Plaiting up a mane with a chunk missing

[_jetset_]

Hannah has rubbed a patch of her mane off on one of her rugs... no matter what rugs she has on, this area is always the same

She has to be plaited up on Friday night for her BD debut on Saturday morning, and I am just a bit concerned we are going to have tufts...

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Wan2bEventer]

I'd be interested to hear what people suggest here as I have the same problem. I have been advised to make a falso plait out of a bit of pulled tail, and then tie it into the mane where the lengths are missing. However, I'm not really sure how to go about it! Yesterday we went out with one plait missing and she looked so funny!

 

[Tempi]

is it at the bottom? or does she have some mane and then a gap? if its at the bottom im afraid i used to just cut Bloss's mane off in the winter where he rugs rubbed, ad plait from where id cut up to onwards!

Ive designed my own new system involving bailer twine and detachable neck rugs this year for Archie and so far his mane hasnt been rubbed! it was to start with which is why i then used bailer twine instead which is working nicely!!

 

[Ferdinase514]

I do the same as tempi, with Finn's.

His rubs at the bottom in winter, so I just cut tufts off and plait the rest. Oh, so quick to plait!!

Grows back fine in spring

 

[Fiona]

Do you plait 'up' or 'down'?

If you plait 'down' on the side of her neck rather than right on top, then the fact that there is one plait missing is not nearly as noticeable.

How big is the missing bit?

When plaiting Ben for hunting, the bottom third of his mane disappears towards the end of the winter, so I just plaited as far as I could and left the rest.

However if it was just a little gap, then i would make each plait as small as you can, and plait to the side of her neck, and it shouldn't be too noticeable.

Good luck

Fiona

 

[WFL]

Cut some tail off, weave it in and plait that. It won't stand up to close scrutiny, but will look right from a distance.

 

[_jetset_]

The gap is about two inches in length

It is not right at the bottom, so I have one plait, then a gap and then the rest... I am going to trim some of the bottom off anyway

I plait downwards too, but it is just tufts

Every year it is the same no matter what I do... might try that one next year though with the bailer twine. I thought we had cracked it because the Weatherbeeta with attached neck fits perfectly, but it must just be her neck and the way the rug sits. I used to have a Mark Todd with detachable and that was even worse

 

[Weezy]

Depending where it is I use the tail hair method too - and hairspray (careful if you use gel on the mane, if it gets on the reins you will regret it if it is one of the types that makes everything go slippy!)

 

[Tempi]

honestly, if i was you id trim the whole lot off up to where you can start doing proper plaits! i did with Bloss - it grows back fine, honestly!!

 

[Halfstep]

to be perfectly honest, I'd just plait as well as you can and if you have to leave a gap so be it. So long as you look neat and tidy it doesn't really matter. After all you are not judged on your plaits!

 

[_jetset_]

Hmmm... I have to be careful with Han anyway as she comes up in rashes whenever something strange goes on her skin.

She also has the strangest coat at the moment because when she was clipped she had a rash on her ears and her shoulder (like mud rash but caused by sweat) so now she has darker fur where the spots were and looks like a spotty horse

Maybe we should just leave it until the spring, we're going to look like gypos!!!

 

[lifeslemons]

I wouldn't worry too much about it; as this post illustrates, a lot of people suffer the same problem during the winter from their rugs, (if you look closely at a competition you will see what I mean!)

 

[_jetset_]

Thanks everyone... we will still look like gypos, me and my little carthorse

 

[catembi]

I just do my best with what I've got. Adrian is currently 'missing' plait 7, so I just leave a gap. Cat used to go completely bald ie totally, totally bald from plait 7 downwards, so I just used to put in 6 plaits & leave the rest. I can't plait what isn't there! It was odd because ALL the hair used to fall out but his skin was fine & didn't look rubbed. I didn't mind that much tbh cos it saved me time plaiting!

And with A, the judges have got a lot more to look at, ie galloping off, trying to jump the boards, having a buck etc to be worried about a missing plait.

 

[carthorse]

Rafi gets sweetitch in the summer and last year he broke the neck zip one day and that was enough for him to rub half his mane out.He ended up doing a season with 4 plaits .It has grown slowly but is about 2" and impossible to plait .Just have to grin and bare it

 

[TayloredEq]

I have had this problem with one of my horses. I do stand up plaits on the mane with white tape and this has worked for me at National Championships.

do you use bands?

this is assuming that you have some little tufts left rather than a totally bald, bare to the skin bit.

pull the tuft together as you would if it was a full bit of mane and you were going to plait it normally.

Rubber band the tuft, right to the base of the mane.

then the tuft should be sticking up.

you need to then twist the tuft round and round. (You know how a lead rope is twisted? well you twist like this)

The little tuft will then decide that it wants to fold down on itself as you twist it. (try with baler twine and see what happend when you keep twisting something. Obviously you need to keep it secure at one end).

Once you have folded it down you can then rubber band it again.

You will now find you have enough substance to be able to tape it.

I don find that the rest of the mane has to be quite thin, otherwise it will look really odd to have big full plaits and then a little bit.

From a distance, ie the judges box, it will look fine and smart.

Don't do it the night before though. Just leave doing this one till the morning when you go.

Even if you don't tape it should leave enough of a little bump to look like a plait rather than a gap.

Hope this helps. If you don't quite understand let me know and I can try and explain it better. Maybe have a trial run before the weekend to see how it looks.

 

[hotellie]

sorry to be stupid...what is plaiting up and what is plaiting down?

 

[conniegirl]

ok a showing trick for rubbed manes.

Take a section of tail about the length and width of a normal plait, put a band in the top very tightly and then plait down band at the bottom. then cut this plait off the tail.

take little tuft of hair, if possible plait what you have got, if not stick a band it it.

If you have got a bit of hair that is even slightly plaitable it will look better, coat the hair on the neck in setting lotion and plait what you have even if it is only one or 2 crossovers, place plait from tail underneaththe plait in the mane and sew into place (sew through both plaits all the way down the plait actualy attached to the neck), then roll up as normal ensureing all loose bits are well tucked in, sew into place. smother in setting lotion and hairspray and put a lycra hood on. Done properly this is very difficult to tell the difference between fake plait and a real plait.

if you havent got anything to plait but can get a band in it then smother the mane in setting lotion and put a band in it. take plait from tail and place under bunch of mane pass what you have got of the mane through the first crossover of the plait from the tail and band securely in place, band a bit lower down to stop fly away bits of the end of the mane escapeing. roll up the plait as normal and sew into position then smother in more setting lotion and hairspray.

when undoing the plaits if you are careful and only cut the thread you can save the tail plait for anouther day

I did have a friend once who superglued a fake plait onto a neck but it was such a mess to get out.

 

[_jetset_]

Thanks everyone... I am going to pull her mane to get it a bit thinner and shorter (plus she can't see past her forlock at the moment

) and then will plait up on Friday night and see how it looks. That way I can always redo them on Sat morning.

I sew... I can't do bands

 

[Nosey]

A 2 inch gap is nothing!! I had a lot worse last year!! Do your best with the tufts and your hands should cover most of the gap...hopefully! Am sure you will look fine!