Riding a horse with a long mane - dangerous??!!

I rode a horse with a very thick mane, and the most hideous thin set of plain leather reins well over ten years ago, at a riding school.

cantering as part of a large group the reins and my hands got tangled up in the mane. IMO it could have ended up very nastily If I’d have fallen off, and now always make sure my horses mane is neat and tidy.
 
I much prefer the look of a pulled mane (or half scissored half pulled as H won't let me pull the top half) so his is short

I had a lesson on one of the rs horses a while ago and she had a long mane and I did find I had the keep lifting the reins out the way of it.

I don't have rings (would like an engagement and wedding ring but that's another story) so haven't ever experienced what it's like to ride with one so can't comment on the hair.
 
canteron said:
So crazy lady who used to help me with my horse always insisted on braiding the mane so it didn't get caught in the reins. But then crazy lady was scared of everything .... her risk assessments were just amazing.

Is this just another thing to worry about, or has it actually happened to anyone.

I love the long mane on my horse, and somehow it is easy to keep looking good, and if I hogged her it would be really really expensive (husband would definitely divorce me, it was touch and go when I shortened the mane).
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I always thought a long mane was a good thing. It's something to hang on to if necessary, it's beautiful and it's functional (for the horse). I'd divorce myself if I ever hogged one.

Yes, maybe in competition when everything is precision and timing and concentration and nervous energy, I can see that a controlled mane would be a very good thing. But straight afterwards I'd let it out. (If I competed. Perhaps in my next life, when I have guts.)
 
stormox said:
I don't think it's so crazy . It's much easier to slip the reins over a drop or big hedge and regain them if they aren't tangled in the mane. You neednt get rid of the mane, just put it in a running plait. I also dislocated a finger once when I dismounted a 17hh horse and my ring was tangled in the mane.
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Ah, but that was the ring, not the mane. Gloves are best worn if wearing a ring.
:)
 
Gloi said:
I've gone off this thread. Stick to stories about pus please or I'll tell you about how that innocent looking pony in the picture managed to embarrass me.
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:D
Please tell us what that naughty fellow did. I can tell that someone is right-at-this-moment typing a particularly gory saga about losing a leg in a mane.
 
Lois Lame said:
:D
Please tell us what that naughty fellow did. I can tell that someone is right-at-this-moment typing a particularly gory saga about losing a leg in a mane.
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I called in at the village shop/post office when out on a ride and tied him up to a handy ring outside which I had done before without problems. I had to queue and he must have got bored because when I came out he had gained an audience who were watching agog at him thrusting away happily masturbating. (Pony stallion in the thread not my innocent gelding icon ?)
 
Some of mine have gloriously unruly double manes. I'll not say I have never got a rein buckle or a whip stuck, but even flat out hunting it's only a moment. Double reins are harder, and martingale straps on crops are the devil for it, so best to cut them off.
 
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