Taming & banding a thick mane

I've got a PHBA show next weekend. My filly looks pretty good with the exception of her thick mane. Last year she had rubbed it totally out in two spots, down to raw skin. For some reason those two areas grew in wavy and thick! I have pulled it and used thinning shears but it shortens it but doesn't make it lay any nicer. Any suggestions?

Okay, the only other thing I can tell you besides from what I've already told you is... I band when it's slightly wet, just because I'm impatient after I give them a bath, I go ahead and start banding manes. When you get through banding, gel the heck out of the top of it, less on the side, and put one of those mane tamers on that have the velcro underneath... that way you can tighten it; if you use just a regular mane tamer, which I made the mistake of doing last year, it got all whopper jawed - needless to say I wasn't a happy camper.... keep that blasted thing on till the morning you show, and then adjust if you need to. DON'T FORGET TO TAKE THE GEL WITH YA... just in case!

Or is somebody being just too danged picky!!!! Sorry, coudln't resist! HA!

Me picky??? What are you talking about Sheila? LOL!

I understand your pain on the crazy manes. Clara's always gets out of control in the winter. This year it grew to about 10" long and the majority of it had flipped to the other side. The part closest to her ears all pointed straight forward. She turns into a beast in the winter.

Are you using a little metal pulling comb to pull her mane? Maybe you just need a different technique. I always have to experiment with the angle to get it to actually pull the mane out rather than break the hairs. It also makes it easier to pull the hairs out if you work her beforehand.

What I would do, is try to pull it so it is a reasonable thickness (it took me three sessions for Clara this year and it still isn't really done enough, I gave up! haha) and then cut it with thinning shears so it's quite short. Maybe like 2" if you are still able to band that. I would keep the mane wet (keep a spray bottle handy) and put a sleazy on right away. Make sure all the bands are laying where you want them underneath the sleazy.

Then like Sheila said, touch up with gel in the morning if it needs it. I would do a check in the morning and then put the sleazy back on until right before your class (if it's not too hot).

Hopefully if it's short enough you won't be able to see the wavy hair, and the gel & sleazy will also help minimize that.

Clara has a REALLY thick mane, but I'm lucky that it lays down nice. I keep her mane about 3" long.

Good luck!

Well, don't feel alone, Passion4Palos, last year was the only year that I had one throw a fit, which was Scamp's full sister... got about half of it done and that was all she was going to let me do... always said I'd never use scissors on one... Lordy, I did on her... and it actually looked pretty good.

Or you can just drug the heifer up and get to pulling....I have a feeling when I start getting close to Jazz's head, she's not going to let me do it... and she's got a real thick black mane, that bounces back, if you know what I mean... which isn't going to be fun!

And people wonder why I just liked showing Kid and didn't want to show anything else....man!! The only horse I've ever had that you can clip his ears without being twitched, and never was even trained for it... figures, huh! And pulling mane, he really loves that! Weird horse! HA!

This filly is so good with everything else, you can clip her ears, everything without a twitch. First one of those I have ever had! I usually do a bit of pulling after I sweat her neck, so it is good and warm to get those pores open. She just flat out hates it, so I am going to just thin it short and slap on the sleazy. It was soooo thin when she was a weanling, I was wishing for more...hmmmm, get what you wish for I guess. LOL

Dip it de do! That thick clear gel. Keep a mane tamer on her until you get the hair tamed. That cream gene sure can get crazy sometimes.

dippity Do. Cheap, but works wonders.
My kids have 4-H Achievement Day on Sunday, so I'll be figuring something to do with manes. Mikey is a Shetland, so we can just leave his mane, but Tom's mane is thick and wavy. And I don't dare to suggest to Brennen that we thin it out and shorten it. Ashley, the girl who uses Vamp will be able to help band what mane hasn't been rubbed out over the winter. She didn't even understand what banding was. That goodness some off these beginners have people to help them. One girl showed up last year with her horse's mane done up like a draft's. Interesting, but against the rules and not quite in keeping with the rest of the kids and horses.

I've seen people use Knox Geletain(sp)....Comb it through so the mane is completely saturated....Let it dry....Then comb it out. The mane will lay flat, and the waves come out. You should be able to band it without more "goo".

Ragdoll,
Thanks for the tip, never heard that one before. I did a test run with some hair gel ( a lot!) and it worked well. As long as I keep that sleazy on until I go into the ring, I think it will look fine. Thanks guys.

Picky, picky, picky!