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I get to post the 1st dumb question on the new forum. Yeah!



Do you have to have the short little halter mane to show in a halter
class or can you band and braid it or do something else? I really don't
want to cut Tucker's beautiful mane and since he will mostly be show in
performance classes I don't want him looking all sissyfied and having
all the other horses laugh at his do LOL!!!

Hey Cindy, it's Laura!
For most open shows, I'd think you can get away with leaving it long, or banding it neatly, or even braiding it up. For AQHA shows though, I'd say you'd have to cut it...follow the trends, etc.
Anyone have thoughts on the "proper" western pleasure mane length? Rudy's due for a cut for this weekend's show, but I'm not allowed to cut his mane. I cut crooked, so my friend always does it, lol.
And these are some cool smilies:

If it's a performance horse, I would have his mane in the style (short or long) that is appropriate for the discipline he is showing in. I would imagine that in the performance Halter that the reining, roping and cutting horses will not be marked off for their long manes.

I haven't seen any performance halter classes yet and am curious to see whether or not the long manes are banded.

BTW, there was a WP horse with a flaxen mane that was showing last year, in WP, with a long banded mane. It was gorgeous!

Hi Laura! Good to see you! Don't you go and mess up Rudy's hair! LOL



Beth, he is still only 10 months old, but he has the most beautiful
thick, long flaxen mane and tail. I don't want to hack it off. I want
to let it grow out lengthy and purdy! It'll be somtime before he gets
any performance points, so we'll be stuck in open shows for now.



I am curious to see what the performance side does with the longer manes though.

I'm not sure what they'll do either. But I know if I had a rope, cutting, or reining horse, I sure wouldn't cut their manes just to show in performance halter. I mean, that's what the class is, performance halter.

In open shows, you can do just about anything you want as far as the mane.

I haven't got to see any performance halter classes yet either, but as soon as I do, I'll let you know what they're doing.

I agree with 7C. On the West Coast all the working horses that are doing all around have to go in the halter class.. They do not cut their manes and some of them do not even use show halters.. And, many of them go Grand and Reserve..

I can see the point of following trends though.. However, there is no rule on it and I have seen many horses that not only have long manes win they are not banded or braided either...

Unless you think your horse will be get the Blue Ribbon then I would leave the mane long... And, you might get a big surprise and take the blue anyway ...

7cedars wrote:

In open shows, you can do just about anything you want as far as the mane.

Well, in that case, maybe I should just gel Rudy's mane straight up into a mohawk for tomorrow's show...save me some cutting! LOL!
And Cindy, I wish I had pictures of the first (and only) time I cut Rudy's mane. My excuse was that he wouldn't hold still...but it wasn't pretty:affraid:

LovingLoping wrote:

7cedars wrote:

In open shows, you can do just about anything you want as far as the mane.

Well,
in that case, maybe I should just gel Rudy's mane straight up into a
mohawk for tomorrow's show...save me some cutting! LOL!
And Cindy, I
wish I had pictures of the first (and only) time I cut Rudy's mane. My
excuse was that he wouldn't hold still...but it wasn't
pretty:affraid:

I "tried" my hand at cutting the mane ONCE ....... I'm glad my friend
stopped me when she did, because my mare would have ended up roached!

That's so funny. Well, I'll tell ya, if you're brave enough to put all that gel in his hair and mohawk it, I don't think the judge will ever miss ya and he'll sure be able to see ya that's for sure!

We'd sure be the talk of the show. This show series is open but put on by the Arabs society, so there are some funny lookin' manes, believe you me. Sometimes they have driving with the minis...Rudy thinks they're like the sign of the Apocalypse, and won't go into the warm up arena.

I'm so lazy though-I didn't band his mane tonight, so who knows if it'll get done before our first halter class tomorrow. And it STILL needs a trim!

Here's the rule of thumb on manes for showmanship and/or halter. Go with the style that is relative to your horse's stongest class/discipline.

If your horse's strong point is English, then braid his mane. And show him/her in showmanship and/or halter that way.

If your horse's strong point is Western, then band and do the same.

If your horse's strong point is Reining, then let the mane be natural.

If you have an all-around horse that does well in English and Western, you have to decide which way to go.

I've seen this done at small weekend AQHA shows where the class schedule just does not permit enough time to switch from braids to bands or vice versa. I don't know if I would follow this rule at a large show!

I leave long manes alone, just comb em, shine them up and leave them the way nature intended. Shorter manes I band. Most open show judges understand that we use our horses for more than just the halter classes, so give you more leeway with how you do your manes. I have won grand with Freckles who is a cow bred mare. She had once rubbed a chunk of mane out. I tryed to fix what I could, but there was a three inch bald spot just ahead of her withers. So don't worry too much, and enjoy yourself.

My vote is give the professional look for halter cut and band. I know what you mean, my colts mane is now is almost 100% flaxen and the Idea of cutting and pulling, I just think look how pretty is it. BUT I will cut, pull and band.

If had a horse I just wanted to expose and no intention of using them for halter I would rather not show them at all if I had to shorten and band the mane..