Sedation for pulling manes ...... At my wits end

Colleen_Miss_Tom

Colleen_Miss_Tom

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Today I have had to resort to scissors
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As most of you that know of missy , shes a big girl standing near enough 16.3hh , Shes almost 3 .

Today I used a full tube of sedalin and left her for 40 mins to an hour , Proceeded to try and pull her mane and she was having none of it
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, Then twitched her and nope none of , She would use her size and barge past you or go up .

I am needing her mane done for balmoral in less than 10 weeks time .

So I have used scissors and tried to then it out with a pulling comb , Gah its bloody terrible looking
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So for the next time , what else could I do ? use ?

Advice please
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Have you tried cross tieing her, so she can't barge you?

I did this with mine after 3 years of struggling with him. Don't get me wrong, he still fidgeted but he couldn't roll me against the wall as he liked to do!
 
Can you not improvise?

If you have monarch type stables witht the bars, you could tie string to either side and then lead ropes to the string - so you get the right length to keep her still(ish) but with a bit of added safety.

If you haven't got bar topped stables, then I can't think of any other way sorry
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I was lucky, we had a wash stall that I could do him in.
 
Put string either side of door, cross tie onto this and close the door , then stand on a safe stool so she can't throw herself against you,this is important with mine as her can really crush me but when I am high he can't do it.. Do a little at a time and slowly , I find best as pulling out quickly seems to upset him. Good luck .
If it is still impossible then do the backcombing and then cut the long bitsout quite high up but again only a few strands at a time.
Good luck
 
I think it very much depends how important turnout is to you. If it is very important, ie big show where proffessional appearance is of the utmost importance, then it sounds like to do a good job safely, you will need to get the horse sedated by the vet. The solocomb/scissors thing may or may not work, depending on the type of mane. A very thick/coarse mane will never look good unless pulled. It may well look ok if starting with a thin or fine mane. Also depends how much your willing to spend for the appearance! You might find you can get all your trimming done under sedation 2-3 times over the season, depending how many shows you're off too. Good luck!
 
Its got to the stage of if I even lift abit of hair she will just go straight through you
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.

She will shake like blazes .

She isnt getting her teeth done ... not yet anyways .

But if she is needing sedated I think I may have to just call the vet out to sedate her totally .
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Its hard to explain , the places that I could cross tie her would be at the entrance of the stable and even then its not going to be easy . ARRGGHHH ! .

Shes great every other way , she even LOVES her tail being pulled
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You could try taking her out for a reasonably hard hack so she gets warm down her neck, and do her mane immediately you get back. This opens up the hair follicles so the hair comes out easier.
 
Poor you. Addie isn't that keen either.

I always do her after work as the hairs come out easier, have you tried that?

not sure what else to suggest, ditto the solo comb leaving bits.
 
I'd be wary of the cross tying thing. Could well be the answer but could also lead to her panicking, and you've got a lot of horse for that reaction. Could also lead to the demolition of your stables if they're made of timber.
 
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I think it very much depends how important turnout is to you. If it is very important, ie big show where proffessional appearance is of the utmost importance, then it sounds like to do a good job safely, you will need to get the horse sedated by the vet. The solocomb/scissors thing may or may not work, depending on the type of mane. A very thick/coarse mane will never look good unless pulled. It may well look ok if starting with a thin or fine mane. Also depends how much your willing to spend for the appearance! You might find you can get all your trimming done under sedation 2-3 times over the season, depending how many shows you're off too. Good luck!

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I'm basically pulling to plait it .

We have balmoral in may , So yes appearance is important .

Anyhooos its abit late now as I have used scissors already
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oops ! . Anyone dare open their mouth and tell me how terrible looking it is , They are more then welcome to come and try themselves
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I'll have the ambulance standing by
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I'd be wary of the cross tying thing. Could well be the answer but could also lead to her panicking, and you've got a lot of horse for that reaction. Could also lead to the demolition of your stables if they're made of timber.

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Oh she won't panic
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She will just use brute force
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Stables are breeze blocks
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We have a cattle crush
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I had a mare identical to this. Went absolutely crazy if you pulled her mane...and I mean crazy! But LOVED having her tail pulled..very strange girly! I gave up in the end as she hated it so much it must have hurt like mad and she was dangerous too. We tried sedating, twitching, the lot.

