fold it in half, don't cut it - you want the twine to be continuous through the braid. You need a good foot or so of baling twine left at the bottom of two of the braid's sections. Secure the end with an elastic.

Fold the tail in half, and pull the end through the tail, just below the dock, from the front to the back (towards the horse). You'll now have a loop, with the end sticking out the back of it and pointing at the horse's butt. Now, pull the end, again, through the back of the loop so that it's in the inside of the loop - and then poke it through the bottom, so that the end of the tail is now sticking out of the bottom of the loop. Pull the loose baling twine through with it to the inside of the loop, but NOT through the bottom. You want just the "brush" of hair stuck through the bottom of the loop. Now, use those two loose ends of baling twine to criss-cross around the whole tail loop thing, at the same level as the twine knot. Just go around once or twice, just to secure the whole assembly.

Get 3 or 4 lengths of baling twine, about 3 ft long each, and use them to make your horse a 'fly swisher'. I just stick the lengths through a loop of baling twine near the bottom, pull them half-way through and tie them in a couple of knots. Nothing fancy, as long as it stays in. This is shown in the picture below. Now, get a roll of VetWrap or other self-stick bandage, and wrap the whole tail in it. Leave the 'swisher' out, but wrap the knots of the swisher and the rest of the tail - only up to the dock. Do not wrap the dock.





For a grey horse, use blue 'people' shampoo. It's a lot cheaper than horse shampoo. Something like Blue Fox or Shimmering Lights works great. After conditioning, use FanciFull leave-in rinse, by Roux. You can find this in the hair colour aisle of your pharmacy. You just squirt it in, and leave it. The shade is White Minx (or Ultra White Minx, if you can find it), and is intended for grey human hair. It takes the yellow tinge out of the hair.

Remember that white hair is unpigmented, and does not have any sun protection. If you put a white-coated horse out in the sun, the sun will 'scorch' the hair - making it look yellowish. The blue rinse will help a good deal.