Manes

Toccet02 · Postby **Toccet02** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 4:24 pm

OK, I just got my hair cut. So I wondered . . . aren't racehorse manes cut short? I think I asked this once and folks said they were just pulled . . .but can you really control the length and straight appearance effectively that way???

LB · Postby LB » Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:15 pm

Yes.

If you cut them, they stay too thick and hang funny. So you pull very small amounts of hair up and down throughout the mane.

Here's how: take small section (1/2 width of comb) in left hand. Use comb to tease back the shorter hairs, leaving the longer ones still held by fingers of your left hand. Wrap the longer hairs around the comb and pull out. Don't yank or you'll just break them off. You want to pull them out at the roots. So you are simultaneously thinning and shortening.

Some TBs have very thin manes, so instead of being totally pulled, they are halfway pulled and then the ends are cut (shortened) using just the tips of the scissors.

Pulling a mane just right to be flattering to a horse is a real art as the correct amount to leave is dependent upon the length, size and shape of the neck. And also whether plans for the mane are to braid it or to leave it loose.

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:16 pm

I don't use scissors - I have a plastic comb that holds a safety razor blade for neatening up a mane that has been pulled and thinned. The mane should be about a hand-span long, and lay neatly on the right side of the neck.

Shannon · Postby **Shannon** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 8:12 pm

I used to get crap from our exercise riders and jocks because I always pulled my horses manes...they complained because they had nothing to hold onto out of the gate or if the youngsters went to bucking.

kezeli · Postby **kezeli** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 8:46 am

I got the same thing, but only when I got carryed away with a horse that came in with a really uneven mane that was rather thin to begin with. She ended up with a mane like a foal, stuck straight up. Looked cute, was even but really not much to grab :)

Tucumcari · Postby **Tucumcari** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:54 pm

Long manes are a PITA for ex riders and jocks. Scissors are a HUGE no no!! The look like they have had scissors taken to them. They look awful. When you pull, it is a tidy job. Thins the mane as well as you can pull to the length you desire. The first time I pulled a mane, I thought "this is ridiculous." BUT then magically the mane started to take shape!! Now I use a comb to pull and cheaters to get rid of the odd hair that offends me. A horse that has a good, tidy appearance is a horse that has been looked after. That doesn't just mean, round and fit, ears clipped.. but mane and tail as well! Scissors don't cut it... lol

kimberley mine · Postby **kimberley mine** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:08 am

Roach it! No muss, no fuss, no getting kicked for pulling the mane, low maintenance, looks great on almost anybody. If I need something to grab, I always have the breastplate or the neck loop of the standing martingale.

LB · Postby LB » Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:27 am

kimberley mine wrote:Roach it! No muss, no fuss, no getting kicked for pulling the mane, low maintenance, looks great on almost anybody. If I need something to grab, I always have the breastplate or the neck loop of the standing martingale.

cold in the winter though... :lol:

pfrsue · Postby **pfrsue** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:53 am

kimberley mine wrote:Roach it! No muss, no fuss, no getting kicked for pulling the mane, low maintenance, looks great on almost anybody. If I need something to grab, I always have the breastplate or the neck loop of the standing martingale.

Weeeell, roaching isn't the best choice for a ewe neck, but regardless it's kind of a hassle if you ever want it to grow back in again...especially if you're going to show and want to braid. That really takes some creative pruning and pulling to get it to lay down and look right.

Toccet02 · Postby **Toccet02** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:47 am

I'm assuming the main reason a long mane is a PITA for jocks is because their low heads would be engulfed in flowing horse hair?

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:13 am

Nope. A long mane is dangerous. Can get their hands and the reins tangled in it.

pfrsue · Postby **pfrsue** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:31 am

Coming from more of a show background, I have a follow up question. Some horses are braided in the post parade but not by the time they get to the starting gate. (Lava Man comes to mind.) How the HECK do the jockeys get those things out so fast?

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 12:09 pm

Haven't you ever seen jockeys on the way to the track from the saddling enclosure furiously pulling off the elastics and finger combing out those braids? They need two handfuls of mane about a third of the way out from the withers to be secure breaking out of the gate.

LB · Postby LB » Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:03 pm

pfrsue wrote:Coming from more of a show background, I have a follow up question. Some horses are braided in the post parade but not by the time they get to the starting gate. (Lava Man comes to mind.) How the HECK do the jockeys get those things out so fast?

rip, rip, rip...

(unlike a show horse it doesn't really matter if you tear some hair out or not.)

Jessi P · Postby **Jessi P** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:05 pm

Most of them are done with rubber bands or electrical tape, so they are really easy to pull out. They are not sewn in as are traditional braids.