Curious about the bridle path?

[Poodlepill]

I am curious why they shave the "bridle" path that it goes far past where a bridle would be? To me the mane is a beautiful asset to the horse and to take half its mane away always bothers me.........just sayin

 

[Miniv]

Some people feel it makes the horse's neck look longer in the show ring.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Show people trim it back to make the neck look slimmer and longer. Supposedly you are to cut it back one ear length, but most go far beyond that. I know I do!

However, my non-show horses go au-naturel...

if the halter fits they're fine.

Lucy

 

[disneyhorse]

Many breeds trim or shave manes to accentuate the neck.

Draft horses want to show off thick, beefy necks so their manes are pulled to be about 6" long the whole way down.

Friesians and Andalusians are breeds where a lot of hair is prized, so manes/forelocks and tails are kept braided up meticulously when not in the show ring and very little is done to the bridle paths.

The miniature horse is shown in halter similar to an Arabian, as that is one of the breeds considered "delicate and beautiful" which many people want to emulate. Therefore, they want to show off thin/hooky/long necks and a fluffy or long mane would hide that. Therefore, the mane is shaved so that it does not hide the neck.

However, miniature horses also have "long" manes and tails, and you will very rarely see a mane that is pulled short. People want it both ways... long but not obscuring the neck from either side that a judge may look at the horse.

So there you go, that's why. If you like long/fluffy manes, then leave them be. Just be forewarned you will have to have a really, really, really special horse if you want it to then go National Grand Champion in halter.

The length of the bridle path *should* have something to do with your horses' neck set. The mane should fall straight down from the neck and not be able to be seen from the other side. If your horse has a lower neck set, this means a longer bridle path. A horse with a more upright neck can pull off a shorter bridle path because with its neck straight up in the air, the mane will fall straight down even from the ear. Most minis don't have necks like this, and so the bridle paths tend to be longer. It is all about optical illusions.

Andrea

 

[Poodlepill]

Hey thanks for your replies. After I posted I started thinking it probably had something to do with showing off something on the neck. Now I have to look at how the mane "falls" on horses LOL So many outwardly hidden traits. No show mini's here so I can adore a full mane all I want <wink>

 

[~Lisa~]

I do not like the thick bushy mane look and all my minis showing or not have longer bridle paths and thinned out manes and forelocks. I have to control myself on the Shetlands and we pull our older riding mares mane.

 

[ruffian]

IMO a longer bridle path also accentuates a pretty head.

 

[Katiean]

I have been letting my bridle paths grow out. My Stallion looked a bit funny the way it was standing up but he had a nice forlock (1/2 way down his face) so I figured it balanced out. One Saturday morning Jessie (age 13) comes in and said she hair trimmed Dusty's forlock. She cut it a blunt cut about an inch above his eyes.

I keep trying to tell myself it is hair. it will grow.

 

[Poodlepill]

I do not like the thick bushy mane look and all my minis showing or not have longer bridle paths and thinned out manes and forelocks. I have to control myself on the Shetlands and we pull our older riding mares mane.

I have heard reference to "pull' the mane a few times, what does this mean?

 

[muffntuf]

Pulling manes, tails and forelocks is exactly that. To even a hair line, you draw a line on your horses mane in your mind as a reference for where you want it to be and then literally take a comb and comb back the shorter hairs that meet that line, and then pull the hairs that do not. It is a thinning and more natural trimming of the hairs.

To be good, it takes practice and patience. Once the hair is gone, it will be a long time for it to grow back. But it does grow back.

Used a lot in the stock world.

 

[~Lisa~]

Pulling a mane means making sure the mane is even all the way across and is about without a horse here to use to guesstimate about 4 inches long I would say.

West pleasure horses- Hunters, dressage and jumpers all very normal to have a pulled mane. You can not only shorten but thin the mane this way. You can also achieve the same look (with some practice) with a razor comb or even clippers

I did have an mini appy show gelding who had the worst mane ever and I showed him with his mane pulled- he always did very well and this year we showed one of our mares with her mane pulled as well. She had rubbed out well over half of it over the winter and I had no choice this spring but to pull it to get it evened out and start over again

 

[rabbitsfizz]

You do what you are comfortable with, I guess. I do the length of the ear, thing, and add a tiny bit on some horses. I hate the scalped look, but each to their own!

I rarely cut bridle paths on my non showing animals as it is just one more thing to keep up!

 

[Thinking small]

I always thought it had to do with showing? Ours don't so they only get enough done so we don't have to play fight to get halters on