anyone else have a wimp who doesn't like mane pulling...

ester said:
so you cut from the base? - I thought you back combed and then cut (ie not from base and not completely removing the hair like pulling) I am honestly curious as I have never seen a solocombed mane that I thought looked smart/didn't turn out looking bushy.
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No i back comb it like as if to pull then cut with solocomb instead of pull. So thats making it thinner isnt it? it always looks thinner when im done anyway.:)

I think his mane always looks nice, but maybe you would say not.

maybe im doing it all wrong.
 
So you back comb all the way up R?, have only seen it partially back-combed to how long you want it (like BTK says) - like I would pulling (which also stops the scissor cut look) Whereas I fathom that if the hair is removed from the root you are thinning it more than just removing length.

Rationale to pulling not cutting amandap? or just having shorter manes?
 
amandap said:
Someone explain the rationale that leads to pulling manes. Does it benefit the horse and if so, when?
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No it doesn't benefit the horse (or at least not my horses) as I previously explained I pull manes as it gives a much smarter finish and they are a lot easier to plait - so my reasons for pulling would be aesthetics.
 
ester said:
So you back comb all the way up R?, have only seen it partially back-combed to how long you want it (like BTK says) - like I would pulling (which also stops the scissor cut look) Whereas I fathom that if the hair is removed from the root you are thinning it more than just removing length.

Rationale to pulling not cutting amandap? or just having shorter manes?
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I just keep chopping away until it looks how i want it to tbh. lol I dont have the option of pulling it as he hates it too much.
 
Yes- backcomb all the way up so a freshly solocombed mane is impossible to tell apart from a pulled mane, and if done regularly rather than one hit avoids the spikey re growth showing as one length.
 
I pulled my horse's mane at the weekend. He stood there with his willy out and had a snooze! I pull it because I think it looks smarter. If he hated it, I would find another way.
 
Nudibranch said:
Quite agree - why on earth would they stand still while their manes are ripped out by the roots?!
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I have got 3 that stand there with their eyes closed and snooze whilst having their manes done. They also don't need to have headcollars on to be clipped either and seem to enjoy the sensation of being clipped (in fact they lean into the clippers when doing their jawlines, which makes it quite tricky to do a neat job). They are young horses but have been like that from day one.

I personally wouldn't like to have my hair ripped out by the roots, but my idea of having a good time does not include the very rough horseplay they like either!
 
LCH611 said:
I personally wouldn't like to have my hair ripped out by the roots, but my idea of having a good time does not include the very rough horseplay they like either!
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But mane pulling has nothing to do with horses playing or even fighting with other horses.

What would we do if horses decided to thin our hair with their teeth? lol

Lol ester but what percentage of the day = sweating under his mane? Do you use a neck rug?
 
Oh no I am talking in summer (no rug!) stood in the field (and worse if ridden)- so all day dependent on temperature - he is quite a warm boy anyway and doesn't get the thinnest of summer coats and being prone to random scabs (sometimes sweat induced) he is more comfortable without.
 
amandap said:
But mane pulling has nothing to do with horses playing or even fighting with other horses.

What would we do if horses decided to thin our hair with their teeth? lol
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But it has everything to do with the amount of pain they are able to tolerate - even when they are not playing like boisterous colts, they are nipping at the skin on each other's faces - and I know to my cost how much it hurts to be playfully nipped. And they do seem to occasionally take mouthfuls of mane out when they grab each other by the crest of the neck - but at least hair grows back, whereas shredded rugs have to be repaired or chucked away.
 
Our Dartmoor pony is not keen on having his mane pulled, but due to his cushings he is inclined to be very hairy and gets hot and uncomfortable (and a bit scabby), so I do take as much hair off him as possible. Solo combing doesn't reduce the volume of it, and raking it lives it bristly and impossible to plait tidily
 
LCH611 said:
But it has everything to do with the amount of pain they are able to tolerate - even when they are not playing like boisterous colts, they are nipping at the skin on each other's faces - and I know to my cost how much it hurts to be playfully nipped. And they do seem to occasionally take mouthfuls of mane out when they grab each other by the crest of the neck - but at least hair grows back, whereas shredded rugs have to be repaired or chucked away.
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I don't believe we can make assumptions about when and how much pain any horse feels in any given situation. We can't even get it right in other humans half the time!
 
Mine seems to quite enjoy getting it pulled, and LOVES getting clipped (particularly in his more...err...'sensitive' areas!?), however I hate pulling, so either leave it long (and running plait as required) or rake it. It has been short for the last year or so, after he let him mate chew half of it out mutual grooming, but now it has grown long again while he has been stuck indoors with his broken leg, I might leave it that way again.
 
LCH611 said:
But it has everything to do with the amount of pain they are able to tolerate - even when they are not playing like boisterous colts, they are nipping at the skin on each other's faces - and I know to my cost how much it hurts to be playfully nipped. And they do seem to occasionally take mouthfuls of mane out when they grab each other by the crest of the neck - but at least hair grows back, whereas shredded rugs have to be repaired or chucked away.
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We have only their behaviour to go on decide whether something is painful or not.
 
