Never mind pulling she won't even tolerate the thinning rake!

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JaneHogan28

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I was told when I bought my horse (well a couple of days after actually!) that she wouldn't let anyone pull her mane and that she wouldn't even clip under sedation.

I wasn't too fussed because I am happy to use a rake or solo comb but although she'll let me brush her mane she goes nuts if I try to use the thinning rake (completely flinging herself around and trying to pin me to the wall)

I snipped a few bits away with the scissors which she just about tolerated (though she was cross already) so I guess I could get some thinning scissors but I am a little worried now about how the clipping is going to go...

Anyone got similar experiences and how did you deal with it?

Thanks so much!

Jane
 
If she hates it that much, try to cultivate finding long, flowing manes aesthetically beautiful and then you won't need to pull/trim/thin. :D
 
Why do you want to thin/clip?

If there is a health reason which would benefit the horse, then you will need to train her - clicker training may be useful, or go down the sedation route. If it is simply for aesthetic reasons, why bother? Work with the horse and only have arguments about the things that you need to argue about.
 
I think you might be right - why didn't I think of that? Funny how we just get into the groove of doing what everyone else does. I actually live really close by so if she gets very warm after work I can easily put a cooler rug on and then pop back to take it off later...
 
Had this problem with my girl she didn't even like me brushing it (although she's alright to clip if you do it quick) for years I chopped it really short with scissors. After a while she did fidget less as I think she realised in the end that there was no pulling/pain involved.
But to be honest I have recently just learnt to leave it alone and let it grow long. It did take ages and looked bloody awful at first. It is really thick and cannot be plaited or anything, but now, long it looks better and is easier to groom.(No more being squashed against the wall!)
 
If she's that bad take the easy route and grow it as others have said. And rug her up so she doesn't get too hairy :). Then if you really can't clip it won't be a disaster.
 
Mine's the same and I have given up as it's too much like hard work so he now has a long mane which is thick and wiry. He is the same with his legs and they only ever get properly looked at when I wash them, which for some reason is fine. I can more or less give his mane a brush but only if I don't take too long as he hates it.

I have persisted with a thinning knife, rather than rake, to take any odd bits off.

I am not convinced he had every been clipped before last winter and he found that very scary too. I did lots of desensitising with the clippers, running them in his stable and then on him and eventually got a small clip done with the help of a friend. It was all he needed.

However, I am going to persist with the clippers until it becomes boring and, at that point, they may slip and hog him - although the whole yard wants him to keep his mane but they don't have to deal with it!
 
Mine has a long mane for this reason. I can now clip without sedation but found that she was far safer loose in her stable than tied up, I take a couple of days over it as she gets the hump if there's too much faffing at once.
 
Mine has a thinnish but coarse mane which I used to pull, he wasn't a huge fan but got on with it. These days I mostly chop it and rake it every so often, and if I do it well and spend the time I don't think you could tell between a pulled mane and my boys well feathered salon crop :D
 
Over time mine has gone from resistant - head chucking / raising and fidgetting at having her bridlepath trimmed to relaxed and dropping her head without a headcollar - persistence, and patience have got us that far.
Mane trimming was never a huge issue but I do tend to do it after exercise as I believe when the skin is warm it's less stressful for them, I use a trimming comb and don't pull.
Clipping... I don't do it. The one time we managed to clip her the vet had to stay and keep topping her up. I've tried to desensitise her and can run a set of clippers all over her, but put the blades near her and it's a different story. It's just not worth the stress and distress for either of us. I keep her rugged up well over the winter so that her coat doesn't get too thick, make sure I take the time to warm up and cool down properly after exercise and use cooler sheets under her rug as needed. Wasn't a problem with her in moderate work all winter.
 
Mine was similar - it clearly really hurt, so I let it grow. From time to time I go through his mane with a comb - and I do only a little bit at a time and use positive reinforcement.
It must have helped to make him cope with it though - after 4 years his has actually let someone pull his mane while only making faces, nothing worse!
 
another thing to try is clove oil, put on gloves first and rub it into the base of the mane, wait about 15min and then start to pull. the oil is an anesthetic, hence pop gloves on first!
 
Thanks everybody! It's always nice to know that you're not the only one - and that your horse isn't so unusual. I was told she is really wicked (again after I bought her) and she's naughty for sure, but I don't think she is wicked, she seems really sweet along with all the naughtiness... I'll let you know how we get on!
 
With a little bit of practice, you can get a very nice mane by scissor cutting. We do all our manes with scissors at work and they are SJ horses so we need to be able to plait them for big shows and have them look smart with loose manes at smaller shows, so you can imagine their manes need to look good! I can thin a thick mane by snipping into the underside of the mane (a bit like putting layers in hair I suppose). I do pull very thick manes, but generally speaking I can get a mane looking lovely with just scissors. I'd recommend it for horses that won't tolerate pulling. I think horses that are really, really bad for mane pulling are often ones that have had it done forcibly while twitched, so they have very bad associations.
 
