Mane (horse) - Grooming

Grooming

All domesticated horses benefit from having their manes and tails untangled regularly to remove dirt, tangles and debris. Horses with short manes usually have their manes combed, while horses with longer manes are usually groomed with a human hair brush or a stiff dandy brush. Horses with extraordinarily long manes may have their manes hand picked to remove tangles.

For a horse show, the horse is generally bathed, and this includes the mane. However, in addition to a shampoo bath, many grooms of long-maned horses also use a conditioner or cream rinse on the mane to improve shine and manageability, though for horses with braided manes, the mane may be left alone or have gels that increase stiffness and body added instead.

To make a short mane grow long and lay flat, or to make a naturally full mane grow beyond the length it might normally reach in nature, the mane can be placed into six or seven thick, moderately loose braids to prevent breaking. Many horse show exhibitors of long-maned horses also like the wavy look of a mane that has been kept braided until just before a show and may loosely braid a naturally long mane the night before a show just to obtain a fuller, wavy appearance.

Beyond basic care, the mane is styled in various ways, depending on the breed of horse, part of the world, and the equestrian discipline of the rider.

The basic ways to style the mane include:

• Natural, which includes manes conditioned to grow extremely long
• Pulled or thinned, where small clumps of hairs are pulled out along the underside of the neck until the mane is three to five inches long and thin enough to lay flat against the neck.
• Braided (USA) or plaited (UK), seen primarily in English riding.
• Banded, divided into many small sections with a small rubber band placed around each, seen on some breeds used for Western riding.
• "Roached" or "hogged": shaven off down to the neck.

Regardless of style, many manes that are not roached have a bit of mane at the poll, the area immediately behind the ears, shaved in order to help the crownpiece of the bridle lay more neatly on the head. This area is called a 'bridle path'. It may vary in length from one inch to over a foot. The length of the bridle path is dependent on the discipline or breed of the horse, and is important to consider when grooming a horse for competition.