Section D Advice please

[PennyJ]

how much feather should you take off and how do you get the tail into that "natural" looking state? Currently he is very hairy feathered and the tail is full and "banged" at the bottom. Scared to to anything until I have more advice from people who know how to do it!

 

[Christmas_Kate]

Do you mean for showing?

If so, leave the feather alone! they look fab with full feather and as natural a mane and tail as possible.
Dopn't know what the breed rules say, but all the sec d's I've seen in classes have been left natural.

 

[lilym]

leave the feathers alone! tail should be feathered to slightly above the hocks, although it can be longer for ridden classes rather than in hand, banged tails are a no-no, start by pulling the longer hairs out of the middle to make the tail lighter, then feather the edges, have a look at the wpcs website for piccies!

 

[PennyJ]

Yes I mean for showing. The tail has to be "switch" style, finishing in a kind of point at the bottom, rather than flat across ("banged"). I need to know how you achieve the switch tail style to look natural.

 

[Christmas_Kate]

Use a solo comb, shorten odd bits, until you get the desired effect.

 

[PennyJ]

When you say feather the edges of the tail lilym, how do I do that?

 

[pottamus]

Using a very sharp pair of scissors, bunch the end of the tail together loosely and cut randomly with the scissors pointing up...so you are cutting roughly rather than neatly...much more natural. Keep checking as you go by eye...but this works for me.

 

[Chambon]

I use thinning scissors. Holding the bottom of the whole tail, I run the thinning scissors through the outsides all the way round without cutting the hairs in the centre, it works and looks natural.

 

[lilym]

just like chambon and pottamus described!! i can,t explain it very well!

 

[taffy2]

Hi Ive got a Section D that Im showing this year I dont touch his feathers (its the first year he has got them im sure he cuts them himself on purpose!!) I used to bang his tail which made his bum look like it was being dragged down. somebody told me to point it. like everybody else says either with a scissors or a sharp knife make sure the middle of the tail is the longest about hock lenghth! it makes a hell of a differnce my cob looked 10 times lighter. hope this helps. Good luck

 

[Deefa]

A D's tail should be feathered like the others have said, and feathers should be left alone
Manes can be pulled

Tails can be qiute a few lengths, my Boy would look silly with it to short so his is longer, others look better shorter

 

[Lill]

*Coughs and splutters* Thats LONGER?!!

My sec D's tail is almost to the ground and in fact our other two sec d mares tails ARE on the ground!! One of them drags about 6 inches across the ground the whole time see

she's wet here though it looks much bigger when its dry!!

 

[star]

my D is the same - i dont switch his tail - he needs it for flies, but then i dont show him either - he did dressage. if i was doing county showing i'd switch it - you'd look completely out of place on a D with a long tail in the county show ring. manes are pulled as well. not as short as a nromal show horse, but definitely shorter and neater than au naturel.