It hurts. My old A-circuit hunter from my junior days many years ago was a grey (almost white). I was pulling his mane not long after we bought him and he hated it. Well I could see raw spots from where the mane was being pulled out and I was doing super small sections. I stopped and never pulled it again. I got creative with scissors and since I did my own braiding it worked fine.
it’s painful. There are lots of good suggestions posted.
Stop trying to pull it. He’s telling you it hurts and the pain is not worth the vanity. It hurts!!
I’m super skilled with thinning sheers and have done beautiful hunter braids many times on my pony with a think pony mane so it can be done. IllI also use scissors cutting vertically to help thin about twice a year. Maybe YouTube it?
I have no clue where this ridiculous tradition came from to thin a mane or tail by pulling out hairs. From the time before scissors were invented? It makes no sense and is unkind to horses.
Of course it hurts! At the time it is pulled, and it’s sore later. What if someone styled human hair by pulling out the strands that were too long? Ouch !!!
Beauty supply stores are everywhere and they sell to anyone (such as national chains Ulta and Sally, and many local stores as well). Buy ‘thinning shears’ (they have other names as well), with ratcheted teeth. They cut part of the hair in hand, but not all of it. You can find them from $25 to $300, and the cheap ones work fine for horses.
Like this
https://www.sallybeauty.com/hair/she…hapers#start=1
Shears can also be ordered online in many places, but then you’ll miss out on fingering the wonderland of stuff in the physical beauty supply store. Although you’ll save maybe $100 extra-spend bucks if you don’t go in the store and browse all the amazing things they have. 
Then back at the barn, comb out the horse’s (clean) mane and divide it down the middle, pushing the sides down on either side as best possible. Use the thinning shears as close to the horse’s neck as possible to thin the mane. Same effect as pulling, without pulling. You’ll need to thin more in the thicker part of the mane to make for neat braiding.
Cut from the middle of the mane, right next to the neck itself. Same as pulling, don’t take off the hair at the top of the mane as it won’t braid properly. This takes out the hair from the base root just the same as pulling, without hurting the root inside the skin (that’s what is painful about pulling).
Then comb it all over to one side (lots of combing to remove the loose hairs). Use regular scissors to nip off the too-long ends, with little cuts that thin the end of the mane, and avoid a banged look. If you cut straight along the edge (if it’s long enough to justify that), don’t take off too much. You’ll want to go go back and make little cuts back and forth to thin the ends of the mane and remove the ‘bang’ edge. Don’t go crazy with this as it can become very short.
I’ve been doing this since I got back into riding many years ago, having vowed never to pull another mane. I’ve been complimented on the horse’s neat appearance, and on neat braids. Not once has anyone ever said “it looks like it was cut with scissors”. And I know horse people who would say so immediately if they thought so.
Have you tried having someone hold him? I prefer a rope under the lip to a twitch but it requires a second person. Has to be someone who can correct bad behavior. Or pull when they’re super sedated from having teeth done.
As it hurts them I don’t think it’s really possible to train them to like it but I’ve found that most learn to tolerate it and at least not knock you off a ladder. But you have to “win” every pull session and only stop when they stand. I find with gigantic manes it’s easier if you can get a really good pull (but not over pulled!) and then keep on top of the mane with smaller maintenance pulls.
Other suggestions: ask a braider for help (one who’s not scared of mane pulls or difficult horses); at home, braid the mane down (can be chunky braids) and leave it for a few days (between the braids and horse rubbing, hair will fall out, repeat as necessary. Plus it trains the mane over and teaches horse to stand for braiding); put up with large braids until horse gets used to mane pulls.
Don’t blunt cut the mane if you can’t pull it (braiders have told me they prefer a longer mane to too short because they can always shorten or pull it themselves, but if it’s too short they can’t fix it — though you may get charged for it — and may find it finger-breaking to braid), but you can practice back-combing and trimming on an angle, in thinner parts of the mane, so horse doesn’t freak out every time you back comb.
I agree with not pulling.
If the mane is super thick, you could shave the underside. We used to do that with a show pony with a super thick mane. You have to keep it up as it looks awful when it starts to grow out.
You can buy topical numbing cream on Amazon. A friend of mine used it on her ear for a constellation piercing and it worked great for her.
I solo comb or cut at a 45% angle with scissors and then use a thinning shear horizontal so I don’t have fly aways on the braids.
Good new- mine is now 10 and will now tolerate mane thinning if I take little tiny pieces, after she’s had turnout and eaten. So- only 6 more years and maybe you’ll be in the clear ha ha.
I feel your angst. Mine used to stomp and be an overall jerk about it as well.
Mane pulling for horses probably feels exactly like hair-pulling for us. Just my 2 cents, as a groom and as someone who used to offer mane pulling as a professional service.
Some horses do learn to like it - if you’re dead-set on pulling, I’ve found a good way to introduce it is very gradually, and after a ride. Before you pop off, pluck a few (only a few) hairs, and get off. Especially after a hotter day or harder ride, their pores will be more open and mane-pulling is easier. I’ve always preferred people give me their horses right after a ride because I think it hurts less for them.
