Did my first running plait today ...

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BurntontheoutsideTurkey

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and it worked! :) Being very pro pulling and plaiting in neat little balls, I have been putting off learning this new skill, but Kerilli's post the other day inspired me to get to grips with Simple Horse's mane (he's a Friesian). Took about ten minutes with a stop-and-start-again at halfway, and the mane at the withers is too wimpy to include without some fine-tuning (more Megatek required), but it worked, looked lovely, and stayed in for a hour's windy hack with extra spooking!:rolleyes:

Sorry, no pics - wasn't expecting it to look nice! Will get some next time if Owner doesn't mind me posting. Just cos he's pretty (pretty silly, that is...)
 
Definitely need a picture - I've been trying to work on this and have managed some reasonable efforts which stayed in pretty well. Great, I thought, first ever dressage comp, i'll plait him. Pony looked awesome coming off the box, jet black, lovely running plait, bit of bling (all the gear no idea). First thing pony does is do the biggest whole neck and body shake ever. Poor plait didn't stand a chance. Three times i plaited him at the show cos he kept doing the wet labrador shake. It seemed withstand everything but that!
 
Ha ha! What a pain - but at least they don't take too long to do. Thank God the wet dog shake is one thing I've never known Simple Horse do. Weird. I guess it's too complicated for him :D

Looking forward to doing it for Owner's posh flatwork lessons - with her blingy bridle and matchy matchy he'll look even more like a girl than he usually does.
 
Is this a running plait?

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My beast, but not my handiwork with the plait!
 
Burnttoast said:
I was wondering about this, especially with the windy weather atm. Will run it past Owner. Do you do it tight up against the crest or leave it a bit looser for long-term use?
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I do it as tight as I can and redo every 3-4 days to keep it tight. The looser it is the more it will rub if your horse is rugged. I only use rugs with necks so the mane does not get rubbed out at the withers.
You can see in this pic
P1010824.jpg
 
so much easier and quicker than normal plaits the only thing I don't like about them is they really pull when the horse moves its neck, I don't put them in my boys any more, I have pulled their manes and they have normal plaits......shock horror ......andalucians with pulled manes LOL
 
friesian80 said:
I do it as tight as I can and redo every 3-4 days to keep it tight. The looser it is the more it will rub if your horse is rugged. I only use rugs with necks so the mane does not get rubbed out at the withers.
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Ok, thanks v much! We had been avoiding necked rugs cos the usual result is half the mane going missing over winter - I wonder it's the plait itself that stops this. The mane at his withers is wimpy, tho - it never seems to grow at all.
 
I'm afraid I don't have one =(
That was in the summer when she was out; fastforward to winter when she's in at night and I get to the yard in the morning to find half her face and neck green from using her poo as a nice, warm, squelchy pillow (I swear she does it on purpose!) and get her in in the evening to find all un-rugged parts brown! I've given up!
As proof, look at the colour of her tail in the middle pic on my siggy *hangs head in shame*
 
dressagedreamer said:
so much easier and quicker than normal plaits the only thing I don't like about them is they really pull when the horse moves its neck, I don't put them in my boys any more, I have pulled their manes and they have normal plaits......shock horror ......andalucians with pulled manes LOL
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Oh yes, am shocked :eek:... Owner has said I can pull and trim Simple Horse if I want but I couldn't possibly!!! Anyway, they *are* much quicker than normal ones. I wondered about the tightness, but I did my first one as tight as I could and he was still happy to do his mega stretches during his power walk home, so I assume he wasn't inconvenienced :D
 
