[PawNHoofPrints]

My gelding has a pretty thick mane to begin with, but the middle third is REALLY thick. Would it destroy if you used the thinning shears up higher in that section? His mane is so thick that it pretty much parts itself done the middle and no matter which side you look at him from it looks like his mane is thick and it's only half of it!!!

[Xiphias]

Excellent job of explaining and showing how to use the thinning shears! I will try this on my mare, I have used the shears on her, but not the way that you described....thank you! Cathy

[luckylady]

Halter girl I have a mane question for you, one of my mares has a terrible mane that I've kept roched for a few years now. Only because when it grows in, it stands straight up evan at 3 sometimes 4 inches. I've tried banding but she gets them out amost immediately. She's pastured in amongst lots of trees so a sleezy is out. Any cutting advice that might help? Thanks.

[HalterGirl_88]

Keep your horses mane braided in TIGHT about 1 inch wide braids. Leave them braided for about a week, take them out to rest for a day and then rebraid. Over time the mane will start to naturally break over again.

[HalterGirl_88]

Originally Posted by PawNHoofPrints

My gelding has a pretty thick mane to begin with, but the middle third is REALLY thick. Would it destroy if you used the thinning shears up higher in that section? His mane is so thick that it pretty much parts itself done the middle and no matter which side you look at him from it looks like his mane is thick and it's only half of it!!!

No I would not use the thinning shears up too high, it will make your mane look terribly choppy and uneven. Pulling the mane is probably your best bet if its mostly a certain section and not the whole mane. You could also try braiding really tight little braids and leaving them in. This will cause the hair to break naturally from the root and help thin it out.

[CarolinaFilly]

Great thread. Thanks for sharing!

[ARMwins]

good job!

[wpisawesome]

Thanks so much for the great post and your horse is gorgeous!

[harli36]

Originally Posted by PawNHoofPrints

My gelding has a pretty thick mane to begin with, but the middle third is REALLY thick. Would it destroy if you used the thinning shears up higher in that section? His mane is so thick that it pretty much parts itself done the middle and no matter which side you look at him from it looks like his mane is thick and it's only half of it!!!

With all due respect HalterGirl you can use thinning shears up higher in the thick section. You just need to do so at close to the root as possible(ie not half way down the mane) so no more then 1 cm or so away from the crest. If you do it right it looks like a traditional pull job.

What you do is grab a little bit of hair where you want to shorten or thin, and then back comb so you only have approx 5 hairs left in your fingers (so far it's the same as you would do a traditional pull job). Then instead of ripping the hairs out you cut them, as close to the crest as possible. Like this....
Back combing (keep in mind I was trying to do this one handed since the other hand was holding the camera so it would normally be neater)


And then cutting what you have back combed.


In the end it looks like a traditional pull job that has grown out slightly. So it works best if you do a little each day, over the course of a few days. Also be sure to take the hairs that you will cut from the underside you will get a smoother finished product.

[wpisawesome]

haltergirl- thanks so much! I tried it on my horse and it worked tons better than trying to just cut it with scissors!