'MANEtaining' their Manes ;-)

[twoblackminis]

Hehe. Couldn't help myself!

So, Tonka has a 'medium' mane down past the point of his shoulder whilst Diesel has a 'thick' mane that is *maybe* a foot long?!

I want Diesels mane to be more like Tonkas ... should I consider thinning out his mane and trying to train it down? Right now it's so thick that it poofs up and doesn't look all that attractive. Plus it seems to just keep getting thicker instead of longer!!

I brush their manes (and tails) out a few times a week with an orangey moistuizing spray and use baby oil to get the twirly/tangles out when nessecary. I sometimes use Santa Fe on the manes/tails when I feel like it

Neither are show Minis, just pleasure guys so it doesn't really matter. I french braid their manes when I work them in harness to keep it out of the way.

Also pondering the fact that, should I cut off some of the dead hair at the bottom on Tonka's mane, or just let it keep growing??

Sorry for all the questions!!

 

[squeaky]

Hi,

The difference between your two horse's manes is genetics. Some horses grow hair like crazy, and others just have that pony "fluff". Thinning out the mane certainly won't hurt, would help keep the mane to lay down to one side, but it would mean (if you used clippers) that you would have to worry about grow outs later on. If you are talking about just thinning the mane by pulling, which also would help, but sounds like it would take a long time. You can try using hair growth products such as Eqyss Mega-Tek or Shapley's MTG formula. Both products are designed to make the hair grow faster, and while they are supposed to make it thicker too, the hair is more like a fullsized horse's hair (actualy hair instead of fuzz).

As for the one with the long mane, is there a color difference at the ends of the hair (i.e. is the hair bleached) or does it have split ends? If there are a few scraggly ends that are longer than the rest of the hair, I usually trim them and try to make the mane look as natural as possible - try to make it look like all of the hair ends at one length but not a straight line (if that makes sense...).

Anyways, sounds like a great summer project!

Amanda

 

[OldStageMinis]

How does someone go about cutting a mane? Some of mine are just too long-but I can't seem to cut them shorter without looking like a straight, blunt cut. Really not attractive. What am I doing wrong?

Any hints here?

 

[RGKminiatures]

How does someone go about cutting a mane? Some of mine are just too long-but I can't seem to cut them shorter without looking like a straight, blunt cut. Really not attractive. What am I doing wrong?

Any hints here?

Hold your scissors vertical to the ground and clip up into the mane. It will give you a more natural edge to the mane.

Sue

 

[twoblackminis]

Darn!! I was worried that it would be genetics. OH!

Here's a picture of Diesel, to show what I mean about his mane: http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2537543690074229354GJUlDI

Yes, the other minis has tons of split ends and it's sun bleached at the bottom of the mane. I'll probably go along and clean up some of the ends, because it looks a bit ratty. Also hopnig to pull out my super-duty conditioning shampoo one of these days and attack him with it!!

OldStageMinis, as the other poster said hold your scissors up and take small bits off at a time. I have a Quarterhorse whose mane has to be trimmed several times per year -- it grows like a weed! lol But I refuse to pull manes (come on, have any of YOU ever had your hair pulled out?? Ouch!!) so I use a combination of thinning blades, thinning scissors and normal scissors. It takes a bit of practice, but horses manes grow fast enough that the 'damage' doesn't last long

Good luck and Thanks!