Dying manes

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Rebecca

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For those of you who dye manes/tails. Mine are badly sunbleached and so I bought darkest brown hair dye (they're both bays).

Now what? How do you do manes without getting it all over their necks? How far in advance do you dye them before a show?

I've never done this before so wondering where to go from here....
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Thanks tons!

Rebecca
 
I prefer to dye them before I body clip them, so if there are any drips they just get clipped off.

I like to buy the cream kind of dye, it seems to stay on and not drip off a little better. I usually buy "Natural black" not dark brown, but see how it looks.

I only dye the tops of the manes, not soak the whole entire mane. Just the top and ends. Then at the show I use the black spray paint stuff to get any parts I missed. That way I'm not dyeing so much hair, risking getting it all over or spending a lot of $$$ on dye.

Also, using those alligator clips to hold the hair up and together while it sets helps keep the horses from rubbing and shaking that dye everywhere.

Expect the first time to be a mess, unless you are careful or have experience.

Good luck!

Andrea
 
I use Just for Men - it doesn't run & drip, and rinses off after 5-10 minutes. I do the whole mane/tail, all the way through - seems more natural looking when it moves. As Disneyhorse said, dye before you clip. The only time it's really been an issue is on a pinto horse with a white neck under a dark mane - I used alligator to hold the mane together and in that scenario kind of wrap the mane with a plastic bag and just hold onto it until it's ready to rinse. Wet the body hair first too. Good luck!
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Jan
 
Boy, do I alot of experience in mistakes in this area LOL!!!!!

I NOW apply a clear shampoo to the neck first, helps to keep the drips from soaking in. Do small sections at a time, and wrap each section in foil after it has been done. QUICKLY rinse any dye that gets on white. Like others said, dye before you clip. It is best if 2 people do this, you really need 4 hands (or at least I do). (I have used Vaseline instead of shampoo on the neck, but takes a few days to wear off, and LOTS of shmpoo to remove). I usually do mine 2 weeks before a show, just in case I need to do any touch-ups. Good Luck, it can be a hard job.
 
BUMP

but i would also like to know, what if your tail is mostly black but has some red and white strands running through it. Would you still dye it? Or leave it natural?
 
I use baked potato wrappers. They are in a little blue box at the check out at Walmart and sometimes in the isle that has aluminum foil.

I separate the hairs in about 2 inch intervals or so, then apply the dye and start rolling up in the wrappers.

When you get to the top you just fold the sides in. They will droop way down but that's ok.

For the bay horse, I would be dying black, not brown if the tail is naturally black.

Apply a lot extra to the red sun bleached areas, you may have to repeat it.

When you have white in the tail hairs, I separate them out by holding them aside and putting a rubber band around them and roll it up in ball so it doesn't get hit with the black dye and usually wrap some masking tape around it. Masking tape comes off really easy.

Never use Nice&Easy, it's insane to rinse out.
 
I totally trash mine out
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Trash bag that is! :DOH!

What I do is I cut open the bag and tape it along the mane line nice and neat on both sides and let the rest of the bag lay down over the shoulders and back. Then I start dying the mane and clipping it up as I go.

For the tail I do the same thing. I wrap the bag around the base of the tail and tape it and let the rest lay over the legs. This works for me really good. But your horse really looks odd with all the trash bags on them.

Then for the bangs I tape a small section over the forehead and ears and dye very carefully. I also use a tooth brush to get all the small hairs at the very base of the upper tail V where it goes into the body so there is no cut of point showing. I have done this with a blue roan and it came out really nice. You couldn't even tell. Most of all its best to really take your time.
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Joyce
 
I use men's beard dye. I found it worked a lot better on the coarse hairs.

I also use the trash bags. First I slather the neck with shampoo. Then I have a cotton sheet that I throw over the back so I have a place to attach the bottom of the trash bag & to protect from splatters. I take the white pieces of mane & seperate them and wrap them in saran wrap & secure it with rubber bands. I slip the trash bag over the neck and use masking tape to get it nice and secure so it doesn't flap. Then I pull the darker pieces of mane through the bag and dye them, leaving the white under the bag. I keep the bag on while I am rinsing so it doesn't run into the white on the neck. For the tail, I seperate the white & wrap it in Saran wrap too. Just make sure that your horse is used to trash bags before you try to put one over his head. Saran wrap wrapped around the neck and the mane pulled through in sections also works if you have a horse that may spook from the bag. It is just a little harder.

Good Luck!

Tanya
 
i just did 2 this week ughhh. we also use just for men jet black as its so fast. we used to use trash bags but now we cut a slit in towels and pull the mane or tail thru the towel. The towel wont slip like trash bags do and dont scare the horses as bad as a bag. I swear though just for men made the bottles smaller this year. it took 2 bottles to do each tail!! The nice thing is the just for men also smooths the dry bottom tail hairs and they look much better!!
 
White, lite grey and flaxen manes and tails use a blueing shampoo. I have also heard that Dawn works well, but I use the blueing shampoo. I also, at the beginning of the season, give them a bath 3 -4 times one week and let that blueing shampoo sit for 5 or so minutes each time. I usually come out with white, white, white. I would expect the same results for flaxen or grey.
 
Never use Nice&Easy, it's insane to rinse out.

Oh man, looks like I got off on the wrong foot here! :DOH! Not only did I buy dark brown, not black, but yup, I got Nice&Easy.
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I'm confused now because I could have sworn some people said they use darkest brown, not black, on their bays because it has a more 'natural' look?

Thanks for all the replies, extremely helpful! I'll see if I can return the dye, otherwise I'm stuck with two things of dark brown hair dye that I certainly will never use! Anybody thinking of changing their hair color????
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Rebecca
 
I just did 2 mares and these were the first dye jobs I did. Both are buckskins, one has a black mane, the other more of a dark brown. So for one I bought the Just For Men Natural Black and for the other I did Just For Men Darkest Brown. Both turned out great.
 
Ok here's my two cents. I have a little one who will be black as night all on his body but his entire mane and tail will be bright orange. I've tried about a million different things but have finally found one that works great. it's the Garnier (or however you spell it) stuff. I use that same stuff for my own hair too. It makes their manes/tails so soft and if you get the very darkest brown it will still look natural. I also use the trash bag method. This has been the only one that decently toned done the major red/orange spots.
 
Another timely subject! I had debated dying my blue roan mare's mane, it's quite orange looking, but I decided not to because she has some white hairs sprinkled in. However, at the show last weekend, I decided it just has to be done ... I actually don't mind a bit of a red mane on a black horse, but on a blue one it just looks funny!

I appreciate all the tips!!

Joyce - what shade did you use on your blue roan?
 

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