Pulling a mane without being killed!

ROMANY 1959

ROMANY 1959

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Big lad will not have his mane pulled, even tied up tight with hay net he will try best to knock me off step or squash me against wall or fence where ever he is tied too. Bucket feed only distracts him for few pulls then its off again flattening me, stargazing, head shaking you get the drift...
It needs doing, any tips twitching sounds barbaric.
 
Cross tie and/or twitch.

Or cut rather then pull (brush it back on it's self as if you where going to pull it but then cut instead, still gives it a pulled look).
 
If you have use of a lorry- bung him in that, pull mane from the other side of a partition ;).
Just as long as he is a monster fidget, and not getting really stressed
 
Bonjela copiously rubbed into the roots can numb it enough to help depending on whether he's objecting to the pulling itself or the pain.

Always a bit doubtful about putting them in a wagon/trailer to do anything like that as if they hate it they will associate the wagon with an unpleasant experience which may not help future loading.
 
I tried to trim Shy's feathers last night - fully twitched, hubs holding it. hubs actually got forward kicked in the balls :eek: I will never try to do his feathers again (and he's always been a pain with them, even tho there's nothing wrong) without him being sedated.

A trip to the vet for me to get sedalin..... poor hubs. :eek:
 
I use thinning scissors as mine won't let you near with a mane/solo/rake and don't see the point in getting her stressed.After a few days you wouldn't know I'd used scissors .
 
Scissors and a thinning comb.

I hate pulling manes, in fact I can't understand why horses allow us to do it at all to be honest. It must be flaming painful, I'd take someones' arm off if they tried to rip my hair out bit by bit. :)
 
Enfys said:
I can't understand why horses allow us to do it at all to be honest. It must be flaming painful, I'd take someones' arm off if they tried to rip my hair out bit by bit. :)
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Precisely, its barbaric - you wouldnt dream of waxing a dog so why one earth mane pulling is still practised I will never know.

OP your horse is telling you to get the F off as you are hurting him! Hows about listening?!
 
I'd not pulled a mane before Ned. I asked my friend Jade to do it for me and she ummed and aahed and finally said yes. I wondered what the big deal was! She even put her hat on!!

He fell asleep. I literally had NO idea horses had such big reactions to this :O

Good luck! No advise, I'm afraid!
 
Some horses don't mind, or love it. Some horses won't let you near them for love nor money. If your horse is in the second category, I'd just get nifty with a solo comb- Reg really hates it, so we don't pull his mane. It really upset him. Now, he's solo combed and his mane looks lovely and is still perfect to plait :D
 
TigerTail said:
Precisely, its barbaric - you wouldnt dream of waxing a dog so why one earth mane pulling is still practised I will never know.
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You might not wax a dog but, many terriers are stripped which involves pulling the upper coat out.

Problematic horses is usually because the main is dragged out rather than taking a hold of the hair, high up by the crest and waiting until they release it.

I had a good mane pulling session earlier this week. Eight horses to have their manes pulled - including three yearlings. The latter three were tied whilst it was pulled, not to short but enough to level it up to about 6"
All the rest were loose in their stables whilst they were done.

I do use a serrated edged knife on a couple as their manes are very thin at the top.

One of the horses that is here always ad her mane cut (badly) by the previous owner but now stand loose to have it pulled.
 
I agree with the above. If necessary for any practical reason, thin with a solo comb. If required for equestrian etiquette, do a running plait on top of horse's neck. Wait for horse show/hunt/dressage/breed purists to sniff disdainfully or worse: tell them you do it for your horse's sake and smile sweetly!
 
Enfys said:
Scissors and a thinning comb.

I hate pulling manes, in fact I can't understand why horses allow us to do it at all to be honest. It must be flaming painful, I'd take someones' arm off if they tried to rip my hair out bit by bit. :)
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I see it like a tattoo. I know someone who fell asleep, she said it didn't hurt at all and she didn't even have numbing cream! She said it was lovely in fact! I guess that what Ned feels as he fell asleep when my friend pulled his mane.

However, I also know someone who's been in floods of tears, using all their will power to stay still and not run off! I guess that's what OP's horse feels!
 
Thanks all, am going to see where I can get one of those solo combs, he don't mind tail being done!!! And have a go when he is warm after working , if that fails then its pair of scissors !
If it was just my personal preference I wouldn't bother at all, but he does PC stuff and its so long now it won't plait, and I am trying to do one of those running plaits but I need months of practice. He was hogged before I bought him.
 
ROMANY 1959 said:
Thanks all, am going to see where I can get one of those solo combs, he don't mind tail being done!!! And have a go when he is warm after working , if that fails then its pair of scissors !
If it was just my personal preference I wouldn't bother at all, but he does PC stuff and its so long now it won't plait, and I am trying to do one of those running plaits but I need months of practice. He was hogged before I bought him.
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When I showed, even I learned how to do a running braid and I must be the most incompetent braider in the world. Life became infinitely better when I learned how to do a lattice: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xYOdtrCQZy0/TXUtnKfHzSI/AAAAAAAAQkY/zhlsKmap4ac/s1600/lattice-mane.JPG. It's much less complicated than it looks and easier than a running braid or the little braids that go along the top of the neck.

My horse would also have a fit when I pulled her mane, which I tried once or twice in her first show season with me and I decided that I couldn't justify twitching, sedating, and just plain torturing the poor creature for the sake of some daft human social construction of aesthetics.
 
Caol Ila said:
My horse would also have a fit when I pulled her mane, which I tried once or twice in her first show season with me and I decided that I couldn't justify twitching, sedating, and just plain torturing the poor creature for the sake of some daft human social construction of aesthetics.
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I like your thinking. :) The lattice looks fab too.
 
Honestly, a solo comb. Al is the biggest stickler in the world for correct turn out, but she won't hurt her horse for it. What needs to be done is a short, neat mane- the way that's achieved is up to you.

Without plaits, it looks like:
399555_3256638814386_759483682_n.jpg

All done with a solo comb. It's kept a bit longer because he's started doing proper showing, and the hooded plaits are easier with a longer mane.

It plaits up perfectly with bands or thread (either about 20 tiny weeny plaits for eventing, of 7 hooded plaits for showing), and he always looks very smart. Definitely solo comb the poor boy. It's not fair if they hate it, and you can end up with them being funny about their mane- Reg was really nervous of us brushing his mane after we tried to pull it :(
 
lolo do you not end up with loads of sticky out bits when you plait up when you have used a solo comb?

Autumn has a huge thick irish mane and needs sedating to have it pulled :( I tried solocombing it last year and it looked great unplaited when we plaited her we ended up with 'frizzy' looking plaits with little bits sticking out of them everywhere. Perhaps Im not doing it right??
 
I think it's one of those things that if you set out to do you may habd problems

I used to just whip a few hairs out here and there when grooming and over the course of a couple of weeks the result was good

I think some horses are intolerant to it because at some point someone has had a marathon session and has unintentionally hurt them by taking out too many hairs in one go (not saying this has happened in OPs case necessarily)
 
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