Tail Maintenance

[Celtic Hill]

My new horse has a BEAITIFULL tail. Okay, so It might not be the 6 foot long tails your guys are used to, but for a Irish sport horse it’s thick and long. What should I do to keep it where it is, I don’t want it to focus on growing it, but keeping it nice and full. She is in a run-in, I don’t want to wrap it with vet rap because Ive heard if it gets wet In the knot it will rot. Could I just braid bailing twine into it and then fold the braid up and tie it into it’s self? What would you suggest doing?

[pwrpfflynn]

If you don't want to grow it long I would leave it alone. In my experiences braiding it up will make it break and it will get thinner however it will grow longer. We use Guard-tex leg/tail wrap and it stays dry and clean. You should take it down and wash and condition it and dry it fully before rewrapping it ever other month or so. Anyway that's what I do but I am anal about things being clean. You will do it more often during show season of course. I like using Infusium leave in conditioner but I will advise you I did have one horse that got hives from it after just using it on her for 3 days in a row so I would watch it if you decide to use it. My other horse is just fine with it everyday.

[SmartAlex]

The more you worry about it, the more hair you will lose.... or at least it seems that way. I'd leave it alone and just make sure the tail and dock are kept clean and itch free and hand pick out the snarls instead of over brushing. I think you get alot further with just barn management (i.e. fly control, safe snag free fences and walls, good health) than you do with playing hair dresser.

[silvia]

I don't touch a tail if I want it thick. No tail bags, daily grooming etc.
Instead I only groom it out after it's been washed, conditioned and is bone dry afterwards (and after I add a few sprays of show sheen)
Use a moderately stiff tampico or pig hair brush to brush it out.

[♥Gabrielle♥]

I second or third the leave it alone. My horse has a snow white tail and I have to keep it up during show season, but I leave it out in the winter and just let it out.
The best product I have found to use for detangling is Cowboy Magic detangler and shine. It's spendy, but sometimes you can find a good deal and you don't need to use a lot of it. Never ever ever use a brush. Use your fingers to pick out stems, burs, sawdust, ect. Wash well, put some "magic" in and let it dry while you run your fingers through gently. Unless it is truly nasty, don't wash it. Just pull out the debris and finger comb the best you can. If there are huge knots, use some oil or detangler to work out the spot.

[Celtic Hill]

Okay, so ive decided i want to see if i can grow it out for the show ring this year. I want to put her tail up so it can get some length to it. Her feathers go down to about 5-6 in above her fetlock. A week or so ago i spent over an hour picking out her tail by hand and took all the hair 'inside' hair that came off the tip of her tail bone (about 1/2 of the her tail) and braided it with a pice of baling twine in it then i folded it up and weaved the baling twine threw the braid to hold it in place.

This seems to be workign out, i want to vet wrap it or put a sock over it, but because she has free acess to out side 24/7 i dont't want to tail to rot out if it gets wet, so should i just keep what im doing?

[Samigator]

I've never had a problem with using either vetwrap or a sock, so long as you check it often (at least weekly) and take it down and re-do it regularly (every 4-8 weeks). I usually use a sock in the winter, vetwrap in the summer that way I can add a fly swisher with the vetwrap. My horses are out much of the day too, in rain, snow, etc, and I've never had a problem with tails rotting off.

That being said, if you want fullness and don't care that much about the length, I wouldn't put it up. I refuse to put up a horse's tail unless A: they're a show horse in a discipline that likes long tails, and B: their tail is already at least down to their fetlocks, or C: there is some necessity for the tail to be up- ie burrs or other environmental conditions that are either damaging or persistent and annoying to maintain- hence why I put our TWH's tail up- he was coming in with it packed down with burrs every day- what a pain. Now at least it's pretty seldom he gets burrs in it with it being up.

[Mona129]

Bang the bottom so it will all grow out to its maximum length and then do absolutely nothing with it.

[Paddy's Girl]

If you want to use your horse for dressage, you don't want a long drag on the ground tail.

[Celtic Hill]

yea, our dressage shows arn't untill mid summer, the first part of the season is all pleasure shows so i want it long for the first shows. I really just want to see if i can grow it out long. i was deprived with my last horse, his tail went to his hocks and stoped! lol. :glare:

[Fetch33]

I have a horse that is turned out most of the day. A year ago, he lost an entire section of braid due to swishing at flies. I had to find a better way. We've been putting up his tail like this http://www3.telus.net/sherrisstable/HorseTails.htm for a year now. His tail is so much thicker and the tail feathers are past his hocks now because they aren't getting broken off by braiding.