I resorted to hairdresser thinning scissors and they worked a treat! Don't use them too close to the crest as the plaits will look wispy but they will help you thin and shorten the mane. The shorter bts just get wrapped n the plaits (I dampened the mane first which helped).

She had welsh in her so her mane was thick and wiry but it worked really well, she was shown to county standard and did quite well so must have been alright!!

Good luck!
 
As you may have seen, I have great trouble pulling my lads mane.
Does she let you plait it?
Brush it?
My boy had 2 tubes :O of sedalin-didn't work. Twitch helped a bit but not really.
I wouldn't even attempt pulling it properly but use a tail rake (or dog grooming rake-much more robust!) and scissors as that doesn't hurt and they learn that and learn to accept it.
I have only just got to the stage of being able to use the scissors on his mane, before he wouldn't let that!
 
I second doing some work with her first and get her sweating! And then the only thing that I can think of is literally doing 2 or 3 hairs at a time, and only for a few minutes until she realises that it isn't that bad!

If you start now you may have finished her whole mane by the time your show comes round!!

p.s - try doing a bit halfway up her neck to start with at the top and the withers always seem to be the most sensitive parts!
 
My mare would try to crush me if I so much as came near her with a pulling comb. I didn't want to get injured or have her upset so I resorted to thinning scissors and a solocomb and tbh even though she had a really thick mane (full ID) the end result was pleasing and plaitable. When you are using the solocomb/rake do you have her mane laying on the side it will plait to (offside). If not and you use these then push to other side to plait up that will be reason for wisps sticking up. If her mane is wispy use spray gel as you plait this should "stick down" the wispy bits. Good luck for the showing season.
 
can you twitch her? and sedate her as well, and maybe give her a calmer in some feed?

it would be a good idea to lunge her so that her pores are open so hair will come out easier?

How big are the sections of hair you are pulling? The smaller the amount the less strain on her.

oh maybe she is just testing you, ie testing out her strength? It maybe that she is just going to have to stand tied up and let you pull her mane, which could take a long time
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friend of mine cuts it, and then uses the tail rake over it to make it look pulled
 
Now you have cut it you could try using some clipper blades to thin it underneath (not attached to the clippers, just in your hand), hopefully she'll accept this and it will help to thin the mane and make it look neater.
 
Quite honestly speaking from experience all this cross tieing, working them first, sedalin etc does not work if a horse really hates have its mane pulled nothing you can do will work. The only thing is to get it sedated iv by the vet with Domosedan & Torbagisic and have done with it, whats the point of potentially getting yourself injured and upseting the horse thats going to fight you. If you give it a real good do you could possibly get away with only having to sedate her twice a year then just in between keep on top of ot with the solo comb.
 
hi this in an old fashion way but it does work, i use clove oil it is a natural anthestic and you can buy it as an essential oil

use gloves and massage it into the crest wait about 10 min, and come through the mane with the pulling mane, gradually start pulling the mane without pulling the mane out and eventually pull a couple of hairs, continue to do this over a week and you should be able to pull it, you are just having desensitise the mare

ps worked on a shire cross
 
steeleydanb-that works great, if your horse isn't needlephobic :P
I have a mane pulling phobic and none of this working etc. would do any good, neither does sedating.
Twitching did have a small effect, adn actually once he was twitched he came on very quickly after that and I can now cut the mane then thin it using the tail rake, but in colleens cas eIthink she said missy wouldn't stand when twitched?
 
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Use a tail rake

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Yes, ditto - I've done this with Thumper's mane, and actually not done a half bad job of it. Just don't get too carried away.
 
Skye is absolutely fantastic could be handled by a toddler until i try and pull her mane then she turns into a ravid monster she does pretty much the same as you describe to the point she broke 3 of my ribs crushing me against the wall. If i cross tie her she rears ( this horse never ever rears ) if i try and get above her ( climb on a stable door) she rams against me and if i still manage to continue she rears.
Sedalin didnt touch her, twitching her seems to actually make her worse, i tried getting her really really hot before doing it, the only thing that worked for me is a vets iv sedation, and then i pull it to within an inch of its life!
Good luck
 
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