[bnttyra]

This may be in the wrong section but, my new girls all have long beautiful manes. Since at least 2 of them are reiners I plan on leaving the manes long. But, I plan on showing them in other classes as well such as Western Riding and possibly Horsemanship and Showmanship. Will having long manes really hurt when showing at breed shows particularly in the showmanship and horsemanship classes? And if so, does anyone have a good braiding idea that would work?

[PaintYourWorld]

I don't know if it will hurrt you to have a long mane, but I would try one of these

Another option is when I had my app with a long thick mane I would take a section and put it in just a reguar tight braid leave it in overnight and take it out in the morning and it would be all pretty and wavy

[xduckehx]

If you are going to do a running braid, like shown above, I would definitely suggest you do one that stays tight to the crest, so it can show off your horses neck accordingly, and it gives a nice neat finish I'll see if I can find any pics

[bnttyra]

^^ Good idea! I haven't seen anyone show with long manes at the breed show except in the reining, WCH, cutting events. I really want to show my girls in western riding, horsemanship, and showmanship too. They are too quick for the western pleasure and I know that lots of movement can cause the judges to score lower, I just didn't know if it was the same in these other classes.

Have you shown at the breed shows with longer manes in any of those classes? And did you braid it like above or leave it long?

[xduckehx]

here is a picture, and a website explaining how to do it if you aren't sure and it's something you'd like to try..

http://www.exhibitorlabs.com/article_02c.cfm

[bnttyra]

Great link! I will give it a try, Thanks!

[rascalboy]

I do the running braid with my mare for english classes. For western I just take it out and let it be wavy.
My mare looks terrible with the braid tight to her neck. You can do a dropped braid, where the entire braid is a few inches fro the crest, or you can make it tight ost of the way down, and then let the last half foot start drifting away from the crest.
Another reason why I don't keep it tight to the crest, is because the horse can tear hair out if they try and put their head down. (We know; we've done it.

[Acme Acres]

Tanya, Leslie Keenan showed Cash in halter with a long mane! She just braided it and left it long. I don't think it hurt him one bit. Let your new kids actions prove what they're able to do, not their manes!

[bnttyra]

Originally Posted by Acme Acres

Tanya, Leslie Keenan showed Cash in halter with a long mane! She just braided it and left it long. I don't think it hurt him one bit. Let your new kids actions prove what they're able to do, not their manes!

Funny cause that is exactly what both myself and Amanda were thinking Julie! We were just talking about it yesterday and saying that if they didn't do well in a class simply because of their manes being long, well it would be silly and that we would certainly make up for it in the reining classes where the long manes are prefered! I can't wait to get some pictures and video up. I know that there will be people on here that will find fault with them and us but I know that they are only 3 and 4 and I am only a novice reiner, give us a year or two and we will be tearing it up!!

[Acme Acres]

Screw'em Tanya. If and when we take Player back to get his APHA ROMs in halter, we'll take him in wiht his mane and it's a good 16-18 inches long.. and we aint cuttin it!