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| Still wet and not fluffy here. |
Me.
When Kelly commented on Connor's tail on my Facebook page a few days ago, I realized that it is long and thick and could be gorgeous but I have done absolutely nothing with it. I'm terrible. To be fair, there's not a whole lot you can do if you don't want to turn them out in a tail bag, and winter is cold and muddy. But I should be doing more, and he has to show this weekend, so I decided that I would do it today, shellack it with Showsheen, and do it again on Thursday because it could use more than one cleaning. I ended up with this:
And that is without trimming, which I plan to do this Thursday. Much better than the yellow it was in this picture from last Thursday:
All thanks to my favorite flaxen tail (and feather and mane)-cleaning method, which I outlined in this post from last summer. It involves automotive grease remover and old lady gray highlights shampoo. Hey, whatever it takes.
I also put training braids in the part of his mane that flips over. Ordinarily, I'm not concerned about what side his mane falls on since I'll only ever event him in braids, but he has go to "in the rough" according to breed standard this weekend (except I gave in to eventer peer pressure and he has a bridle path, AH I'm so sorry!) and his usually hidden neck looks so good these days:
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| See the mohawk? Of course you do. Ugh. |
So this is the mess that is the other side:
From left to right: 3 inches of mane at the withers that gets flattened by all 3 of his blankets (hidden by that grey splotch), 4 inches of mane that lays correctly, 6 inches of mohawk where the neck blanket rubbed it out and it's awkwardly growing back in but I can't cut it or make it lay flat, and 1ft+ of mane that is either all on the right, or lays equally on both sides, so got put in braids. Even my husband says he looks ridiculous right now, which is why I did this while my trainer is on vacation. Poor pony.
Thanks for the whitening tip! I have heard about the Goop in the Haflinger facebook page. I plan on trying it this year, plus its cheap! I had Shy in ridiculous braids all last year. Her mane grows every which way and I had it on both sides last winter, but for showing I keep it on one side. After the braids, it mostly stays on the one side.
ReplyDeleteRhyme has the same flippy " I don't want to stay on the same side" mane to, but unlike your pony he has hardly any tail, which I blame on him rubbing half of it off.
ReplyDeleteYour pony looks BEAUTIFUL!
Aw his doo... Nice tail! I have contemplated dying Houstons tail since it gets bleached by the sun... Bad mom i know. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI was trying to figure out where you are showing this weekend - then remembered it is Hoosier Horse Expo! Looking forward to going - probably on Saturday!
ReplyDeleteAllison, I bet we really could trade some flaxen mane and tail tips. Though Connor's seems to be growing in chestnut...I hope it doesn't turn!
ReplyDeleteRhyme's mom, that's so funny! That would make me so sad, I love tails (despite not taking good care of Connor's...) Cobs = lots of hair.
ReplyDeleteKelly, I can't wait to see you! I'm going to do a post with our schedule and where we are stabled so you know where to find us.
ReplyDeleteHillary, I don't think that's a bad thing at all. I am a big proponent of keeping horses as naturally as possible, with as much outside time as possible, and if I had to dye their hair to ensure they were both happy and a good looking show horse, I totally would. I don't envy you with the fading - while Connor does turn a disgusting shade of burnt orange in the summer, it helps his flaxen mane and tail.
ReplyDeleteJen I do not think his mane will turn chestnut. Comrade and Roscoe both have flaxen with a lot of red highlights, but they have been that way the whole time.
ReplyDeleteHave fun!!
Well they did ask for rough :) Jk, he looks great. Jealous of his thick tail!
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