[Horsebrat20]

Ok, many people on here suggested to my mares tail in a braid and wash it once a week. Well i've been doing that, and her tail is starting to get icky. The hair is breaking (even though i have a loose braid) and it's getting dry (even though i condition it after i wash it) What do i do? I've tryed tail bags, but her tail still gets dirty. Any tips would be appreciated!

[ladyjumper1999]

Why don't you let it me a natural Tail

[Horsebrat20]

Because it never grew.

[ladyjumper1999]

What kind of a horse do you have, b/c i does take time to get my horse's tail to grow

[Horsebrat20]

SHe's a paint, her tail has grown since i've had her and looks much more healthy, but the hair is breaking when i braid it, but if i don't braid it, she get pee stains in it, which i'm still trying to get out from when her tail wasn't braided.

[Khafona gurl]

keep washing it but bandge it in vet rap then put it in a tail bag ?

[Horsebrat20]

Do i start at the base of the tail or all the way at the top of the tail? Wont it come out?

[GiddyUpScoot]

I take care of the tails of several ASB show horses at our barn (who all have tails that are at least 4' on the ground) and I have grown my horses out over 2' in the past year by putting it up. Here's what we do (in detail):

1. Wet the tail and put in a Hot Oil treatment to moisturize. Wash the tail *twice* in Infusium 23 Shampoo. It works great moisturizing the tail. Then we put in Infusium 23 Power Pac Conditioner. Leave in for 5 min. then rinse. Make sure ALL shampoo & Conditioner are out of the tail or else it may cause tail rubbing. Next is the Infusium 23 Leave-In conditioner and we spray lightly with Show Sheen.

2.While the tail is drying (but no too wet) pick through it with your fingers (NO BRUSHES!!!!!!!!!!! They can cause more breakage) After the tail is dry and been picked through, depending on how brittle the tail is, you can brush through it VERY carefully... undoing knots with your fingers.

**Make sure the tail is 100% dry before even thinking about putting it up. A wet tail braids tighter than a dry one If you're in a pinch for time and your horses tail dries fast, you can use a blow dryer if your horse will tollerate it.**

3. First separate out the portion of the tail you want to braid up (We leave the "feathers" of the tail out so that the horses have something to swish flies with) We braid the tail VERY loose, starting the braid approx. 6" below the tail bone. Braiding too close to the tail bone will also cause the tail to break. 1/2-3/4 of the way down the tail we begin to braid in either strips of cloth or ribbon (the thicker braiding ribbon used on gaited horses). Once we're close to the end we tie off the braid with the cloth/ribbon. I add an elastic to the end of my horses tail because his tail doesn't "hold braids" very well and it will come undone.

4. We take the braid and "loop" it up through the beginning of the braid, usually 2 times depending on the length of the tail. Then we take the ends of the cloth/ribbon and wrap them aroud the looped braid and tie it in a bow. Then we put it in a sock (Literally an old sock... we cut the top of the sock to make "ties"). Don't wrap it in vet wrap for a long time. Vet wrap will cause the tail to break. We only use vet wrap for tails at shows because it only stays up in it for a day or two.

We redo tails approx. once a month. It's better for the tail to sit than to be taken down & put up repeatedly. By keeping it in a sock, it will stay cleaner and have to be redone less often than it would if it was out of a sock. If it gets really nasy or wet, then you should redo it. Make sure you gently brush/pick through the feathers every day to keep them even cleaner. If your horse starts rubbing her tail, then you should redo it ASAP, because it could be that the tail is dirty and starting to itch.

You have to expect a little breakage. Simply because of the friction caused by the horse's natural "swishing" of the tail, the hairs rub against eachother. If you braid too tight the hair will also break... a good way to test it is to make sure that when you bend the tail that the braided hairs separate quite a bit, widening the braid. As long as the broken hair is few and far between (no large chunks or handfulls!) then it really won't effect the appearance. I have also heard very good things about Shapely's M-T-G growing out hair... keep meaning to buy some and try it *lol*

Hope I helped! If you have any questions or I was unclear about anything, just let me know!

[Horsebrat20]

Just one question, what are the feathers of the tail, and how much do you leave out? Thanks for that, i really appreciate it and am going to try it!

[GiddyUpScoot]

Just one question, what are the feathers of the tail, and how much do you leave out?

Tailfeathers are the hairs at the top of the tail (I circled them in red in the picture I attached ) We leave out most of the feathers that aren't long enough to touch the ground. We usually leave out the feathers on both sides and the front of the tail bone... it not only allows them to have a tail to swish at flies with, but also hides to sock You don't want to leave TOO much out (ie. we once had someone who left half of the tail out... if you leave that much out you might as well not put the tail up at all), but you also don't want to put too much of it up, ESPECIALLY if your horse goes outside. Hope I helped!