Braiding Horses: Need advice!

[julia.eq.h]

Hello! This is my first post because I needed to ask some questions about professionally braiding a horses mane/tail.

I am trying to learn how to braid for shows so I can afford my own lease. I’ve gotten to the level where the horses I am looking to lease are very expensive (I’m looking for something that can do 3’3+ and is a nice mover). My parents can contribute around 2200 per month as a baseline for a lease but they won’t pay for shows, so I am trying to earn money for that myself.

I desperately needs tips on how to braid because my braids look interesting!

Me now (4 weeks into the process):

I tried to upload more images but it didn’t let me!

Don’t be too mean because I know they are nowhere near ready, but I’ll take any and all advice!

Thank you!

PS: I just wanted to make it clear that my parents and I both know the insanely long hours braiders work and the time it would take out of my schedule, but its very important to me so they are fine with it if I keep up with my school!!

[julia.eq.h]

[Scribbler]

There are tutorials online I think

Honestly you might do better in terms of time vs money to get a food service job, in a place with tips.

[Renn_aissance]

Two immediate suggestions. They need to be tighter from top to bottom. That comes with hand strength- keep practicing. (See how the hair puffs up at the crestline? You want that to smoothly come into the braid.) A tight braid will practically button itself up.

Also, when you make your knot, do it underneath or to the side of the braid so that there aren’t yarn ends visible when you cut the strands off.

Lots of good tutorials on YouTube.

[CuriosoJorge]

Good for you for wanting to learn. This is a dying skill, and the ability to braid well will last you a lifetime, even if your “semipro” braiding days aren’t long.

Your best bet is to find a professional braider who will mentor you, and give you overflow from their work. Who is your barn’s braider?

[Equibrit]

How to Braid a Horse's Mane for Dressage, Jumpers, or Eventing

How to braid the hunter horse.

[Railbird]

Post in the Hunter Braiders group and see if there is anyone nearby willing to mentor you. 3 overflow horses a night paid for my horse shows when I was in college and still let me get some sleep- it’s a great skill to have!

[julia.eq.h]

I already have a food service job!

[clanter]

my youngest daughter started braiding as teen, today nearing 40 she still will do braiding to support her showing often picking up a day or two at hunter shows

[horsegurl]

I’m a pro braider. You so far have the right idea. It would be really hard to explain how to make them tighter, and to explain technique for tying down via posts here. Equestrian Coach has a pretty good braiding tutorial. It used to be free but I don’t know that it’s free any longer. What area are you in? Are there some horse shows you can go to and speak with the braiders and try and get some lessons? It’s not always about making tight braids although that does count. There is certain techniques we use to make the final product looks so nice and you need to learn those as well.

[julia.eq.h]

Thank you! I live in a huge show scene in the Bay Area so there’s definitely a lot of opportunités to talk to braiders. I really want to be proficient as a braider by March or so, hopefully I can do it!

[luckymaverick]

I’m teaching myself to braid as well. On fb, the account katieshorsecaresupply has great videos, and on YouTube, John the braider is good. Peggy Thompson has a good tail one that’s free, she grooms for Bernie Traurig

[horsegurl]

@julia.eq.h Come see me at Sonoma Horse Park next few weeks!! I’ll send you a private msg.

[mvp]

OP, take up horsegurl’s offer of some help at the Horse Park.

Once you technically know how to braid, you need to practice a bunch to refine and fix the small things you do wrong.

These can be anything from not making the parts vertical, to braiding in such a way that you twist the strands as you go**, braid too loose or to tight.

**The way I learned to braid as a baby kid-- well before horsing-- makes my braids not want to lie flat. If I were going to be a pro, I’d have to re-teach myself this bit of muscle memory. Most people lay a strand across the others and then pinch that. That prevents the problem I have.

A huge factor in getting the braids to hang straight is pulling evenly on both sides of that first knot you do. One tip for getting symmetry here or in your braid-- cross over first (for your braid or your knot) with the other hand first.

The braider I work with (I pull manes for them) also swears by a kind of wool, carpet yarn that grabs onto itself better and keeps knots tight. The synthetic stuff we all used to get at Walmart or whatever doesn’t cut it.

