Cob - coarse hair!

[cobstar]

A strange post you may think but....My 15.1hh cob is very hairy, which would be fine, but his hair is quite coarse. I would like to grow his mane but he has coarse hair and where the hair grows it is about 2.5 inches wide, and grows upwards so looks like he has a mohican!! His leg hair is also thick and he hates having his legs clipped so I end up with a horse with hair growing out of his legs sideways!! I do manage to clip him but his hair grows that quickly that I can't keep up wtih him. I have seen other lovely cobs with feathers and they look fab! Has anyone any ideas for products I could use to assit in some way?

 

[cobwithattitude]

Experience exactly same prob as you. Ted has v coarse hair and came with a hogged mane. Have regrown mane - sorry but cannot recommend any miracle products. It grows like a mohican until its own weight brings it over to one side or the other. Because it was clipped as well the ends are blunt. It is now long enough to have plaited and pulled just recently. Altho he hates the pulling and i have to do a little every day. Re legs - well sorry but tried to grow those

coarse legs, nothing silky going on and he had a leg prob that meant he had leg clipped, so had the others done as well. He used to get sweaty legs too, now doesn't and looks v smart too. Just got to learn to clip his legs myself now......

So with regard to mane, would just grin and bear the mohican-Mr T stage and then get to work plaiting and pulling. The results were worth it for us.

 

[cobstar]

Glad to hear I am not the only one with a hairy horse! I think that has happened to me too - the clipping blunted the hairs on his legs and has made them horribly frizzy. What problems are you having with his legs? Henry had mites at one point but I have got rid of them. He is always cutting himself too but I don't know on what apart from maybe the water tank in his field and he itches contantly. Think the hair on his legs is thick making him sweaty too. I am clipping him this weekend, should be fun..not!!

 

[Drummer]

I have a very hairy one, but keep him trimmed and hogged. Stable bandages can help control the leg hair a little. I also put conditioner on his legs when he is washed in the inbetween stage, but i even condition his 'mane' hmm!!!

 

[WishfulThinker]

Mine is the same!! The mane will calm down - Mine had never been hogged and so it was floppy, but all over the place! The leg hair is rough to.

I got so fed up that I have chopped it all off!! But baby oil and coat conditioner did keep it softer.

 

[Guinness]

I have a hairy cob too, I used to hog him but a few years ago decided to grow his mane out, looks ok now but took a while, prob about year for it to go long enough really! I will try and dig some photos out for you. I have started using pig oil this year on his feathers, its meant to make them go nice and thick and also helps keep them clean. Seems to be working so far. Also I heard that grape seed oil is meant to help hair grow faster, not sure if this is true though!

 

[Guinness]

Hogged:

About a year later (was pulled but wasnt that long to start off with!)

Now (not great pics but the most recent ones!) This is about a year after it was last pulled, he does have sweet itch though so does rub it in summer.

 

[DiablosGold]

Noooo don't let it grow he's beautiful

(I'm guessing this is about the cob in your avatar!)

 

[steadyteddy]

When I was growing my cob's hogged mane out, I found rug neck covers were fantastic for keeping her mane flat. If I brushed her mane to the correct side before putting the neck cover on it helped train her mane to grow over to the correct side. I still have to clip her legs as the hair only grows 2 inches long and sticks out to the side and looks ridiculous!