Tail bags

[Dein]

I was wondering how meny of y'all use tale bags for y'all mini or how do y'all keep their tails nice and clean for shows and stuf

 

[amysue]

I've never bought a tail bag. I've always braided a clean and dry tail and folded it into a tube sock. I just cut slits into the top of the sock to make ties to secure the sock to the tail. Some of my clients use vet wrap, but some of my horses are allergic to it and it makes their hair fall out.

 

[Miniv]

Ditto to amysue. Everyone has odd socks around and they come in handy as a "tail bag".

Braid the tail. Cut strips down the ankle part of the sock. Fold most of the tail into the foot part of the sock and weave the cut ankle strips through the upper section of braid, and tie them just BELOW the horse's tail bone.

Hope that was clear....

 

[Dein]

Yea that was clear thanks I do have a few socks laying arround

 

[Dreamer]

I have never bothered with tail bags before(and yes I have shown but none had white tails) but I just got a horse and he came with it braided in a sock. He has a white tail and it is pretty and long. Since I am planning to show him and would like to keep it as it is now what care is required. I assume it needs to have conditioner put on it, what works best? And how often do you take the tail down, condition it, and then re-braid it and put it in the sock?

 

[amysue]

I do not leave a tail up for more than a week. I find that it starts to go the other way and mat or rub against itself and break off. I always wash the tail and spray show sheen on then let air dry. I find that putting up a wet tail crimps it real bad for one (looks silly at a show with the hair folded up the wrong way) but braiding the hair wet seems to lead to more breakage in my experience, plus putting the sock or bag on wet promotes bacterial and fungal growth and can lead to a flaky tail dock. I once had a boarder put a red nylon tail bag on her palomino's wet tail only to find her horse's tail turned pink as the dye from the bag bled through! I've also had clients leave a tail bag on for a long period of time (all winter) believing his tail would be super long next spring. Turns out that his tail hair mostly broke off and knotted up into a matted mess, plus it smelled like a foot. Once the tail is clean and dry, braid it starting at the base of the dock end. I like to gently separate a few strands of hair to leave out of the bag from the base of the dock because you may get a bit of breakage at the base of the tail, just from stress of the braid or sock ties, so if you leave a little hair out breakage wont show in the middle of the tail. I learned this while showing Arabians. In the off season we do not put tails up as it does require some extra maintenance.

 

[lkblazin]

I don't know much about tail bags/socks. But I can tell you how to get the perfect white. As most of you know every color has other colors that make it. White has two different shades that are needed to make it brighter/ whiter. These are blue and purple. And it just so happens that shampoo companies have blue and purple whiteners. They just don't tell us how to use them. Very informative. Every time you wash the tail before you get it wet, put on one of the whiteners. Leave it for about 5 mins, don't dilute. The time depends on how yellow the tail has gotten. Some need less or more time. Warning if you leave it too long the tail will be died purple or blue! Make sure to rinse it all out. Then continue as usual.

The hair shaft and strand absorb the first thing that touches it. So if you wet it, it absorbs the water. If you shampoo it absorbs the shampoo. All in all the products are less effective and you are not getting your money's worth. Some do say in the directions to wet the animal first. There is usually a reason. So I'm not saying don't follow the products directions. Hope this helps

 

[Dreamer]

Thanks for the info!

 

[targetsmom]

Here is a tail on a gray mini bagged in a sock as described. I use old knee socks so have several argyle ones! I also use Dawn dishwashing detergent as a cheap "blue" shampoo on our pinto minis. BTW, this is a ground driving class at a local show last Sunday.

 

[HGFarm]

Great info!!