How to Grow a Long, Lavish Horse Tail
Posted: Saturday, August 20, 2011
by The Old Gray Mare
www.DressYourHorse.com
For as long as I can remember, I have loved flowing manes and tails on horses.
Watching our horses strut their stuff in the show ring is thrilling. So much expense, training, time and effort goes into show horse preparation that fussing over the tail is just another special task. A lovely tail is the horse’s extra crowning glory, and to me the effect is well worth the effort.
Before starting the process of developing a flowing tail on your horse, make an upfront commitment to stick with it. Devote adequate biweekly time to work with the tail. Remove it from the tail bag, air it out, braid and finish up with a clean tail bag. You will need an excellent leave-in conditioner and/or spray bottle of water, three strands of ripped cloth a foot or two longer than the length of tail (or you can use bailing jute, knitting yarn, narrow ribbons) plus several tail rubber bands and a clean tail bag.
Step 1. Set aside an hour or two every two weeks. Plan on having enough time to take down your horse’s tail, pull the strands, fluff out the tail, wash if necessary, rebraid it and put it back into a tail bag. Do not start unless you can devote adequate time for the process. Put your horse on crossties and plan on spending quality bonding time with your horse.Step 2. Use conditioner on the tail and work it into the tail bone. Lightly moisten the tail hairs with water spray.
Step 3. Hold your horse’s tail in one hand and carefully pick strand by strand of hair from tailbone to end of hair length, or until the strands fall free from the other hairs. Work through all the hairs of his tail, strand by strand, until you have half of the tail separated and picked out. Loosely knot the hair that is done or lightly rubber band it. Talk to your horse and occasionally pat him. Work quickly so he doesn’t get bored.
Step 4. Continue working through the hairs pulling the strands until you have completed your horse’s entire tail. Hold the tail below the tailbone and gently shake the hair out. The tail should appear fully “combed out and fussed over.” Keep the separated hairs from touching the ground or stall bedding to keep it clean and tangle free.
Step 5. Separate the fully-picked out tail into 3 equal sections starting just below the tail bone. Be sure each section of hair hangs freely.
Step 6. Knot the three ribbon strands (or bailing twine or linen strands) together leaving 4-6” of ribbon/twine or linen above the knot. Use one ribbon strand with each section of tail when you start the braiding process.Step 7. Braid the three sections, each consisting of ribbon strand and tail hairs, starting directly below the tail bone. Make the braid firm but not overly tout. Keep the braid neat, firm, and straight all the way down the tail until you have gone below the tail hairs and are braiding only ribbon. Be sure you have about 9” to 12” of ribbon left. Secure by tieing one piece of ribbon to one other ribbon OR use a small rubber band to secure lightly – I prefer the tie method. You now have a squeaky clean, braided tail with mostly every hair protected.
Step 8. Grab the bottom of the ribbon and tail and find a loop near the top of the braid and pull through. Take it down on the braid and find another spot to pull the end of the tail through again. Snug just enough to lay the braids smoothly one on the other – the bottom of the braid now gets pulled through again at a different spot near the top of the braid and so on until you have used up the braid, interlooping it several times so there is no single stress point supporting the weight of the tail.
Step 9. Separate the leftover ribbon strands to one strand and two strands, tie a single knot, loop around the tail once or twice and then knot once and tie a small bow. Make sure the bow is solidly tied and will not come undone. BE CERTAIN YOU DO NOT TIE ON OR NEAR THE TAIL BONE WHICH CAN INHIBIT BLOOD FLOW!. If you have tied the tail correctly, it will be doubled up, no longer than the hocks and neatly tied.
Step 10. Slip the tail bag over the braided and doubled/tripled over tail to just below the tail bone. Thread the tie straps through a different part of the braided top and distribute weight of the tail evenly between the tie straps. Fasten securely but don’t overtighten.
When you initially work the tail, it should be squeaky clean from a thorough shampoo, conditioning and rinse. Once the tail is picked out and bagged, it really is unnecessary to shampoo it – keep it bagged and clean – separate bone hairs and monitor flaking and dirt. Only shampoo if necessary and rinse all soap out thoroughly. Then follow from Step 2.I should emphasize that to keep the tail lush and long, from now on you should refrain from using a brush or comb on the tail. All work on tail hairs will be accomplished by picking single or several strands of hair. Detangle and fluff tail hairs, avoid breakage and prohibit unnecessary loss of individual hairs.
Remember, if you don’t succeed in growing out a lush tail, then there is no harm in cutting or trimming it. Right from the start, decide to work with your horse and put in the effort because the end result is your fantasy horse tail.
The Old Gray Mare writes for www.DressYourHorse.com and her Blog Sites. On the website, under The Old Gray Mare Stories and Articles, you will find additional photos for the various steps above.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Can they really use those long tails to swish flies or is something lost in the translation (and do they get poop in them?) I have to cut my long haired kitties "bloomers" to avoid the latter.... beautiful though. And, just reading your title I think the first criteria would be you have to be a horse (to grow long lavish horse tails) OK I will take a break and go to lunch now! GRINHeehee You do have to be a horse in this case. They can really use their tails and freely at that. When they are not all gorgeous for the show, they are braided and turned into themselves. Then they are in a sleeve to protect the hairs from grime and snares. They can whip that around. I actually tie strings or tassles on the shorter ones so their tails have plenty of ability to whip off flies. Heavens no, they don't get poop on them. We worry about getting them snared so they actually stay a lot cleaner than if they were just naturally hanging.
I have pomeranians so I sometimes have to go on poopie watch too. These two sweeties I have left have lavish and gorgeous hair, including around "that" area. I must say they have managed rather well. So thrilled you read this one. So much work and if they work against you, then it's cut off the length and you're good to go again. Takes a few years to really get some length.
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