You could try giving him grain in a bucket in a stall? This was another solution of mine with horses who really hated it, and I’d only do a strand or two at a time a day. Gradually increase each day, but always keep the strands you pluck limited to 4-6 hairs. Really small amount.
I don’t pull anymore. One because pulling always makes fly-aways happen and I hate that - when the pulled area grows in, it’s even worse IMHO than a thick mane to contend with as a braider. I think my current horse would be okay with pulling, but my last few have told me they don’t like mane-pulling very much. Fine. They put up with everything else I ask, so it’s an okay line to draw for me.
Here is how I have found the best results with scissors:
When you flip back to normal side, you’ll see that the mane is naturally angled and it doesn’t look “blunted” the way a mane does when you normally use scissors.
This doesn’t thin the mane, but it’s a pain-free way to manage the length and keep it looking good for clinics, etc.
I’ve found if you do brush every day, it does naturally thin so the above is a great suggestion as well :yes:
I brush my guy’s mane daily with one of those metal pulling comb - it’s probably pretty close in results to your dog grooming rake. I always put the saddle on, put girth on loosely, go brush the mane & pick out the hoof, and then tighten a hole or two of girth.
Weird ritual, I know, but gives time for the saddle to “settle” and for the horse to get accustomed to the girth. Can’t imagine girths are very comfortable either but haven’t yet figured out a way to anchor a saddle on a horse without them :winkgrin:
Why would anyone do something to a horse that requires pain meds, when there are alternatives that are painless?
This is pretty much what I do. My boys mane isn’t really thick, but the new guys is so we’ll see how it works for him. I like bushy manes though 
and don’t do hunters.
I razor my horses’ mane. Yes, I section off, tease back the excess, then, instead of pulling, I use a single blade from clippers and run it down and across the long section I would normally just pull out.
Takes them a while to learn it won’t hurt. No the braids aren’t PERFECT perfect, but they’re acceptable.
Again, it takes time and persistence and patience.
I’ve done hunter, dressage and jumper (ball) braids the way I described. Never been a problem for me and I’m a good braider
Braider and hunter rider here…No need to pull if he doesn’t like it. For the braiders, thick manes are OK to a degree. If you need to thin it, you can use a clipper black to thin and shorten. I comb back the mane as I would to pull with a regular comb, then use the blade to cut/thin.
Because it is required for my sport.
To be clear, this horse is also a complete jerk about ear clipping, and I KNOW that doesn’t hurt. Honestly, pain or not, thousands of horses get their mane pulled all the time, I just think it’s a matter of teaching them young. I like the nair idea and the thinning scissors idea at the base. I’m not sure I’d get through it otherwise…
Last time I did I had someone hold him, with sedation, lip rope, and neck twitch (same with clipping his ears). Which is why I’m looking for alternatives.
Nowhere in the rule book does it say you have to rip the hairs out of his neck.
(Nor does it say you have to attach the tail of a dead horse to his, and strap a too-tight standing martigale on whether he needs it or not, but hey… lots of people do that too…)
I dare you to thin his mane another way, braid it and see if you get scores that are any different. :encouragement:
I spent a lot of time with the Andis Trim N Go clippers for ears. Actually, I needed to use those to not be killed doing any clipping at first. They are like $12 at SmartPak. Fit in the palm of your hand, so easy to hide and no cords. Quiet. They do eat AA batteries when you have to hang out running them for hours on end. Anyway, I was successful in teaching my youngster how not to need an army of people and drugs to be clipped using those. But it took a long, long time to do it right. He still prefers those for the ears, which I clip 99% of the time to make using ear plugs easier on the both of us (and he loves his ear plugs!). Because these are clearly not suitable to any kind of serious clipping, I have to do pretty regular touch-ups to keep the hair at a manageable length for these trimmers. Horse is ok with the regular clippers everywhere else now but not for the ears.
I tried to get replacement blades, and I emailed Andis who said they don’t make them. You can return them in the warranty period and they will “repair” them (replace blades, or maybe give you a new clipper, I dunno). Kind of a hassle. But you could also buy a $12 entirely new one for less than what most blades cost anyway I guess.
My horse has like 3 mane and forelock hairs on a good day, but I’ve done scissor “pulls” on several client horses with hunter braids being no problems. I very rarely will do a traditional pull anymore. I had a Shire/TB cross as a client, and while he thankfully didn’t go anywhere requiring braids, I did manage to make him presentable with scissors even though he grew a Shire mane. He was 18 hands and would for sure throw you around if you tried to pull!
This may have been addressed — but my hunter has his mane shortened with a Solo comb and then braided and it is not a problem. At least if a good braider does it with lots of short braids.
If you still want to try to pull it, do it after a ride when the hair is easier to pull, and soal the mane in a topical analgesic, like Anbesol.
Since he has bad associations, you might have to reprogram him to understand that it doesn’t hurt.
It is not required by any sport. You’ve been given many alternatives that don’t involve pain. Try some.
I like the nair idea and the thinning scissors idea at the base.
I already said I would. And yes, to get my horse braided by a braider he has to have his mane done. Otherwise I will show up at 6 am to an un-braided horse. I say it’s required, because I believe I need to be braided to be placed well.
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