Grooming

[RedTango]

I'm letting a 4-Her show my 3 mini mares.. 1 Palomino with silver points and spots everywhere, 1 dark palomino mare and 1 bay appaloosa. I need to ask what do you do for kinda a belly? The palomino app has one.. she is 1 1/2 years old, 33 inches tall, been on grass pasture all summer. Just took her in today to stall her and she will be eating a 17% foal gro feed from my local mill.

Also I know how to clip a horse, but what to do for manes and tails? how to get them to lay down? the bay appaloosa is 7 monthes old and basically has a tall black zebra mane..the kind that sticks straight up!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Taking your horses off full time grass will help a lot with those bellies. Be sure they are wormed, get good quality hay with plenty of leaf and feed a supplement that is hi in protein(the one you have chosen will probably be fine - I feed a ration balancer at 20% protein and often add some flax for their coats) since the belly is often caused by a) worms b) not enough protein and c) to much forage pretty much in that order. Plenty of people will tell you to feed free choice hay or they allow all day pasture but in my experience that does give them a belly. You will find that there is a lot of variation in diets and everyone thinks theirs is best so you have to find what feels right and works for you. For the manes, if they are very thick I thin them, sometimes undercut them to remove some bulk and use mane tamers to teach them to lay flat. Then before the show I add hair control product (hair gel ) to keep them from fluffing up and the stray hairs under control.

 

[RedTango]

Fantastic. Thanks for the quick feedback!

also. undercut is to shave the underneath of the mane? I usually have a trainer I pay to do all this for me.. but I have decided after 3 years.. im going to learn to do this stuff on my own.lmao!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

yup, flip the mane to the other side and run the clippers up the length of the neck to remove some bulk from really heavy manes. Be warned tho, undercut manes will grow out and look absolutely awful when they are in the process lol. If the mane isn't too thick I prefer to just thin it and use a slinky to hold it down and train it to lay flatter. I'm sure someone here will pipe up with more advice, we have some people who can do amazing things with grooming on this forum.

 

[RedTango]

Only my stallions have the thick manes, haha! Oh and the 7 month old filly..like I said her mane is straight up! and its like 7 inches long. Now this is just a 4-H show.. but im wondering if I should get it to lay down or just let it remain standing up? Personally I think it's cute looking.

 

[kaykay]

I only undercut a small V at the top of the mane. Then undercut some of the forelock. And narrow it down from the right and left side.

The belly is probably due to a lack of protein. Growing horses need a good feed to get their growth without those bloated bellies.

Manes should always be made to lay flat. You can use a mane tamer, a towel etc. Just spray the mane down with shosheen or gel it and put the mane tamer or slinky on and within a couple hours it will be flat.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I only undercut a small V at the top of the mane. Then undercut some of the forelock. And narrow it down from the right and left side.

Kaykay, I too do the undercut just at the top of the mane where it meets the bridle path most of the time but have had a mare who's mane was so thick that even trained to lay flat it looked bulky and sat out from the neck instead of laying down on it. In that case I actually kept the entire mane undercut some to remove excess bulk. Her first foal was the same was, just no amount of thinning seemed to make it look right so I removed a portion of it. But like I said it looks even worse when that starts to grow out.

RedTango, unless you deal with a very very thick mane I'd recommend you follow kaykay's advice. She has far more experience grooming for shows than I do and her horses are always beautifully presented.

 

[RedTango]

I'm still debating on if I should even clip for this show..She will most likley be the only one there with the minis..years ago I saw a 4-Her there with a mini and it was all long haired...

alright I will get this filly's mane to lay down, thanks.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

JMO, if you are going to show, always present your horse at its best (to the best of your ability). It shows respect for the judge and declares that you think your horse/breeding program is worth the effort. In the case of a 4H youngster, the extra grooming required is good learning for them too and if they are going to show they should also learn to do their very best not settle for 'good enough'. Again JMO.

 

[RedTango]

Very good point.

 

[AnnaC]

When is this show? While I think it is great that you are giving a youngster a chance to show your horses, there are several extra things to think about.

You will need quite a time to reduce bellies and get the top lines in order. If you clip for a show at this time of year (presuming the show is later this year) then, depending upon where you live, you will have to be prepared to rug your minis throughout the winter months.

Also please think carefully before taking your 7 month old (how old will she be at show time?) to a show, too much possibility for foals of any age to pick up outside diseases mixing with other horses at a show, and they can get very stressed/over excited at the show and travelling, which can also lead to ulcers. JMO.

That said, I wish you good luck.

 

[RedTango]

This show is October 9th I believe- it was a last moment kinda thing... they don't have terrible hay bellies..there just a tad thicker than I would like. I'm a big supporter of 4-H and FFA. I'm in Louisiana..so it won't get cold til mid December.