Comments on: Groom to Win

By: christina

christina — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:21:01 +0000

I too have a thin maned quarter horse and if I pulled his mane there would be nothing left. I use scissors or clippers to shorten his mane, but in order too avoid the scissor edge effect I make little vertical snips up into the mane all the way along to slightly vary the length of each hair. No one knows it’s not a pulled mane. Much harder with a thick mane though. You could always do a combination scissor and then pull just a few hairs to finish. For horses that are really bad about pulling or clipping I have the vet top up the tranq after getting their teeth done in the spring before show season.

By: Shelly

Shelly — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:58:23 +0000

My mare has a thin mane but it is long and I want to shorten it. I’ve tried the sizzors and it did not look good. I’m now thinking about pulling it. Does anybody have any thoughts on pulling a thin mane? Will it look better or worse? Thanks!

By: Good Eats, Glossy Sheen, Part 2 – America’s Horse Daily

Good Eats, Glossy Sheen, Part 2 – America’s Horse Daily — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:02:20 +0000

[...] doesn’t have access to shade. Preston suggests that for those trying to keep their horses in show condition, limiting the time the horse spends in the sun is one way of keeping the coat [...]

By: Kaz

Kaz — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:33:53 +0000

As long as the horse has good conformation for the class selection, is clean and presented in a neat manner then it shouldn’t matter how long the mane is. It’s up to us to make a change.
Some horses are okay with having their manes pulled and some are definitely not happy. I have a mare you can do anything with, clip all her body and bridle path but put a set of clipper near her ears, watch out so I show her with washed ears and a long mane even in English events and still place.

By: Kathy Arnold

Kathy Arnold — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:13:26 +0000

Jo,

Horses with long manes are shown in halter and pleasure. You don’t see it alot yet. Look at the lady’s horse that won the World in western pleasure. She has won it 2 years in a row. (I think I’m right on that) Her horse has a beautiful long mane. I have seen reiners win in halter over halter horses. I have a friend that has a reiner that shows in many different events in AQHA shows and wins. He is a great horse and has pleasure points too. He also has a long mane. I think some people might be afraid of change and keep the manes short because thats what they’re used to.

By: KC

KC — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:40:41 +0000

I’ve pulled manes for years, and never had a problem. Also, having a long mane doesn’t make a reiner/cutting horse lose a pleasure class…they aren’t pleasure horses, and vice versa for a pleasure horse in a reining class.

I saw a few long manes win at Congress in western pleasure last year. But if you show in SMS or any hunt class where you need to braid, a long mane is not an option.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:37:00 +0000

At least the light is on in some people’s heads, of course pulling a mane hurts can i show you? Don’t do it. I have the cutting tool and it works good, I have also done the back combing method and sizzors which both give you a natural mane look, albeit short. I agree with the person that prefers a long mane, I went that way this year and lost an average of two placings each time. So I guess we all have a choice there but please let’s choose comfort for the horses.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:37:26 +0000

Way to go folks! I totally agree with the “no scissors” technique. If a horse can feel a fly land on its tail, well then it just makes common sense that pulling hair wouldn’t be too confortable. Thanks for speaking up.

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:50:09 +0000

I prefer a long natural mane on my horses. So I don’t show in classes where having a short mane is required. If more people would stand up and say no, then we would have more reiner, cutters, working cow, and speed event horses in halter, and pleasure classes. You would have Champions that are truly all around horses.

By: Mallory

Mallory — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:32:32 +0000

Another nice alternative to pulling is a commercial comb with blades built in. I have one that you back-comb the hair just like as if you were pulling, then one push on the handle makes the blade slide across and cut those hairs. It was only about $30 – definitely worth it!

By: Victoria

Victoria — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:23:07 +0000

I agree whole-heartedly with the posters who use scissors. My Quarter Horse mare is a docile, desensitized horse. She tolerated getting her mane pulled on 2 occasions, however, it took me 3 days each time. I developed my method of cutting the mane by grasping an inch wide section of mane and holding it firmly down toward the ground. Using a fine-toothed come, push upward toward the mane bed to bunch the hairs not being cut (it is kind of like ratting people hair)leaving only the longest hairs grasped between your thumb and forefinger. Snip upwards into the hairs to avoid a blunt look. Practice taking smaller sized snips until you achieve the desired length. Comb bunched hair hair down again to comb out. Repeat until that same inch section of hair is cut the same length. It takes awhile but the results are very uniform without being blunt. Generally, I snip the mane the width of 4 fingers. Banding helps train it but make sure you pull the undermost hairs of the mane as close to the mane bed so the mane lays flat.

By: SB

SB — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 15:34:02 +0000

Sorry, but pulling manes is not my choice of shortening. I agree with Cyd, stick to cutting the mane with scissors and then as the barber does to thin. Pulling manes makes horses uncomfortable and ultimately dangerous if done the wrong way to the wrong horse.