MUDDY DREADLOCKS

[ApacheWarrior1]

This is the first year my pony has lived out and he has the biggest fattest bushiest tail a cob can get and now with all the snow mud and ice he has dreadlocks right down from his knees to the ground - mud covered frozen solid dangling jangling dreadlocks . It must be so uncomfortable for him having these banging against his legs but I have no facilities ie hot water / towels to get him free of these dreadlocks.... Anyone got any ideas how to manage this in the field without cutting his tail right off - which seems the only remedy!!

 

[J&S]

My companion pony has a super thick tail and before the last few days of very cold weather I just dumped it in a bucket of water and swished around alot, several times. The mud came off and I then superficially dried it with a towel and chopped a good 9" off the bottom! I won't brush out properly till I can wash the whole pony and really sort it out.

 

[chaps89]

I have to admit to slathering a load of oil on this morning and I'll hope I can tease some of the mud off tomorrow!
Can you separate the tail and do a plait? Boil a kettle and take a thermos with you and soak the bottom of the tail, towel off, lots of mane and tail spray then plait?

 

[Nudibranch]

Soak the mud off the bottom in a bucket and then chop. Pretty much what J&S said! If you don't have running water scoop some out of the trough and take a bottle of hot water from home to add to it. If you cut it to a few inches below the hocks you'll avoid most of the worst of it in future

 

[Errin Paddywack]

My mare's tail got dreadful so I just grabbed some scissors and hacked a few inches off the end. Looked alright while she was standing but once she started moving I realised I had taken too much. Oh well, it will grow.

 

[tda]

I hacked about 8 inches off nearly all tails before Xmas ? my friend did cut one a bit short a couple of years ago, it's ok now ?

 

[Shysmum]

Pig oil and sulphur all over (patch test first). No probs, mane and legs as well.

 

[Littlewills]

I'd take some water up so you can wash it and brush it out and give it a good spray with coat shine with silicone in. I then plait it in a mud knot and secure it with vet wrap, from the base of the dock, down over the tail and back up. Stays in for ages, keeps them clean and means my native has a full tail for any early shows.

how to tie a mud knot

 

[AmyMay]

All my horses have their tails chopped off to their hocks in the winter. Far easier to manage.

 

[meleeka]

I usually cut tails shorter in the Autumn then they’ve grown back by Spring.

If you can dunk it in a bucket and just cut some off your horse will be more comfortable.

 

[AFB]

Get it clean - flash of warm water if needed to make your bucket luke warm.

Then get a tail bag, best invention ever and so underused!

 

[Fransurrey]

I trim the tail in the Autumn, to 'show length'. I also thin it out a bit, to make it easier to brush. I do it using thinning scissors and blade. Then it's just a case of making sure it's brushed every time I ride and regular Cowboy Magic conditioner (weekly or so). You could do it cheaper using pig oil, but my boy has a white tail and it seems to attract dirt and so turns it that horrible yellow (and it will definitely go yellow if it has sulphur in!). I do exactly the same with the feathers. Thin them and trim to make a natural line around the hoof - make them look more Welsh than Gypsy. They then grow back over the winter and by Spring they're show ready again (done this for two years, now. It worked really well last year, but of course the shows didn't happen!).

Obviously too late for trimming, now, but break off the worst mud and use a bucket to wash the rest out. For tail washing I put the bucket underneath, then lift up to get the whole lot sloshing around in there. Take a flask of hot water to make the water warmer.

 

[fankino04]

I'm another who cuts them pretty short going into winter to avoid this, the first year she went mental when they hit her legs as she walked as she didn't know what they were and couldn't escape them no matter how fast she ran. I've just had the pleasure of trying to get mud icicles out of her feathers this morning, taken nearly an hour to get the feeling back in my fingers, will get some pig oil to put on them to try to avoid happening again.

 

[Nasicus]

Least stressful way I've found is to bring them overnight to allow the mud dreads to dry, and then crumble the mud off with my hand. Saves getting wet and cold messing with water in this weather.

 

[Surbie]

I'm trying to avoid slashing off too much this year so I washed my boy's tail (3 buckets of water) oiled and plaited it. It now gets swished in some water when needed, unplaited, re-oiled and re-plaited again. I use baby oil for his tail, pig oil & sulphur for his feathers. The oil usually means the mud baubles slide off though it's a pita to do.

 

[Pippity]

I'm another who lops the tail off to just below the hocks at the start of winter. To be fair to mine, she never gets particularly bad even when her tail's down to her fetlocks - she saves all her mud for her right cheek and behind her ears.

I'd say to take a good few flasks of hot water up to your horse, use that to defrost the icicles and wash off the mud, then start giving a weekly coating of some kind of conditioner or oil.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Get a tail bag my Arabs live in them all winter

 

[suestowford]

Mine had this earlier this week and as all the field water is frozen and we are having to carry drinking water up there, there was no spare water to wash them/defrost them. So I took the scissors to his tail and he is now much more comfortable.
His tail will grow back.