I think the more dry heat from the microwave thing would be better. Wet hair, even damp, can just cause breakage rather than getting it pulled.
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I’ve had a couple who were bad about mane pulling. I agree with previous posters about doing it after riding or bathing with warm water. I’ve found that does make it easier to pull the hair and the horse isn’t so fresh. I also like to bribe. I fill my pockets with whatever cookies they like and pull, pull, pull, cookie, pull, pull, pull, cookie. They only get the cookie if they weren’t trying to kill me. My TB is sensitive to life in general and I gave him Dorm via IV injection the first few times I pulled his mane and clipped him. I can now pull his mane without being killed, but he can still be difficult. Clipping is a no go without some kind of Dorm for him. I also plan to spread pulling his mane over at least 3 days prior to a show.
I post this every time someone asks about mane pulling. It works EVERY time for me. The “Release Method” is the only way I’ll pull a mane now, easier for me and the horse. Even the most sensitive horses I’ve done this on have accepted it. Just apply a little tension but don’t pull, let the horse RELEASE the hair- it literally just comes out in your hands. Try away from their head at first because the back combing is what gets them worked up before you even pull because they anticipate pain.
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I would seriously question this research. I have had horses that tolerated mane pulling and one who can’t handle it at all. The ones who didn’t or don’t care are not “learnedly helpless” by any stretch. My big warmblood actually seems to enjoy having his mane hair pulled, but you cannot pull a teeny tiny bit of loose scab or pluck a single hair from anywhere on his body, because OMG it pulls and HURTS!!! Same for the dearly departed ones. Didn’t give a flip about pulling mane hair but were super sensitive to other stimuli, couldn’t handle needles or stiff brushes, and certainly were not trained or desensitized to pain.
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It hurts, and I won’t pull manes, period. I use a Solorake and a good pair of scissors and a SoloComb and you would never know that my horses didn’t have pulled manes. If he doesn’t like it (and I can’t blame him), try a different way.
The research measured heart rate and behavioural markers during mane pulling. All horses displayed similar elevation in heart rate regardless of external appearance.
https://e-venting.co.uk/2015/03/why-i-will-never-pull-a-mane-or-tail-again/ FYI, I know the article writer, who is not a ‘treat horses like fluffy bunnies’ individual
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I can’t see the data? I see a lot of opinion? Where is the abstract/materials and methods/conclusion? how’d they take the heart rate? Blood pressure? respiration? Do they have a control group? Were these pet horses? rescue horses? a mix? What breed? breeds?
I could take 6 of the show horses in my barn and do the same study and guess what? I’d most likely get totally different data.
No doubt some horses don’t like it. But this does not appear to be a scientific study that I’d use.
And learned helplessness? Oh goodness. I need an eyeroll emoticon.
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Yeah, right? I think there’s a clue in the report itself. The selected horses obviously didn’t like mane pulling:
The horses also moved far more when their manes were pulled compared to mane touching e.g. ears back, standing alert, licking and chewing, a high neck position, head tossing, mouth tight and tail swishing and clamping – indicating they experienced discomfort or pain at the process being performed.
I am far too lazy to pull an entire mane. I’ve learned to make them look really good using thinning shears, and I brush them when they’re dirty (pulls hard, horse enjoys it) and that keeps it thinned enough.
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For those of you who think you have to braid for dressage, you don’t. A tidy roach is just fine. My horse has a thick mane, hates pulling; I went to a roach and never looked back. My coach thinks it looks ugly but it’s my horse. My dressage scores continue to improve as my riding improves. When I have a mediocre day, I have mediocre scores. Mane always looks the same. Not commenting on hunters as not my bag but I sure would explore the various methods mentioned here to see if you can get an acceptable mane without drugging your horse or making him miserable. Seems like a high price to pay for a “look”.
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For hunters, I would do big fat/ugly braids before roaching the mane. Given enough show miles and a decent braider and braid-remover, the mane should get easier to braid. Manes that get braided a lot tend to develop a “broken in” feeling (vs never-braided-hair that is the uncooperative).
I’ll admit I’ve only showed hunters at the extremely janky lowest levels, but I showed a roached horse then and rarely did anyone even notice - they assumed his braids were on he other side, and always reacted with surprise if they did notice.
Agree with asterix that it’s a high price to pay for the look - if more people roached or just accepted a different type of braid, we’d have a lot more happy horses, and a bit less showing expense to boot. It’s a win-win, it just takes guts to do it if you’re beholden to the status quo.
Thank you, I was cringing as I read that “learned helplessness”. Horses are not humans and human psychology does not apply this way to these animals.
And yea, we need the whole picture for that “study”. I really hate the junk science that crops up on social media. Is there any raw data available? Was there any kind of control group at all? Who interpreted the results of the study and what are their qualifications? Peer-review? A lot of these markers are subjective so how are they quantifying it? The list goes on and on…
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