If you can braid some and have a pro braider look at what you have, or even watch you put the braids in or tie up, you will get a personal “diagnosis” for what you are doing and might need to change.

If you get good at the braiding part, some braiders might have you braid the mane and they can follow along and tie up the braids.

There is a braiding shortage, so if you want to put in the time it takes to learn, I’m sure they would be happy to have you! And you can make good money at it.

[julia.eq.h]

Thank you!I’ve always wondered what type of yarn to use since the synthetic yarn I use right now doesn’t hold super well.

I really would love to take her offer but my parents are not allowing me to, which sucks but in the meantime while I gain their trust I can practice and get better!

I’m hoping to make enough money to pay for a competitive lease (half of it maybe?). My parents can contribute up to 2.5k per month and will pay for 3 big show’s per year but I really feel bad to make them pay for that, since I want them to save for my university hopefully haha!! Even with a pretty good budget that covers most nice leases, its still not enough to cover everything. I live in a very expensive area so hopefully when I become pro I can make some money!

[mvp]

@julia.eq.h

Thank you!I’ve always wondered what type of yarn to use since the synthetic yarn I use right now doesn’t hold super well.

I really would love to take her offer but my parents are not allowing me to, which sucks but in the meantime while I gain their trust I can practice and get better!

I’m hoping to make enough money to pay for a competitive lease (half of it maybe?). My parents can contribute up to 2.5k per month and will pay for 3 big show’s per year but I really feel bad to make them pay for that, since I want them to save for my university hopefully haha!! Even with a pretty good budget that covers most nice leases, its still not enough to cover everything. I live in a very expensive area so hopefully when I become pro I can make some money!

Hehe… Well, your parents can’t have it both ways.

I will say that braiding is a hard and professional job. You have to make word and deed match. And, even tougher, you have to get the horse done, no matter what! (Sometimes, I don’t know how the braiders do that; every once in a while, if I am at the show late, I’m the one holding the horse). If you can’t work it out with your parents that you need to be an adult in this job, it ain’t gonna work.

[Railbird]

Caron so soft is the best of the readily available stuff. Trait tex is the best but hard to come by and harder on your hands. What part of it makes your parents uncomfortable? I got kind of set loose with a horse trailer at 16 and now that I’m a parent, I look back wondering who thought that was a good idea, so I can understand if they have safety concerns about you being at a horse show overnight, but maybe if you network with some braiders who they can meet and get to know, they’d be more comfortable with it knowing there were some adults around who were willing to keep an eye out.

[fivestrideline]

@mvp

I will say that braiding is a hard and professional job. You have to make word and deed match. And, even tougher, you have to get the horse done, no matter what! (Sometimes, I don’t know how the braiders do that; every once in a while, if I am at the show late, I’m the one holding the horse). If you can’t work it out with your parents that you need to be an adult in this job, it ain’t gonna work.

This. Your parents either have to be with you or comfortable allowing you at shows in the wee hours of the morning in strange barns with strange horses, or you need to pursue another avenue for income. Braiding for your own barn can work, but it’s still overnight and you still need to shadow another braider.

FWIW, hostess jobs often make over minimum wage + tip out and are flexible. Pick the highest priced restaurant you can find for better tips. Farm sitting is another lucrative job - but you’re often alone on a farm with strange horses which may not thrill your parents.

[julia.eq.h]

Yeah definitely. I told them that I will work the whole night baisically and will need to be at shows for weeks. They said they are fine with that as long as I know one person at the show, which shouldn’t be hard because my barns go to every show on the west coast circuit basically!

I’m also planning to show a lot in the winter, spring and summer of next year so while I’m braiding I’ll also be showing haha…. It’ll be worth it. I’m not too nervous about staying up late because I stay up really late studying so I can do this hopefully. My point is that my parents or my friends will always be there so I definitely won’t be alone

Their issue is just the driving portion because I have my permit but not the license, so I need to wait until I can drive by myself. I told them I will just sleep in my car the nights I stay there because I don’t want to pay for a hotel and they were fine with it hah!

[vxf111]

I don’t know where you are but it’s often not legal to sleep in your car and I really can’t imagine that being a good idea for a minor. Sorry to rain on your parade but that’s not really a great plan.