Just for kicks, here is my horse’s tail:
I wash and braid it and keep it in a bag at home. Redo it once a month or so. Less in winter. It’s all good food and genetics.
I did learn during my Quarter Horse days that benign neglect is helpful with tails. Every time you brush, you lose a few hairs. We mostly hand pick them out very gently.
Not sticky at all! If you’re getting globs of conditioner, just add more water. This is what “leave-in” conditioner is for most curly hair products - just watered down regular stuff.
Silicone sprays like Show Sheen actually dry out the hair and can make it brittle, so I avoid those. Probably mixing them with water and other stuff won’t have enough to cause issues, but also my Horse Math says conditioner from home = free, so… 
Lola has a lovely thick tail, but has rubbed the top badly. So many suggestions here, I don’t know where to start. In the wash stall, I guess. So far, she Does All The Things, so hopefully this includes tail and udder washing.
I got a pic I liked of my mare’s tail. Back in my AQHA days, I started with actual knee socks, then my mom started to crochet tail bags which lasted months of reuse. My mare lives in a herd and with no care her tail is above her hocks due to herd behavior.
I braid, fold it up a few times, stick in some baling twine for a swisher, and vetwrap around it. I’ve had to cut the end a few times, but cut way too short in the summer so it’s growing back out now. And you can see the hole toward the top where someone appeared to take a hold and pull! Over time that will go away. It just happened last week since we had state championships coming 
ohh,… do you think this would work in the winter? Or maybe not necessary in the winter. In my own aqha past our horses did not live in a herd so their tails were beautiful. Having seen the light mine now live out. I don’t have problems with herd behaviour since there are only the two of them, but snags and flies and burrs take their toll. I hesitate to tie it up in the summer (though next year I think I’m going to invest in fly clothes for him) but maybe it would help it grow out a bit nicer in the winter?
common sense tells me it’s a dumb idea… but maybe? 
I wash and condition, then braid mine up wrapped in cotton sheeting in the winter, and then double it up and tie it above the hocks. They are only turned out together for a few hours a day, but no one messes with tails, and they always look good in the spring.
Do you take the wrap out before spring or just leave it?
If it’s getting dirty or the wrap comes loose I’ll take it out and re-do it. If we have a warm enough day I’ll wash and condition again.
As long as you give them something to swish, it doesn’t matter the season! Like outerbanks, I’ll somewhat ignore it until it needs redone in winter and try to be more regular in summer since it’s bath season.
If you want to use cloth to wrap it in, pillow cases are exactly the right size to cut into straps and use.
I had a mare that I tried EVERYTHING to stop rubbing for yars until I discovered she was allergic to soy. It’s in almost all American horse feeds. No more soy and she has never rubbed again and her tail is finally coming back in
My mare doesn’t tail rub. I do clean her teats every two weeks with baby wipes, also wipe her behind lady parts, and under her tail on the bone.
It’s very effective. My senior horse has a very thin tail, but it looks fuller because the hair isn’t broken off at many lengths.
In the fall I cut it to just above his fetlocks, wash , condition, and braid it. The long braid below his dock gets woven up and then down through the top third, and the whole thing is protected by a men’s sport sock from the dollar store. The tail goes into the inside out sock, which is secured by a broccoli elastic placed just below the dock, and then the top of the sock is pulled down over the bagged (socked?) braid.
I don’t seem to a have a photo of it handy.
My older horse has a full tail and is growing a second mane. To maintain his hair, I use Cowboy Magic every third day and brush his tail and mane twice a day. I highly recommend using the Tangle Wrangler, a Mane and Tail Brush, as it doesn’t rip the hair out.
I’m the opposite. I never brush, I pick out by hand only and only when needed. If I’m keeping it short, I don’t put it up, but sometimes over winter I see what will grow, so I braid and bag it. This is what happens then…
I love your horse’s tail, it looks wonderful. I might try doing it your way. I forgot to mention that Silas has a hard time maintaining a full tail because he often rubs it off or gets it tangled in sticks and burrs. I also have a mare whose tail looks great in the winter but tends to break easily during the summer due to her constant swishing to keep the flies away, even when I use fly spray.
I used to braid and bag, but I found that I lost a lot of tail hair to breakage, so now I just leave them alone. I keep them trimmed to the fetlock so they don’t step on them and if I’m going to a show, I wash, condition, detangle and let dry before touching with a brush. As many have said here, a lot of it just depends on genetics.
Is your horse a morgan?
She isTWH
So you can get a sown in fake tail and I know several horses with them (they stay in for months), you wouldn’t know they are fake unless you handled their tails.
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