[tlwidener]

I HATE banding manes. We show WP, WR, Trail, and SMS. Sometimes my daughter will do reining and speed stuff.

My gelding looks much better with a short mane than a long one, but I hate banding it for shows. It looks nice banded, but oh wow. . . it takes forever. His mane is very thick and takes about a zillion bands. He gets very fidgety. I've thinned it with thinning shears and it is still very thick.

Any tips or tricks for quickening up the process? Banding his mane is torture for both me and him. I don't enjoy removing all those tiny bands either.

I'm seriously considering roaching it. Would that be awful? I don't really like the roached look, but it would be sooooo easy.

[Knievel]

i would pull the underside to thin it out more. the thicker it is the more time it takes. but the more you do it the quicker you get.

roaching is ok, but you will get the funny looking mohawk. i prefer the banded look (shows that youve put effort into your presentation).

[tlwidener]

His mane is sticking up now from being short enough to band. It was only about 3" long in August. It laid really nice at the show, but now it sticks up in the air in some places.

Is banding worth the effort? Maybe I just am not good at it.

[Taihoa]

Pull the mane by hand so it is thin. Using thinning combs/scissors will only make it thicker and harder to plait. While pulling is time consuming initially it lasts much longer. Do it in small amounts after your ride.
I get about 19 plaits down my name and have it down to a fine art - 20 mins to get them all done but it takes years of practice.
As for taking the bands out - get a band cutter - so much easier!! I stitch my plaits in for shows so its a handy wee tool for undoing all the thread

[Knievel]

Originally Posted by tlwidener

His mane is sticking up now from being short enough to band. It was only about 3" long in August. It laid really nice at the show, but now it sticks up in the air in some places.

Is banding worth the effort? Maybe I just am not good at it.

if your finding some of the banded mane is sticking up and not laying flat. grab some of the hair on the understide of the banded section and give it a little pull. it will make it lay flat.

...did that make sence?

[Quick2Skip01]

I use thinning shears all the time to band, and my bands are beautiful.

Thinning with thinning shears must just be done a certain way for the bands to lay nice.

I will take a section of hair maybe 2 to 3 inches along the mane, and spit it down the middle of the mane (horizontal with the mane) and then take the thinning shears and cut 3-4 times, but not all in the same spot.

Banding takes practice unfortunately, I have been banding since I started 4-H, 10 years ago, and it took me a couple years to get decent at it. Now I can band a mane in about 20 minutes whereas when I started it took me about an hour.

I show with a lady that only bands for big shows, she just keeps the mares mane pulled, (you would have to pull to do this) and just combs it straight down (its only 3 to 4 inches long) and sprays with spray gel, puts the slinky on for the night, and leaves it down.

You could always do what my mom did, Make your daughter do the banding!

[tlwidener]

Originally Posted by Quick2Skip01

I use thinning shears all the time to band, and my bands are beautiful.

Thinning with thinning shears must just be done a certain way for the bands to lay nice.

I will take a section of hair maybe 2 to 3 inches along the mane, and spit it down the middle of the mane (horizontal with the mane) and then take the thinning shears and cut 3-4 times, but not all in the same spot.

Banding takes practice unfortunately, I have been banding since I started 4-H, 10 years ago, and it took me a couple years to get decent at it. Now I can band a mane in about 20 minutes whereas when I started it took me about an hour.

I show with a lady that only bands for big shows, she just keeps the mares mane pulled, (you would have to pull to do this) and just combs it straight down (its only 3 to 4 inches long) and sprays with spray gel, puts the slinky on for the night, and leaves it down.

You could always do what my mom did, Make your daughter do the banding!

Could you elaborate on your thinning method? Maybe I'm not thinning it enough.

My bands always lay flat and nice. His hair only sticks up when it's not banded, which is most of the time.

[WilsonF]

No tips on banding since its not my favorite thing in the world and can usually trade bathing some ones horse for some one banding mine. BUT did want to say, my yearling has a very thick mane and when his isnt banded it stands straight up in the air. Lol so dont feel bad.

[QHGirl]

My guy looks like a Fjord in the fall/winter with his mane!

[pinksummer626]

I know some people who take a pair of clippers (have to be VERY careful mind you) and shave some hair under the mane, it thins it and its quick to do. Just don't shave off the mane.

And banding is a pain the ***, but it looks great. It takes me about an hour since I put 60-66 bands in the mane.