thinning a mane

wench

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how can you do it? My horses mane is extremely thick, and really needs doing. He hates having it pulled so I am a bit wary of how to do it.

would one of those thinning rakes be any good, and where can i get a nice cheap one from?

or secondly, how do you use scissors?
 
mine like yours hates her mane being touched let alone pulled. i use a solo comb they are good and resonably priced
 
I have just done his mane with a solo comb, so its nice and short and levelish now, just its way to think to plait up.

Wasnt sure if you could just use the solo comb and cut some of the hairs off at the roots to thin it out a bit...
 
I got mine from clippersharp too, I couldnt do without it now. If you give them a call they will advise you on which one is suitable for your type of horses mane/tail.
 
unfortuanatly you cant really pull his mane at all... we tried once before, and ended up having to twitch him. After that it has taken six months to be able to get him so that you can use the solo comb on it. after we first pulled his mane, if even the reins touched his mane he went nuts, so I am never going to pull his mane again, just get him used to the solo comb,
 
You can thin with a solo comb, just take clumps from the MIDDLE of the mane and chop at the roots - dont take the longest hairs or the mane will get shorter and shorter! You kind of have to part the main and select a clump from the middle and chop... if most of the hairs are the same length, you can just take chunks whererver its too thick... but if its all different lengths, make sure you are not taking the longest hairs, or it will get shorter!

Its difficult to explain... but as long as you take hair from the middle you wont end up with sticky uppy bits!

Good luck!
 
Derby House do a nice thinning rake for 9.95 but ordered mine two weeks ago and am still waiting.
mad.gif
 
I got my rake from pet smart - it's a dog grooming rake, and does exactly the same job as the clippersharp ones. I rake it, then scissor the ends to tidy it up. My mum uses a solo comb to thin her horse's mane, and it works well for her. She takes the hair from underneath and chops at the roots.
Please don't do what I did and resort to cutting off half the mane with scissors at the root. It makes a mess whilst growing out
blush.gif
 
The thinning rakes work well too (used from underneath), but might still upset a horse with a serious fear of mane pulling!

Dont go there with the scissors! Its just not worth risking the "I've been attacked by Edward scissorhands" look!
 
Probably not! I got something similar from robinsons and it was rubbish, and is now too blunt and rusty to do anything other than comb.
I'm tempted to try thinning scissors soon - they work on my hair, so why not a mane!
 
they dont do a bad job, derby house do one (med or fine) for only a tenner, if you can get them to deliver (fume)
 
I use a solocomb in the same way that you would pull a mane, eg take the long hairs, backcomb to the root and instead of pulling you cut as close to the roots as poss, the finish isnt as good as pulling, but its fairly good, you dont end up with the 'cut' look and you wont have any clumps of spikey hair. You justy have to be patient and do tiny section (just as you would when pulling).
 
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