It seems quite clear to me that if they found the pain unendurable they would not continually do it to each other - they have 13 acres that they can escape in if they need to, but the fact of the matter is that the first thing they do when they are turned out in the morning is engage in rough play, then they settle down to graze, and shortly afterwards they are doing it again.
fburton their behaviour tells me that hard physical contact such as biting, kicking, boxing at each other, shoulder barging each other out the way and so on, is something that they thoroughly enjoy. The balance of probability is that on occasion they do inflict pain on each other, but it simply doesn't seem to bother them.
 
fburton said:
We have only their behaviour to go on decide whether something is painful or not.
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Behaviour that most people act on when pulling manes, I presume? My horses will stand untied whilst I pull their manes and they have absolutely no issues with letting me know when they don't like something. Every Friday evening I have to do battle with the grey to wash his face - it is the most traumatic part of his week and he will attempt to wipe anyone out to stop it from happening.
 
LCH611 said:
It seems quite clear to me that if they found the pain unendurable they would not continually do it to each other - they have 13 acres that they can escape in if they need to, but the fact of the matter is that the first thing they do when they are turned out in the morning is engage in rough play, then they settle down to graze, and shortly afterwards they are doing it again.
fburton their behaviour tells me that hard physical contact such as biting, kicking, boxing at each other, shoulder barging each other out the way and so on, is something that they thoroughly enjoy. The balance of probability is that on occasion they do inflict pain on each other, but it simply doesn't seem to bother them.
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Lots of people enjoy contact and extreme sports. Doesn't mean they like having their hair pulled out.
 
TarrSteps said:
Lots of people enjoy contact and extreme sports. Doesn't mean they like having their hair pulled out.
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No but my first post was to say that mine don't mind in the slightest - don't need to have a headcollar on, and will happily snooze/rest a hind leg whilst it is being done. I don't have to wait until they are warm and their pores are open as it is normally being done as I will be plaiting the next day for some reason and want to end up with tidier plaits. Therefore it is not a safe assumption that pulling manes does cause every horse pain that they can't cope with. A previous horse loathed having his mane pulled so I only did so if he was sedated for some other reason, otherwise I did the best I could with a comb & scissors
 
RunToEarth said:
Behaviour that most people act on when pulling manes, I presume? My horses will stand untied whilst I pull their manes and they have absolutely no issues with letting me know when they don't like something. Every Friday evening I have to do battle with the grey to wash his face - it is the most traumatic part of his week and he will attempt to wipe anyone out to stop it from happening.
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In the vast majority of cases, yes, I would hope so. In some cases people resort to twitching the horse to make mane pulling possible without major ructions.
 
I prefer the look of a pulled thinned mane. Some of my horses really didn't care, my old mare had such a fine mane that I would only scissor it and the youngster hates it being done near his ears. I rake it then trim with scissors. As for clipping, the lady I bought him off sedates all her youngsters when clipping for the first time and ensure there are no dramas. Mine is absolutely fine being clipped though boredom does set in towards the end.., for both of us!
 
Interesting to read this thread... I've always thought I was just one of few people who didn't pull manes! To be fair, I don't really have any reason to, but I think even if I was showing, competing etc. then I would find another way for my own horses. We are just hackers and I trim manes and use thinning scissors to keep things manageable. Shetland and old pony are generally left to it on the mane front.

Pulled manes do look very smart but personally I don't think it's worth putting a horse through a painful experience like that to get them to look how I'd like. Having said that I am sure there are horses in this world that don't find it that uncomfortable and therefore don't mind having it done.
 
I haven't pulled manes in years its a horrible practice and not something I believe in. Combing regularly and trimming is as far as I will go.

I wouldn't let someone do it to me so I def wouldn't do it to an animal in the interests of looks.
 
amandap said:
What would we do if horses decided to thin our hair with their teeth? lol
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One of mine does! If he mutual grooms me he doesn't do my back he does the back of my head and it blimmin hurts if you don't move in time!

I much prefer to plait a pulled mane, I find I get a much better result. However I have one horse that HATES having his mane pulled, so I solo comb and use a rake. I'm always amazed that he doesn't mind the rake at all, which still pulls lots of hair out. I've started doing my mare with the solo comb too, even though she's mostly ok to have her mane pulled. This year I intend to start competing again, so will have to plait, and am a bit worried about getting the plaits as neat as I do when I plait a pulled mane. I find I get more "wispy bits" coming out of the plaits when it is solocombed.
 
I think is depends completely on the individual horse, what their pain threshold is, how thick their skin is and how sensitive they are. My boy hates his mane being pulled and will go ridged and try and throw himself into a wall. I do tend to do little and often and incorporate scissors but sometimes I will do more than normal and he really doesn't like it. I never thought of it in terms of hurting them I always believed it was a different sensation to what it would feel like being done to ourselves. I now feel really bad and thing I may go down the solo comb route- my only issue with that is I find the hairs underneath obviously dont get pulled from the route and a lot of hair is just cut off so leaves a spiky look to the mane. Although saying that my boy is a bit of a wimp and doesn't like his bridlepath being cut so quite often needs to be twitched, he also needs to be sedated to be clipped and even then is a fire breathing dragon!

On the other hand my friends part bred Arab is quite happy for me to rip chunks of mane out of his neck, not bothered at all!
 
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