To pull or to plait?

[Jenny Wrenny]

When I bought my horse in the summer she had a pulled tail which was growing out. I tidy her mane with a solo comb which does a great job but I'm not very good (to say the least) at pulling tails and she was not very happy with me doing it so I set about it with a set of very small trimmers (yes I know, a big no no) but amazingly the effect was better than a lot of tails I have seen but I accept it didn't look great! Since then I have let her tail grow out which has been fine for cubbing but it's now at the stage where it's touch and go whether there is enough hair to plait it. It's not too bushy and luckily does lay flat and neat and really doesn't look too bad at all.

I am hunting a week on Saturday so need to be smarter than we have been and need to make the decision to either have it pulled (which I could quite possibly make a mess of and will need to continue pulling through the season) or plait it. It may be that I would have to have a few days out with an unplaited tail as it may not be quite long enough to plait yet. Also, my mare has a technique of always managing to yank the tail bandage off which would probably mess up the lovingly plaited tail anyway.

I love to see a nicely plaited tail just as much as a nicely pulled one. I appreciate that to have it pulled will be much easier on hunting morning. Anyone know how to get a "pulled tail" effect with clippers or gadgets? Opinions please?

 

[spacefaer]

I would pull it - if you aren't confident doing it yourself, get a professional to do a proper job - it's worth the money you might find she's more settled with someone else. ....

Imho, clipped tails look horrible and even worse when they grow out

Properly done, plaited tails look stunning but I find I have enough to do on a hunting morning. If you do plait, it's worth investing in a proper leather tail guard to stop rubbing

We have a draught who is a nightmare for sitting on his tail in a trailer. He has a tail bandage for shaping the (pulled) tail, a padded cotton tail guard with bag for cushioning and cleanliness of white tail and then a leather tail guard on top - he never shifts that lot, and it all comes off in one pull at the meet.

 

[FireFly29]

You can use a grooming rake to give the appearance of a pulled tail. You just run it down either side of the tail where you would pull and it thins the hair.
I put a tail bandage on after to help the hairs lay flat.
It looks more like a properly pulled tail than clipping and it saves having to plait for hunting/shows!
I think there's some tutorials on YouTube if you do a search.