keeping plaits in over night

Firehorse

Firehorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 September 2008
Messages
1,124
Location
sunny and cold sussex
Visit site
my pony lives out 24/7 and the night before a show will wear a lightweight jst to keep him clean. now, i want to plait him the nght before this time jst to save some time and stress!! should i buy a neck cover to fit his rug or one of these lycra hoodies, or would his neck be better off naked???? any tips greatly appreciated thx!
 
TBH a lycra cover is the best way to keep them in a lW neck will just rub them. But as he is out 24/7 i wouldnt put hjust lycra on i would then put neck cover over that. He may get warm though with this option depending on time of year and temp.
 
I wouldn't leave him out naked with plaits in. I plaited my horse's (longish) mane loosely the other week for a lesson when it was hot to stop her sweating so much and accidentally forgot to take them out before turning her out - bye bye lots of mane and the plaits stayed in but not nicely you know - bands and rough shapes were still there but for a show you would definitely have had to redo them. (They weren't rolled by the way, this was not to look smart, just to keep thick welshie mane off neck).
My horse is normally quite good. If she's stabled and I plait up the night before a show she stays pristine so it's not just her being the destroyer of plaits! :)
Can you not bring him in or do the plaits on the morning of the show if you are leaving him out? Is it very horribly early? Maybe a lycra thingy then?
 
I wouldn't plait the night before, he'll likely roll and possibly rub them off or mess them up then it will take longer so sort than plaiting in the morn IMO
 
dizzydancer said:
TBH a lycra cover is the best way to keep them in a lW neck will just rub them. But as he is out 24/7 i wouldnt put hjust lycra on i would then put neck cover over that. He may get warm though with this option depending on time of year and temp.
Click to expand...

agree with this, but if its too warm id either plait the morning befor or keep in a stable overnight
 
we dont hve stables so he has to stay out. he's not one for being messy. its just that i'll hve my 2 kids with me while i'm getting ready in the morning - boyfriend promised to have my youngest but now he's promised a favour to someone else, leaving me to cope alone. typical. i jsr want to save some time in the morning of the show. i might jst plait him this weekend and leave them in and see what happens. the show is in 3 wks and then one in aug and one end of sept, so might be too warm for rugs etc. might jst get a lycra one jst to see. can always ebay it if i dont use it! thx guys.
 
well, i plaited over night, just plaited but not bobbled. and left his neck naked. they stayed but were a bit messy so re-did them all. it did save time as they were already divided etc. spent an hour this morn jst on plaiting. turned him back out into a small paddock while i went home to get kids ready and change. was about 20 mins, got back down and the bugger had rolled and most of the plaits had popped out. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.!!!

anyway, will do this again the day before as despite them popping out, it did save time :)

p.s we got a special, a 6th and a 2nd today. and i was sooooo pleased with him. he was far calmer than last yr. altho threw a tantrum when his girls left to do their stuff, reared and span round me. but once we got in the ring, he calmed right down and behaved so well :) :0
 
Last year I always plaited the night before (it takes me ages though so really wouldn't have been practical to do it on the morning!). Initially I just left the mane in dolly plaits then rolled them up and banded the next morning, then moved onto to sewing them in in which case I rolled them up the night before. I then used hairspray to give some added hold - I just used a cheap supermarket own brand which has been fine, although I did test it on a small patch of mane a day or so before to make sure she wasn't allergic. When I've sewn them in and hairsprayed, I've maybe had to redo one or two in the morning but the majority look fine.

My mare lives out 24/7 in the summer, although she also has to wear a flyrug so always has a neck cover on. If its too warm for a full neck waterproof rug, it may be worth seeing if you can pick up a cheap flyrug with neck (depending on brand you can pick up new ones on ebay for £10-15, and although they're probably not the best for keeping flys off for sweetitch suffers would probably be fine for occasional 'need to keep clean' use, an will almost certainly be cheaper than a lycra hood), as that will protect the plaits without overheating him.

p.s. well done on the 6th and the 2nd! :)
 
You could always try this, its what we do but then the horse is in overnight, but could see it working if turned out.
get and old pair of tights and cut the legs off, once plaited, and you will need someone to help you do this, start at the top and strech a section if the tight over and around the plait, while doing this fix with a plaiting band, leave a bit of tight inbetween the next palit, so that when they strech their necks the band dont pop off, and then go onto the next and so on,when you have run out of the first leg use the next, we have done this time and time again, also if you fix each plait with a bit of hair spray, it holds the plait nice a tight and the tight also keep the plait cleen, hope this helps.
 
I always fully plait the night before. Mare is then turned out (even if she spends all night rolling in the mud she is still much less grubby than if she stays in (bog monster grey pony!!). Her plaits are always sewed in, in the summer she just goes out with her sweet itch rug on over, in the cooler weather then she has a snuggy hoods turnout hoody on under her turnout rug. They are in perfect condition in the morning!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top