Matted hair

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chaps89

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Dinky pony arrived at the weekend. It's been a manic week since, so with the exception of picking his feet out and checking he had 4 legs and a head I've not done much.
He had a brief groom tonight (and I got bucketfuls of hair out!) But between his front legs and under his tummy is quite matted.
Do I leave it to come out as he moults? Spray with mane and tail and smooth it out? Cut them off? Something else?

(I was sure there was a similar thread recently but I can't find it to see what the consensus was, sorry)
 
This happened to my Shetland when she was moulting foal wool as well as normal winter coat. I was horrified to find hard, matted dreadlocks underneath! I did a post on here & was told to leave it alone as it would moult, but I was worried that it was pulling her skin & making her sore, so I used my tail rake & just did a little bit every day. I started near her elbows & worked my way back. The tail rake half pulls, half cuts & it was v good with the matts.
 
I would carefully cut out the worst, cover with spray and groom as much as you can, I have dealt with a few and within a week or two they are looking a lot different and feeling more comfy.
 
This has just happened to the baby highland. The soft baby hair is moulting and getting stuck and forming horrible mats. I cut the dreadlocked bits off then I also used a mane rake to break the mats up. Then it was fake furminator time. I'd been using the furminator but it clearly wasnt going deep enough into the hair on its own. Now the mats are out we do a quick sweep with it most days and it hasnt come back.

He went into lip quivering ecstasy. If he had hated it I would have had the clippers on I think as it definitely looked to me like it was going to start pulling at his skin.
 
Guess it depends on the horse and the mats ;)

One of my oldies is prone to getting little ones behind her ears but she hates being groomed until the hair is loose so faffing with them is worse for her than leaving them to it.
 
He really didn't seem bothered by it, I had a go at gently teasing some with my hand and whereas mine would have flattened me at even just the thought of such treatment, he just carried on munching his hay ?
I think at the weekend when it's light and there's more time I will have a play and see what he lets me do, with scissors and spray on hand and if that fails it sounds like a mane/tail rake might be the way to go. Thankyou.
Once they're out he'll get a semi regular groom so I'm confident it won't happen again but I'd not like to hazard a guess when he was last groomed - I suspect a Long Time Ago!
 
I got the scissors out on mine today. It’s far too muddy for clippers so I’ve chopped off the knots for now. It’s not pretty but as soon as it’s dry enough I’ll give him a belly clip anyway.
 
So he had an hour's groom this morning. He's such a sweetheart, I was as gentle as I could be but there's no doubt it must have been sore and he just stood there and let me get on with it.
I was able to brush/tease alot of them out by hand but I had to take the scissors to some of them so he's a bit patchy underneath now ?
I have never met such a floofy pony. Madam is a hairy yak but it's coarse cob hair. I've only ever seen fluff like this on a foal before.
I think I will have to monitor him next winter and possibly just clip his tummy and chest if it looks like that is going to happen again.
Before and after photos, sadly they don't quite show just how much difference there is. (Worm count kit is on order!)

Screenshot_20200315-132854_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20200315-132920_Gallery.jpg
 
This is why both my mini ponies get gullet and tum clips in end Sept and re done about xmas time. Little A Fuzzy can get horrid clogged tufts so this saves the armpits being yanked out and it's so much easier to keep them from getting matted.
Looks like you have been v busy there chaps!
 
chaps89 said:
So he had an hour's groom this morning. He's such a sweetheart, I was as gentle as I could be but there's no doubt it must have been sore and he just stood there and let me get on with it.
I was able to brush/tease alot of them out by hand but I had to take the scissors to some of them so he's a bit patchy underneath now ?
I have never met such a floofy pony. Madam is a hairy yak but it's coarse cob hair. I've only ever seen fluff like this on a foal before.
I think I will have to monitor him next winter and possibly just clip his tummy and chest if it looks like that is going to happen again.
Before and after photos, sadly they don't quite show just how much difference there is. (Worm count kit is on order!)

View attachment 42355

View attachment 42356
Click to expand...

Good job! Mine still looks like the before picture :(. I usually keep their bellies clipped but by the time they needed doing again their bellies were already soaked every day with a layer of mud. I wish now I’d persevered and stabled them for a couple or days but will make sure I keep it up next winter.
 
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