how to help a short forelock grow

hi! my ottb mare has a very short, thin forelock that barely goes past her brow band. what can i do to help it grow out? if there is any way to do it without feeding her supplements, that would be great!

Don’t think you can change it. Some horse’s just aren’t blessed with long thick forelocks. My one horse has forelock just a little above eyes, other horse not so much. Both are on good feed/hay.

There’s nothing you can do except don’t touch it or brush it unless absolutely necessary. You can’t grow tails or manes more than what is genetically programmed. Unless the horse’s living situation (other horses, worms, skin ailments, over-brushing) or other outside influences are removing what Mother Nature put there :slight_smile:

Yep, some horses just don’t have one. I had a mare that had nothing more than a tiny little stub sticking up. Never grew a bit over her 33 years.

Her son has one that’s about 2 inches long and it’s never grown any longer than that. A lot of it is genetic.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“medium”,“data-attachmentid”:10230190}[/ATTACH] My old TB dressage horse was forelock deprived. I used to say he had 3 hairs, and wasn’t far off. Nor was it long enough to braid. Never grew in all the time I had him.

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A side affect if brushing with permoxin, which stops the itch, which stops horses rubbing, is a longer mane, tail and forelock.

Twiggy had 3 hairs, it is now thicker and reaches her star.

My mare has fine hair, seems to get rubbed off by her fly mask. It grows to a reasonable thickness and length between October and May, only to be rubbed off by show season in June. I have tried various types of mask with no difference. I am thinking of designing a fake forelock to braid for shows, but the crocheted ear bonnet works instead!

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I put on a fly mask with ears and it took out a bit of forelock. I never put it on again. I use a fly mask without ears and permoxin the ears instead

OP, I hear you. I have the only mini in the world without the locks of Rapunzel. Unfortunately, It is what it is :(.

The only way to get a thicker forelock is to buy a new horse :wink:

Quick pro tip - if you ever braid it, make sure not to cut it off with the seam ripper when you’re taking braids out. But if you do…I can tell you exactly how long it takes for a non-forelock-growing-horse to regrow one! :dead:

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ok, thank you :slight_smile:

SuzieQ- I don’t use a fly mask with ears, rubs anyway.