Does anyone's horse HATE it's mane being pulled?

jesstickle said:
You might. I certainly wouldn't. I really don't think it hurts. If it did the vast majority of horses wouldn't stand there and let you do it. I think some just find it an odd sensation and get a bee in their bonnet about it. Twitch is the perfect solution for these situations.

Have you ever been waxed? It's hardly agonising. I don't suppose there's much difference really.
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Of course it hurts! Many horses are very stoical and just put up with it because they have been trained to. It is completely unnecessary and why anyone would want to twitch a horse in order to do it is beyond me. Twitching is for essential things. You CAN get just as good results with humane methods. It just takes a lot of practice.
 
JackDaniels1 said:
It's for a TB - long mane not thick like a native. Do you think it would be suitable? :s
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It would depend on the thickness of the mane. If I had a horse with a mane that just needed shortening not thinning then I'd use a solo comb, but if it needed thinning a bit then I'd use the thinning knife thing. It won't thin the mane loads- only the dead hairs.
Sorry I'm not good at explaining! :p
 
Op- if it doesn't need any thickness off, just wants shortening, there's a simple way to get a pulled look. Backcomb the hair like you would to pull, then cut what's left in the comb with upwards cuts. Because you only cut a few hairs at a time the end result looks the same as pulling if you don't want to thin it.
 
My sons chestnut is fine, but my 17h h weight cob is a beast!he tries to squash you or tread on you, even food only works for few pulls, then he suits long mane, but am sure it really annoys yard owner who,likes neat manes!
 
My TB hates his mane being pulled, hes fine with it being combed but as soon as you start to backcomb he flips, pulls back, throws head about and will snap at you. It has taken me a long while but he will now allow me to comb it through then use a solo comb to trim without having a paddy. I brush it first, then comb through, then use the solo comb to trim the ends, I hold the bit of mane I want to cut in one hand, pull the solo comb through to the right place, then press the blade. He will stand and eat hay quite happily whilst I do this.
 
Wagtail said:
Of course it hurts! Many horses are very stoical and just put up with it because they have been trained to. It is completely unnecessary and why anyone would want to twitch a horse in order to do it is beyond me. Twitching is for essential things. You CAN get just as good results with humane methods. It just takes a lot of practice.
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I've never trained BH and he just stands there eating hay whilst I do it? :confused:

He isn't the stoical type so I can only assume he's a masochist! :D
 
I used to tie my mates pony to both sides of the door fairly tight, get on a box and pull :D do this to plait too as ebony shakes her head, they can't evade if you tie them from both sides! But id never pull her tail if I wanted to live :D
 
jesstickle said:
I've never trained BH and he just stands there eating hay whilst I do it? :confused:

He isn't the stoical type so I can only assume he's a masochist! :D
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I guess it is just like humans, some find hair removal more painful than others. The best comparison would be plucking your eyebrows, some people find it absolultely no big deal doesn't hurt at all, some find that it is uncomfortable but can easily put up with it, and others (like my little sister) think it is a uniquely nasty form of torture and will scream the place down if you try to pluck their eyebrows. I imagine that it also gets gradually easier over time as the hair folicles weaken due to regular plucking as it does for humans, hence many youngsters object to mane pulling.
 
YES! I haven't read all the posts so may be repeating someone but mine tosses his head, threatens to rear and pulls back etc. and I don't even pull it properly just use the rake and solo comb. (Reckon someone must've made him hate it before I got him).
I found the solution in my case is to comb the hair across onto the other side of the neck from normal, then he stands perfectly happy whilst I neaten it up. Reckon he's a bit simple cos he doesn't seem to twig that I'm doing exactly the same thing just on the other side. I find rubbing his mane and generally making a fuss helps keep him calm too. :D
 
jesstickle said:
I've never trained BH and he just stands there eating hay whilst I do it? :confused:

He isn't the stoical type so I can only assume he's a masochist! :D
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Have you owned him all his life? If so, then he may be one of the ones that really don't mind, or who quite like a bit of pain!

As I said before, my mare never objected and I pulled her mane for years. But once I started using the solo comb, she objected strongly if I started to pull the odd strand out. Obviously she realised that I could do it a more comfortable way and was making her feelings clear.
 
Wagtail said:
Of course it hurts! Many horses are very stoical and just put up with it because they have been trained to. It is completely unnecessary and why anyone would want to twitch a horse in order to do it is beyond me. Twitching is for essential things. You CAN get just as good results with humane methods. It just takes a lot of practice.
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Kat said:
I guess it is just like humans, some find hair removal more painful than others. The best comparison would be plucking your eyebrows, some people find it absolultely no big deal doesn't hurt at all, some find that it is uncomfortable but can easily put up with it, and others (like my little sister) think it is a uniquely nasty form of torture and will scream the place down if you try to pluck their eyebrows. I imagine that it also gets gradually easier over time as the hair folicles weaken due to regular plucking as it does for humans, hence many youngsters object to mane pulling.
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I agree entirely with these two quotes.
 