Oh wow, you need to put a video on you Tube for us all to see!

I've just ordered a pair of thinning scissors so I'll have a bash with them but I think it's probably going to get worse before it gets better!
 
JaneHogan28 said:
Oh wow, you need to put a video on you Tube for us all to see!

I've just ordered a pair of thinning scissors so I'll have a bash with them but I think it's probably going to get worse before it gets better!
Click to expand...

I just looked to see if I could find a picture but for some reason I only photograph the horses when they are in scruff mode (i.e. lying down or in the field) and I haven't got any that show their manes. I will try to take some :)
 
My mares the same. I use scissors. She wouldn't even tollerate that at first until I realised it's the hair falling off she doesn't like. I now put an arm under the mane to lift it away from the body and cut with the other hand! Bit of a gaff but it works. I just use normal scissors, cut across and the upwards to get a more pulled look than banged.

Clipping we haven't cracked yet. First time vet used 3 lots of sedation, it cost me nearly £200 to get most the hair off but she still had a hairy tummy! Spent hours daily doing clipper training. Like someone else's mare she's better lose in a stable than tied and she will let me put clippers on her but cutting the hair is another matter. Again with her I think it's the hair falling so been covering her in shavings to desensitise. This allowed me to clip one side of her body no sedation and half a head. The other side she has scaring but we got there with a twitch. She's such a hot horse that she sweats with a thin coat and is so sensitive skinned she gets hives/scabs no matter how well washed off and what coolers I use.

Patience and persistance is the key. You'll go forward and back. Taken us a year so far but worth it.
 
Could you try a thinning comb - one of those with a razor blade built in - and just comb from underneath to thin, then tidy with scissors
 
At least yours will let you brush it... mine will only tolerate a magic brush (no combs or hairbrushes!) and even then it must be done in a certain way (hands are not allowed to touch him mane at all!). I have never attempted pulling or trimming of any kind as I know what the reaction would be!
 
Boulty said:
At least yours will let you brush it... mine will only tolerate a magic brush (no combs or hairbrushes!) and even then it must be done in a certain way (hands are not allowed to touch him mane at all!). I have never attempted pulling or trimming of any kind as I know what the reaction would be!
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Yep, we have one like this. Currently her mane is around 30 inches long. Strange thing is we can do absolutely anything else with her so I tend to think it is a real phobia and leave her mane alone.

We also have one that won't clip, although I do know the reason for this, no matter what we do to desensitise him he is a quivering wreck to the stage he becomes dangerous. OTOH his best buddy was taken out of his stable the first time and clipped, untied, in the barn with no prior preparation. He loves it and falls asleep as I clip! All goes to prove that no two will be the same no matter their upbringing being identical.
 
IMG_20150521_220957.png


This is why I no longer pull my mares mane or clip her legs. (apologies if photo is huge) she always used to let me do both, then one day it was as if she decided she didn't want to, we tried 2 or 3 times after but then abandoned the idea for safety's sake.
 
chaps89 said:
IMG_20150521_220957.png


This is why I no longer pull my mares mane or clip her legs. (apologies if photo is huge) she always used to let me do both, then one day it was as if she decided she didn't want to, we tried 2 or 3 times after but then abandoned the idea for safety's sake.
Click to expand...

Love the matchy matchy nail polish! That looks very painful.
 
I was told mine didn't like his mane pulled and it was a complete mess when he arrived, not doing it is not an option as it needs to be plaited for competitions. i have taken a few bits every time he's ridden then give him a polo. As time has gone by and he's got to know me he's got better and better. yesterday i took out quite a lot whilst he stood in his stable without a head collar. He was great he just kept asking for his polo. It was the only thing he was funny about as basically he's an extremely well mannered horse but I do think that doing it a bit at a time when he's warm is more comfortable for him.
 
Had this problem with mine.

I recommend a solo comb for the mane.

And for clipping put something in her ears, such as a large clump of cotton wool. This blocks out the noise and has really helped make mine less of a nightmare.
Then the best oral sedation I've found is dormosedan gel (which is administered under the tongue).
However I often clip mine once a year in early spring when the vet comes to do teeth and jabs. He has to have an injected sedative to have his teeth done, and so I just whip out my clippers whilst the vet does his teeth.
 
My horse resents pulling (can't say I blame him). But then he got really silly about a solo combination too. When he has a paddy like this, I rig up cross ties and I am amazed at how quickly he stands still, they are like magic.
 
Oh and the horse I mentioned has to be sedated for clipping too. I spent absolutely months with little quiet trimmers and a bucket of something yummy trying to convince him clipping was awesome and even bought some quieter, cordless clippers to try and make everything as pleasant as possible. I have now come to the conclusion he really doesn't like the feeling (you can run them all over him with them running as long as you don't try and take hair off) and he'll probably always need sedation to tolerate clipping
 
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