Arab tail

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Abbeygale

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Hi!

I recently took on my first pure arab - and he is soo lovely.

He is grey and does have a oh so lovely grey mane and tail. I have seen pics on here before of people plaiting tails up to protect them (I am assuming??) during the winter. if you do this - do you unplait them once a week for example and brush them through etc?

Also - can someone explain to me how to cut his tail so that it looks "natural"? Is there anywhere that has some of those helpful vids that shows how to do this? I had a go at doing it, but I wasn't very good. HIs tail is really quite long, I didn't want to just hack it off - but did want to shorten it a bit for over the winter.

Thanks for any help x
 
Thinning scissors the last 2 inches at the bottom of the tail can help or trimming the tail and then have the scissors vertical and feather the ends of it.

If you trim the tail now, come show time, it will look natural again.

I had to trim my horse's tail as he kept standing on it and pulling it out at the roots!

I have a grey horse and his tail is pure white. I leave his tail unplatted and just wash it now and then below the dock in the winter every now and then. The alternative, which I have also done is put baby oil in the last 4 inches or so, it stops the mud sticking so much.
 
thanks for that! I gave it a good scrub last weekend - and realised just how dirty it had got! He has some darker grey hairs in his tail - but only at the bloody top - just to be awkward!!!

If you put baby oil in do you completely slick it in to the end of the tail?
 
Strictly speaking, you should never cut or trim an arab's mane/tail at all! I find it easier with mine to let them hang naturally but to use lots of baby oil to keep them nice. Grey tails can only be kept really nice if you wash them regularly so boil kettles if you don't have access to hot water at the yard. Always use a 'white horse' shampoo otherwise you will find a white grey looks a bit dull.

Hope you have lots of fun with your arab! They really are a lovely breed. I've got several part-breds & I'm on my second pure bred & always look for arab blood if I'm horse shopping
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You are welcome, an alternative to baby oil is mane and tail conditioner, but that can be expensive and needs frequent applications

Yes I do tend to lather it in a bit, but only the ends during the winter. It lasts for about 2-3 weeks. Frequent brushing helps too, I use my paddle brush which I got for my hair, but decided it worked better on Jake's tail.
 
PS, I agree, strictly speaking arab and native tails should not be trimmed, but my horse was standing on his and pulling it out at the roots, ouch.
 
HI Panda - I know i know - I just couldn't bear the awfulness of his tail!! I've had him a couple of months now - and his mane and tail were both looking everso lovely when he was first here - and they are looking pretty grotty now!!! I haven't trimmed his tail a lot -just enough to stop it dragging everywhere in the mud! When he flags his tail you can see it is a bit short - but nevermind!!
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highlandponylass - brill - I have a nice oster tail brush that I always use now - it does seems to do a good job of not breaking hairs, but I will get some babyoil and get some of that on his tail.

I don't mind if he is looking a bit rag tag over the winter - but I just don't want to get to spring time and have him end up with no mane and tail whatsoever!!!

Thanks for help!
 
The tail will grow between now and spring so do not worry and it will 'natural out'. The oster brushes are great too, thats the type I had in mind.

I used to work at an arab stud and know that arabs dont look their best at this time of year. Dont worry, he will be back to his gorgeous self in the spring.

(The baby oil trick does not work on manes, think oil slick, its only for tails)
 
I too have a grey Arab with a mixed grey and white tail. I use a Solo comb to shorten it and find that it still looks natural. As for keeping it clean, I don't wash it as often as I should in winter but when I do, a good swish round in non-bio washing powder before shampooing brings it up nicely.

I've been meaning to try the baby-oil trick as a cheaper alternative to Mane and Tail conditioner.

Hope you enjoy your Arab as much as I enjoy mine!
 
Agree with the baby oil - I use it on my anglo as I like to keep his tail and mane araby rather than trimmed like a TB.

In an old spray bottle I mix up 1/3 baby oil, 1/3 human conditioner (I use the one with highlights for brunettes as he is a dark bay) and top up with water. Lasts about 1 or 2 weeks depending on how mucky it is. I also use mane and tail conditioner, but in winter I find the mix repels mud more.
 
Conversely - in the interests of retaining maximum tail hair, i try not to touch manes and tails at all except to tease them out occasionally with my fingers - I never brush them and only wash when absolutely essential
 
unfortunately his tail as getting into such a state that he was catching it on things and the tail hair was snapping, hence the big clean up.

My other horses have big full tails and I will quite happily leave them with tails full of mud - but then if they lose a few hairs here and here its not the end of the world!
 
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Conversely - in the interests of retaining maximum tail hair, i try not to touch manes and tails at all except to tease them out occasionally with my fingers - I never brush them and only wash when absolutely essential

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I agree with this, I never brush my horses tails except for the day of a competition, when I have run through lots and lots of conditioner before hand.

In my experience brushing = no tail !!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I never touch tails, except to rinse out any clumps of mud, and they get washed, conditioned, showshined and brushed if we are going somewhere.

I used net curtain whitener on the bottom of my grey's tails (when I had greys)
 
With my arab I wash below the dock with vanish or daz. Loads of conditioner, plait up in a loose plait. And leave till needed. Makes it a bit wavey, but his is long enough that it trails on the floor when undone and he just ruins it in winter if I don't do the above (his tail is white)
 
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