[LLavery]

You have gotten some great advice. Here is a link that might be of interest.

http://askthetraineronline.com/product.html

[Jackandmo]

I can't tell you HOW it's done (I've watched dozens of times and still can't figure it out!) but ASB3G has this process of putting up tails that involves pantyhose and electrical tape. In 3+ years my horses tail has grown thick and luxurious! The horses are out in the elements and the tails have never gotten damaged.

[Tazsprout]

well, I think you should do whatever you want, its your horse.

That said, remember the ISH have a draft component in there, and mostly they will have thick rather than long hair.

Also, remember the tradition behind the breed. They had banged tail to keep it OUT of the briars while bashing cross country hunting! Heck, origninally they had cob tails (not that we need to devolve to THAT point).

[Celtic Hill]

ugh, well im just going to grow it our for fun and see how long it gets till show season, and then chop it off. :dots: weather mentally i'll beable to handle that is another question! lol. But i was looking at her tail to day and i noticed some of the loose feathers not in the knot were actually touching the ground! lol i can't wait till the end of the month when i re-do her tail!

[Celtic Hill]

Okay, so Wed is our monthly Ritual of Un braiding and re braiding up her tail. I dont remember when the last time her tail was washed. So i probally should wash her tail but it's freezing cold with two feet of snow...So with that said is there any alternatives to washing her tail?

[Samigator]

Okay, so Wed is our monthly Ritual of Un braiding and re braiding up her tail. I dont remember when the last time her tail was washed. So i probally should wash her tail but it's freezing cold with two feet of snow...So with that said is there any alternatives to washing her tail?

wait for a warmer day. ;) I don't wash tails in the winter, unless it's 50 degrees or above. I try to plan it out to wash it one last time in the fall before it's consistently cold, then they wait until spring. Tails really don't have to be washed that often. Just take it down, pick it out, and put it back up or whatever routine you usually do.

[SmartAlex]

At least two pails of HOT water to mix in with the freezing water, and dish gloves... This is just to keep YOU from freezing. Of course, if it really is so cold that the wet tail will freeze before you get it picked out, then you'll have to wait.

[wstrngrl]

I don't ever take the tail down after it's been up for awhile unless I'm going to wash it. So if it's too cold to wash the tail; I wouldn't take it down.

I've always found that trying to pick through a dry, dirty tail is a good way to lose alot of hair. You're better off just leaving the tail alone until you're able to wash it. Our horses' tails can go all winter without being washed (therefore, without being taken down).

As long as you put it up securely and in a way that will allow it to dry out if it gets wet; there's no reason to take it down except to wash it.

[Celtic Hill]

Okay, I was think i will take it out once more before we send her off to the boarding barn just to check it and leave it in untill show season, because she will be inside in a stall most of the time and go out when it's nice. so i won't have to worry about it being wet.

As far as washing i'll just let it be and put a good spray conditioner in before we braiding it up.

Thanks, Guys!

[Celtic Hill]

Okay, so we have had a few nice days so i was able to condition it 3-2 weeks ago and i braided it up and put it in a bag. I check the bag every time i ride (i don't unbraid it or take it off just check it) and i just saw that some of the hair that goes down into the bag is broken. Is this normal and should i expect this or am i doing something wrong? i can't remember if this happend when i did the tail knot in the fall.

[Samigator]

it's pretty common for a horse to catch their tail on stuff in the pasture or stall and tear little pieces out. Just one of the risks of having the tail up- hence why tails often get thinner if you have them up.

[Celtic Hill]

Humm, Okay. Im trying to remember if i had issues when she was in the pasture :confused1: I don't think so. But now she is in a 12x12 stall most of the day so i guess she could catch her tail on the boards. Oh welll...

[SmartAlex]

There is always going to be some breakage at the top of the braid where the stress is concentrated (unless the tail is in a set and completely supported by a bag). There is always going to be breakage somewhere on the hair. The thing with putting the tail up, is that in the end you will actually have to count and therefore mourn the loss of each and every hair as they fall out of the braid when you take it down. At least with leaving the tail down, unless you find the little dead bodies of the hairs caught somewhere or lying forlorn in the bedding when you clean you will not be able to account for them, and the tail will have simply vanished into thin air.

A little Monday morning tail humor, but true enough.