Taming a wild, thick mane?

J

Jingleballs

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I pulled my coblets super long mane (as in past his shoulder), earlier this year as I was having to clip out his legs to treat his mud fever.

This therefore means I know need to plait for dressage. Unfortunately his mane is still really, really thick - like afro thick - and now that it's been pulled I had to wrestle to plait it for dressage yesterday and even then it looked ridiculous as some of it was too short to roll.

I don't pull the mane myself - I'm rubbish at it and he's not very patient about getting his mane pulled so my Y/O does it. She'd mentioned that by pulling it, it would get shorter and if I was just looking to keep some length and think it a bit then a thinning comb might be a better option to think the underside of the mane.

Does this sound like a good option? I've heard some awful stories about the mess made by solocombs and the likes so wonder if there was a better option or technique?
 
Have you tried using a neck cover to help flatten it down??

My mares fuzzy wuzzy mane used to be a nightmare - since she has had her full neck rug on its really alot more tamed now!
 
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I use human hair thinning scissors on mine and works a treat, just thin from the underneath. I hold the stands and cut, move the scissors down a bit and cut and move down the stand a bit more and cut. Cant really explain it! x :D
 
Please dont use a thinning comb or thinning scissors on it. It will look lovely - for a wee while then it ends up like a bog brush :(. This is the voice of bitter experience here - Arnies mane is almost uncontrollable. Pulling is the only thing that works - I just cant pull it too short or I lose control.
 
Use a rake to thin it & then get a neck cover! My boy has a terribly thick mane that grows forward - the neck cover has actually helped it to look less like an afro xx
 
Skippys Mum said:
Please dont use a thinning comb or thinning scissors on it. It will look lovely - for a wee while then it ends up like a bog brush :(. This is the voice of bitter experience here - Arnies mane is almost uncontrollable. Pulling is the only thing that works - I just cant pull it too short or I lose control.
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I use thinning scissors on my boy when his mane gets thicker than his neck. Last time was about 6mths ago, and it does the job perfectly as long as you don't take anything too short :)
 
How about doing a running plait? My iberian has his hair done like this for dressage and hunting, looks great. It means I can keep it long, I just have to flatten it down the night before I plait up. There's just so much of it to pull I have never been brave enough to do it.
His mane is a bushy wavy thick 2-sided mess so I am watching this thread with interest!

The plus side about plaiting in this way is that the manky mane keeps the mud off the neck, so when you plait up you have a clean neck to show and the mud in the mane is hidden by the plaits. Yes I am indeed a shameful scruffbag!!!!
 
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