Burnttoast said:
Ok, thanks v much! We had been avoiding necked rugs cos the usual result is half the mane going missing over winter - I wonder it's the plait itself that stops this. The mane at his withers is wimpy, tho - it never seems to grow at all.
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I only use the rugs with the nylon shiny lining and with the running plait you will have no mane loss. Ive tried every brand of rug there is and no standard neck rug is big enough to clear my horses mane at the withers.
I especially like necked Norti Nedi rugs, Ive had no mane loss at all this winter with them :)
 
don't you think doing it tight can be uncomfortable for the horse, must make the neck ache. I use combo rugs and the mane still rubs out at the withers, last year I tried keeping normal plaits in just long not rolled up or anything and the mane still rubbed out :(
 
my horse rubbed his mane out with a fly rug and then repeated rubbed it on a wooden corner edge thing so am battling to get his mane back from half way down - i keep the rest in a looseish running plait and do it every 2 weeks. I don't like keeping it tight as it tends to break more, it tightens itself over the fortnight. keeping it in a running plait does seem to help though - he lost his mane when it wasn't plaited :(
 
I don't know if it is a 'real' plait or not, but I tend to split his mane down the middle and sort of French plait it all the way down, it's fairly good at staying in and protects the crest of the mane.
I did this one to go show jumping but I do them looser for turn out :)
P210311_1748.jpg
 
dressagedreamer said:
don't you think doing it tight can be uncomfortable for the horse, must make the neck ache. I use combo rugs and the mane still rubs out at the withers, last year I tried keeping normal plaits in just long not rolled up or anything and the mane still rubbed out :(
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Another thing I've been wondering about. I can see how normal plaits could be because you pull the outside hair from each section towards the middle but with the running plait the new hair just sort of drops down into the plait and gets wound round the rest of the plait - I'm explaining this very badly! But there doesn't seem to be any tension on the skin even when the plait itself is tight.
 
Burnttoast said:
Another thing I've been wondering about. I can see how normal plaits could be because you pull the outside hair from each section towards the middle but with the running plait the new hair just sort of drops down into the plait and gets wound round the rest of the plait - I'm explaining this very badly! But there doesn't seem to be any tension on the skin even when the plait itself is tight.
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if you pull it on to the crest you have to pull the mane that "falls down" quite tightly so that it holds the plait up onto the crest - that's why i like them dangling a bit :p
 
My dodgy neck/shoulders are still feeling my last effort and I was on a mounting block. Still, he's a tall boy! Will have a go at a French plait version as well if I can find something tall enough to stand on...

Thanks Friesian80 for rug info - will pass it on. :)
 
iamSanta said:
I don't know if it is a 'real' plait or not, but I tend to split his mane down the middle and sort of French plait it all the way down, it's fairly good at staying in and protects the crest of the mane.
I did this one to go show jumping but I do them looser for turn out :)
P210311_1748.jpg
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Thats not a traditional running plait, but it looks lovely and I bet it is much more secure than a normal running plait.. I'd have a go at that it I had anything with a long mane. I used to get fed up of having to redo my sec A's running plait before classes. (Yes I know she could have been left natural, but she looked better for LR WH and equitation etc with it plaitted..)
 
dressagedreamer said:
don't you think doing it tight can be uncomfortable for the horse, must make the neck ache. I use combo rugs and the mane still rubs out at the withers, last year I tried keeping normal plaits in just long not rolled up or anything and the mane still rubbed out :(
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No he doesnt find it uncomfortable but he is not at grass in the winter so I guess he isnt standing with his neck down for long periods. He is on hardstanding through the day so only eating from haynets which are obviously higher up. You have to buy the combos with no seam at the withers, if there is a seam it will rub.
In the summer he is out 24/7 and I tend to leave the mane either loose or in lots of smaller plaits as he obviously is stretching down a lot more.
 
My horse sometimes shakes his head whilst out riding and as he is a traditional cob his mane can cause a problem getting tangled in my hands or whiping my face :o so i put two running plaits in his mane to ensure neither fall out and its comfier for him to move :)

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lizsmith said:
My horse sometimes shakes his head whilst out riding and as he is a traditional cob his mane can cause a problem getting tangled in my hands or whiping my face :o so i put two running plaits in his mane to ensure neither fall out and its comfier for him to move :)

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Wow he must have a really thick mane, gorgeous!!!
 
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