Miss L Toe said:
It is a restraint made with a loop of rope on a big stick, not to be used without training.
Grab the nose and twist the rope round and round, tight, hold horse by stick.
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You don't hold the horse by the stick - you merely hold the stick. The horse is held by its head collar.
 
jesstickle said:
Have you ever been waxed? It's hardly agonising. I don't suppose there's much difference really.
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have you had your armpits waxed?? Bikini? around the lips (and i don't mean the mouth) or the upper lip? some people find this hurts .


I don't agree with this As my profile I am a beauty therapist as one of my jobs.

And some clients do find waxing painful especially if the skin is not stretched correctly -wax to hot. When the hair is at the Anagen, stage it hurts even more.

When waxing is done and hair is at the telogen stage the roots have died and shriveled that why it doesn't hurt as much



Last time i pulled a main was when I work at Fulmer 1984 since then , I don't and wont pull manes , I like my horses el natural
 
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If my Horse hated her mane being pulled that much, I just wouldn't do it.

It doesn't have to be done, I don't understand why people want to put there Horses through discomfort and distress, when there are other methods available.
 
I have been banned from a solo comb !! I end up with an uneven mess!
Daughter who is a mounted copper did her stallion when she was at home last week using a clipper blade (backcomb hair and cut down). Gave a lovely pulled look. She nicked her dads hair clippers and just tidied the ends up. Simple, no pain and was done in 15 minutes!! (And her dad would go spacko if he knew we had used his clippers! )
 
I have 3 baby horses that don't mind in the slightest - as in you don't even have to have a headcollar on them, they just close their eyes & go to sleep & a dartmoor that gets hysterical and cross so I either have to get my husband to hold him or distract him with a likit - once you get going he seems to be fine.
 
My old pony used to fall asleep having his mane pulled. My current horse and pony are not big fans at all though! I think pony's problem is that his mane had been pulled pretty severely when i got him and I have a feeling it was done in a good old session so imagine it was very sore and hence why he doesn't like it now. I just trimn it and razor it if needs be - its longer than U like it really but he's 26 and I don't see if matters that much although i need to work on it some more or there's far too much to plait for when he embarks on his veteran showing career! :)
 
I agree that horses have different pain thresholds, therefore pulling hurts some and not others.

However I really don't think that there's much of an argument for saying that twitching hurts. If it did, they wouldn't put up with it, no matter how much they had been 'trained.'

Horses move away from pain, for example the pulling if they don't like it. Put a twitch on, and they calm down and stand still. This isn't because of pain, it's because of the endorphins it releases.

If horses stood still when twitched despite being in pain, why wouldn't sticking a red hot poker in them make them stand still? The argument doesn't make sense to me.

If you're putting a horse through something it doesn't like, when you put the twitch on they visibly calm down and stand still.
I just can't see them doing that if they were in pain.

Each to their own but I'll continue twitching as I think it puts the horse under far less stress than chasing it round the stable.
 
patterdale said:
I agree that horses have different pain thresholds, therefore pulling hurts some and not others.

However I really don't think that there's much of an argument for saying that twitching hurts. If it did, they wouldn't put up with it, no matter how much they had been 'trained.'

Horses move away from pain, for example the pulling if they don't like it. Put a twitch on, and they calm down and stand still. This isn't because of pain, it's because of the endorphins it releases.

If horses stood still when twitched despite being in pain, why wouldn't sticking a red hot poker in them make them stand still? The argument doesn't make sense to me.

If you're putting a horse through something it doesn't like, when you put the twitch on they visibly calm down and stand still.
I just can't see them doing that if they were in pain.

Each to their own but I'll continue twitching as I think it puts the horse under far less stress than chasing it round the stable.
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Nothing wrong with the twitch. But if you have to twitch a horse to do something with it, then you should ask yourself if that thing really does need doing. Mane pulling is not essential as you can get just as nice results in a less painful way.
 
Work the horse hard (ie so sweats) and then dab oil of cloves along the crest....make sure it hits the skin and that you don't just cover the mane. Leave for a minute or two and then pull as normal.

If you have access to stocks these can have a great psychological effect......I had one very large bruiser who wouldn't even let you comb/brush his mane without slamming you into the wall and kicking. Put him in the stocks and he stood like a lamb.
 
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