The other thing I’d watch for might be whether the tail is particularly heavy and being used to hide a odd tail carriage in a video. But this is coming from someone whose main background is in the dressage world where odd tail carriage can be considered a sign of tension.
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If the horse’s tail is flaxen or grey, I would at least ask about the tail. That hair color is expensive.
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THIS. I bought an 18h jet black gelding who requires nearly everything custom made. Including his tail for showing (weighted for AQHA/NSBA and un-weighted for everything else) and a 62" girth.
It’s all case by case…IF you think you’ll need it make a reasonable offer.
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Has anyone seen the ads and bought one of those new semi-permanent tail enhancements? Supposedly, they stay in for several months? If so; please share your experience.
I was thinking that might not be super heathy for the horse’s tail?
My gray mare had a salt and pepper tail. I about choked when I saw how much more expensive that color was. I didn’t show very much so I didn’t want to spend all that money buying a matching one. Since her lower legs were already a darker color than the rest of her, I bought a can of that black spray paint for horses and just painted her tail and lower legs black to match a black fake tail I was borrowing.
It wasn’t perfect, but it worked well enough for our needs (which at the time was primarily 4h). If I had to do it over, I might have just dyed her tail instead as the paint had a more matte texture so it was close, but not quite right.
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Silly question from a non-hunter with a hunter kid: why am I not allowed to bang the pony’s tail when we’re just going to put a banged fake tail in it? Both of my horses’ (banged) tails look like that naturally & I didn’t have to spend more than I did on my first car. I’m confused about this. 
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What??? Fake tails in the UK? I’ve never even seen one for sale in my long life, so I googled. Yup, fake tails and manes can be purchased in the UK. Who knew? But native breeds can only be shown in their natural state (huge fuss a couple of years ago about trimming/not trimming the forelock of Fell ponies so they can see out), show horses are supposed to be au natural, Arabs ditto etc etc. If such things are sold, then there must be a market but a fake tail isn’t an immediate go to and certainly not standard. I think it must be desperation in the show ring or dressage arena that makes people resort to them. There is no section in the Pony Club Handbook on how to insert a fake tail! I also don’t think we have the same obsession with tails overall: our tradition is based on outdoor activities and horses getting lots of pasture turnout so tails are banged relatively short to avoid mud. Tails dragging on the ground just looks absurd in my Brit eyes.
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Fwiw, I believe it’s mostly an American show hunter thing. Fairly sure the natural tail has to be braided in order to hold the fake tail. So, I’ve never seen it done in dressage. At least not at my sandbox level. Lol.
I’ve had two hunter trainers rather vehemently object to my wanting to bang the tails of our hunter ponies. Makes no sense to me as my horses’ (banged) natural tails grow as thick & lush-looking as a fake. Especially the Belgian WB’s.
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Because I do hesitate slightly before making sweeping statements on behalf of British equestrianism in its entirety, I checked in my local tack shop about fake tails. The reaction from the staff was “What?” and “Why?” I think it is an American thing.
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@Willesdon Most definitely an American obsession.
Moved to Hunterland from Western Pleasure.
Why?
I wish I knew 
Bad enough to see the godawful fakes at my County Fair WP classes.
True: saw a gray fake on a bay 
Hunters trailing the obvious fakes over jumps make me 
@TheDBYC Curious: who does not “allow” you to bypass a fake for a natural banged tail?
Pls don’t say Trainer/Pro, or I may be forced to trot out my You Enable the Trainer/Pro rant. 
ETA: sorry, saw your reply.
In the interest of a peaceful weekend, I will leave my Rant on the shelf. 
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@2DogsFarm, I suppose no one would die if I did it. But they’re leased & technically not mine. And lord knows I step on enough toes as it is. 
So in the interest of semi keeping the peace, I just let their tails grow out stringy. We don’t compete at a level where a fake would be called for but maybe 1-2x a year, anyway.
It is just one of those mysteries of the horse world to me. I guess an unbanged tail could be easier to put up in a mud braid? With my guys, I swish their tails in a bucket of mild soapy water, rinse, and then spray on a ton of Espana Silk. Air dry & the knots just fall out. And it looks uh-mazing. My hairstylist even commented on the pics I posted of the Belgian WB. He has a bit of that coarse draft horse wave to his mane/tail, & the Espana somehow softens the texture while making his tail look even thicker than it is.
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The natural tail is braided, but not in any visible way (or else the western pleasure folks couldn’t use them). There are a few ways to do it, but it generally just involves taking enough hair from the center of the tail, right at the end of the tailbone, to make two braids about the thickness of your pinky finger (maybe a little less). Depending on how the fake tail is constructed, it will either have some “strings” at the top that you braid into the natural tail, or it will have a loop and you string one braid through it and then combine the two braids as a single braid for a few inches beneath the loop.
It is not at all necessary to braid the top of the tail in order to tie in a fake, if you know how to do it.
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Yes. Lots of European Warmbloods are advertised for sale with (obvious to me) tail enhancements in the photos and videos. More noticeable over jumps.
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It’s just fashion-- but even most of the hunter people I know still trim them a bit if they look scraggly and uneven or get past the fetlock. You just don’t want that squared off at the hocks banged look like an old-fashioned hunting painting.
I have now become weirdly fascinated by fake tails. To use one in FEI competitions, permission must be requested at least 3 weeks before the competion and a photo provided with evidence of injury or other reason for the lack of tail to justify the request.
The Horse & Hound fora suggest UK riders are more concerned about a lack of mane to plait rather than not enough tail hair.
Could you provide an image of a European warmblood for sale wearing a fake tail as I’m not certain I would even recognise one?
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Generally the giveaway is a tail that’s a little too full and long at the bottom. Also, if you notice the tail sort of changes shape at the end of the tailbone. In some of the images of the first horse you’ll see the tail sort of looks like it’s tapering in and then all of a sudden fans way out to an extremely full and long tail, sharply banged all the way at the fetlocks. There’s also some apparent texture change (straight vs wavy/previously braided hair) although most people will tell you NOT to store your fake tails braided to prevent that. Lastly, if the tail was real there’s no way it’d all fit in the tiny tail bag they’re using in one of the videos.
The 2nd horse, the tail is more subtle as far as shape, it’s feathered out pretty naturally without the abrupt banging at the end, but the color difference is the giveaway.
Maybe maybe not
You cannot use real estate as a guide. We’re talking about a horse (personal property), not real estate. And even if real estate could be used as a guide, a fake tail would not be considered a fixed, attached, or permanent structure.
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One thing needs to be considered when horse shopping and considering purchasing a horse who wears a fake tail - why does the horse need a fake tail? If it is simply because the horse has a thin tail, that makes perfect sense. But if it is because the horse carries it’s tail funny or the tail needs to be weighed down for some reason, you need to proceed with caution or do further investigation.
There was a local bay hunter in my area that wore the biggest fake tail. He constantly swapped his leads behind. Honestly, that big, full tail that hung down to the ground did really hide a lot as the tail often got caught between the back legs. If you didn’t know the horse, sometimes you weren’t sure what you were seeing.
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