Manes and tails

[RnRs Lilnickers]

I am posting this for my niece, she has been having problems in the last 6 weeks or so, her minis manes and tail are either being cut, chewed or rubbed off. She asked me to post pictures and see what kind of ideas you have, she was going to call the cops and report that someone is cutting them but then after a few people told her it might be others chewing them off she wanted more opinions on it. Here are some pics of missing manes and tails.

They do share a fenceline with some goats but in the last two years since she has been there she has never had any problems like this before. She also does not think the horses would just stand there while the goats or other horses would eat it off.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Rita

 

[MyBarakah]

That almost looks like someone has cut the manes/tails...... but too me where I've had to deal with mane chewers last year..... I would say something is chewing it off threw the other side of the fense.....

Sometimes if a animal is lacking vitamins or is defficient in something they will go to chewing on other things! Also if a animal is wormy too....... but I would say maybe the goats are doing it, or another horse on the other side of the fence..

 

[disneyhorse]

Oh, that DEFINITELY looks like someone is CHEWING them off. I think you've got a hair chewer in that herd of yours!!! The tail that is partially chewed is a give-away... no one who is cutting would leave the inner part of the tail. I would think it's either one of the horses (is there one without chewed hair?) or the goats. The horses WILL stand and let them chew through the fence.

Andrea

 

[Marty]

Some of them do look cut. Ok Rita, I have one that looks exactly like the horse in the last picture and I am furious about it and have no idea how he did it, but he had to do it himself, there was no one else here.

Now that being said: I do want to tell you all that come October, there are rituals that will call for "horse tails" or horse hair and you need to be really keeping a close eye on your animals.

We have lost countless numbers of tails in Florida in the past years during the month of October at various barns.

 

[RnRs Lilnickers]

Don't you think if someone was cutting them off that they would cut the whole thing not just alittle at a time? Also why would someone chance doing it to just one or two at a time instead of taking the chance of getting caught doing several different nights? Also she has 6 big horses why wouldn't they go for them instead? they would surely get more hair from them.

 

[Katiean]

I have a mare that has found a rubbing spot. The same mare that opens gates. I keep trying to get someone to get it out of my pen. It is a 12 foot long mink cage I was going to make into a rabbit cage. I worked one and found that was all I needed. This other cage has been out in the dry lot for about 2 or 3 years now and the horses have never touched it. This year Missy (not her registered name) has decided it is a wonderful place to scratch. Well she has thinned and shortened her mane so bad I have to get the cage moved. But I am affraid it is way more than my 5# lift limmit.

 

[ErikaS.]

My minis live with my goats and noone's eaten anyone's mane or tail, yet. From what I see, I'd be suspicious of a human, too. Or...it could be the goats.

 

[Cathy_H]

That looks like the horses tails that I sold to a friend. She had miniature goats & they were doing it. She got rid of the goats & the tails grew back out..................... My friend didn't believe it until Lee & I saw the goats chewing on the tail. If goats will do it then other animals may too. Yes it looked like someone had cut the tail and that is what we thought when we first saw it. I think farmers call it goat burn.

 

[Gena]

We had pygmy goats next to our horse pasture that never chewed on the tails until one day one of them decided to - and caught her doing it while the horse stood there, I was glad I caught it before too much of the tail was gone - she was the stinker of the bunch too. We attached (zip tied) the black plastic garden fence along the fence the side the goats were on so she couldn't get her nose through to the horses and it took care of the problem. I still let them run with the horses once in a while but didn't leave the goats unattended with them anymore

 

[minimule]

I had a tail eater in my herd at one point. Two of my mules looked like someone had chopped their tails off but it was one of the other younger mules eating them. Once that mule left the tails grew back and they have long tails now. I'd suspect the goats.

 

[HGFarm]

Ditto on the chewing thing... my neighbor had a couple of 'hair chewers' over the last few years.. of course one of them was a mare that was to go to Nationals in a few weeks!!! Her tail looked like a QH tail cut to the hocks and half her mane was gone!! Once they caught the culprit, what somewhat was by process of elimination..... one who was NOT missing hair, and moved that horse out, the hair grew back.

 

[CKC]

I bought a gelding last year that was a mane and tail eater(I was unaware). That looks like his pasture mates tail and mane after he was done with them.

Kim