What to do with this?!

C

chestnut cob

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New horse has a mane that I don't seem to be able to do anything with!

As a best guess, I'd say he's mostly Connemara with a bit of cob in there. His mane is very thick, there's a lot of it and it's very coarse (tail is a bog brush though he doesn't have much feather). If it's pulled short it just sticks right up in the air, which looks quite cool but isn't terribly practical! Pulling it also takes ages because it's so thick. Solo combing won't be any good because that doesn't take any of the weight out. Raking (to thin) mostly ends up with just making it stick up. He isn't the type to look good with a natural/long mane (he isn't a "native" type with loads of feather, he's fairly light and doesn't suit it at all) plus I need it short/thin enough to plait respectably. ATM he needs about 28 plaits and they are all huge.

So how do I thin a coarse, cobby type mane without making it stick right up?! All that seems to happen when I thin is that it get shorter but I can't get any of the weight/thickness out of the middle.
 
Nope, he's too much of a pony stamp for that and it would look hideous. Although I suspect there is some cob in there (passport is all "unknown" breeding) , he doesn't look cobby. He's much more of a connie type. The only cob bit he really seems to have inherited is the coarse thick mane which I can't do much with. Neck is too weedy ATM (only a baby) for hogging.
 
I had a connie cross with a very similar sounding mane - the only way it looked good was to let it grow so the weight made it lie down.

However as the mane was the too long to plait for hunting, I ended up hogging him, and it looked suprisingly good!
 
Sidney said:
I had a connie cross with a very similar sounding mane - the only way it looked good was to let it grow so the weight made it lie down.

However as the mane was the too long to plait for hunting, I ended up hogging him, and it looked suprisingly good!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I dare risk hogging it in case it looks as dreadful as I imagine it will...! Plus it will only grow back as even more of a bog brush! ;)

Must be something to do with connie crosses!
 
Hogging for me was the lesser of the two evils!!! At least that way he always looked presentable, even if not to type!

Weirdly he had a lovely soft/fine forelock (and tail), so used to leave them natural and plait those for 'parties'.

You have my every sympathy.....
 
Dammed if you do and dammed if you don't with those types of manes!!

If he were mine I'd probably rake it to within an inch of it's life, to get as thin as possible, whilst trying to keep a bit of length.

I'd then use quick braid and keep the mane loosely plaited is a desperate hope to try and train it (but accept it likely won't work!) then accept the punk look day-to-day for a plaitable mane for parties.

A friend used to remove with clippers about 1/3 of the thickness of the mane, like a hog, (on underside) and then plait over the top, it actually looked not too bad, but I've never been brave enough to do that!
 
ihatework said:
Dammed if you do and dammed if you don't with those types of manes!!

If he were mine I'd probably rake it to within an inch of it's life, to get as thin as possible, whilst trying to keep a bit of length.

I'd then use quick braid and keep the mane loosely plaited is a desperate hope to try and train it (but accept it likely won't work!) then accept the punk look day-to-day for a plaitable mane for parties.

A friend used to remove with clippers about 1/3 of the thickness of the mane, like a hog, (on underside) and then plait over the top, it actually looked not too bad, but I've never been brave enough to do that!
Click to expand...

I can cope with the punk look day-to-day but it's a pain to plait when it's like that because it doesn't lie down. I think as thin as possible is going to be the only option. I'm def not brave enough for the clippers like your friend!!
 
I have had this problem aswell and once asked someone about it who showed to a high level, they said brush it over to the other side and pull the underside away with pliers, this sounded painful and hard work to try for me as the pony in question wasnt very patient so I didn't bother! Another thing i have heard is again brush to one side and clip half the mane (in effect half hog) this means the half left is thinner and so lies flat as it can be left slightly longer and you cant see the clipped bit, as long as it is done regularly it will always look smart even when plaited. :)
 
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