Spanish mane - a sin to pull it?!

[BBP]

My little pony is 3/4 andalusian and 1/4 welsh b. He is utterly gorgeous (to me!) but instead of a stunning long thick spanish mane, his is scraggly and ratty, and seems to be getting worse. This weekend he managed to pull a big chunk out of it grooming with his mate (annoyingly the chunk I was putting megatek on!). I am contemplating pulling it (and then perhaps letting it regrown in the hope it would be healthier) but am worried i'll regret it! I don't show or anything like that, so that doesn't matter.

Thoughts please on if you think I should or shouldn't pull. Have any of you pulled and had the mane grow back better?

Mane now (pony not looking very prepossessing):

And to show his type

Thanks!

 

[mymare]

In my experience, most manes grow back thinner!

 

[Cortez]

Oooh! Lovely little man! How old, how tall, and what are you going to be doing with him?

 

[Tinypony]

He's so pretty!
I've never been unable to cultivate a mane yet... so... do you brush or comb it? Here's how I grew a lush mane on my Arab boy. Never, ever, brush it. Get a bit bottle of Magic Sheen and just work that through with your fingers about once a week. If a little knot appears don't panic, but when you get around to it untangle it with the Magic Sheen. My Arab live's out and his mane is a complete mess of knots every time we have high winds. Even then, I only untangle it about once a month. The less you do, the less the hair will break off. Then in the summer his mane is suddenly down his shoulder.

Oh... should have said... I am in the "Don't Pull It!!" vote. )

 

[ester]

I think he suits his mane and wouldn't pull, Frank's used to be long... I pulled it

 

[charleysummer]

Posting again in this thread,

Condition and neaten with scissors on the ends to make it look sleek and smooth, just nibble at those dead scraggy ends.

Pulling could just make it thinner and scraggier. I never pull my horses anymore as she has the thickest lush mane and it actually looks really nice scissor cut ! can't seem to get the same effect on any other horse though lol, must just be her mane.

 

[azouria]

I'm in the don't pull camp too.
He is an absolute stunner!

 

[Cortez]

I don't actually think it looks that bad. They either have "it" (long, thick mane) or they don't - not all Spanish horses have super-long manes. I have two with MASSIVE manes, one with a straggly thing. i also never comb or brush, just finger pick. As far as I know, you can't "improve", just maintain. He's lovely!

 

[BBP]

Sorry, when I said pull I mean shorten, rather than pull any hair out, just take it to 4in or so and hope it grows from there. I don't tend to brush it or comb it but will admit to doing it occasionally. have tried not to all winter which is why its so annoying he has pulled lots of the bottom bit out. I imagine his rugs and breastplate strap probably don't help either.

 

[BBP]

Cortez - rising 7, 14hh, doing a little bit of dressage, trec, jumpcross, hacking and general fun. I have no aspirations to do anything fancy.

 

[dressagelove]

Noo don't pull or shorten, he's gorgeous with it!!

 

[coss]

leave it long - tidy up the ends maybe. get some form of mane/tail conditioner in it to make it smoother but that's all i think

 

[meandmyself]

I would carefully trim it to neaten the ends, and go from there. It will grow back!

 

[Tinypony]

I don't think a mane like that is supposed to look neat, honest I don't. It's meant to look sort of wild and free.

 

[Cortez]

I'd leave it alone - que sera, sera

 

[Piglet]

Trim the ends of the mane and it will look thicker and fuller

 

[BBP]

Seems like the overwhelming vote is to leave it then! I will try a conditioner, and then not brush or comb it unless with my fingers. I might tidy up any nasty split endy bits, but will try to resist drastic action!

 

[Littlelegs]

I'd shorten it, but with a comb like you would to pull then snipping instead of pulling if that makes sense? And only by about 2 inches so it still looks natural, then it will grow back nicely. Done similar with scrappy native names with good results. On the whole tho, I'd say no. Friend had a sec d who developed a skin prob, even tho he was half bald & a mess it felt so wrong to be hogging his mane & clipping his feathers off!

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

I'm in the don't pull camp too.

Yup, me too, I like the natural look unless they have sweetitch or something. Nell's mane is rubbish atm where her field mates had eaten most of it off, there was just a small area which was very,very long which I had to cut as it looked daft, i am just leaving it to grow