Lusitano - PRE owners? Cool and beautiful way to braid a long mane.

[pluvinel]

[QUOTE]You have to be careful with a continuous braid of any kind, that you don’t get it too tight. If you do the horse won’t be able to stretch down in comfort.
[/QUOTE]

Actually, for a traditional running braid, you braid very tightly and don’t allow the horse to put its head down…else you will pull out the braid and get a very “wavy” braid that eventually comes undone.

For the traditional running braid, you tie the horse up (like in cross ties or single tie in stall) with a hay net to keep him occupied. This is no different than tieing a horse to a picket line…not a problem for the couple of hours that might be needed for a show.

If you want to do a running braid for a “work day” then what I do is break up the braid into thirds down the neck…this allow “give” between the braid sections for the horse to stretch and not pull out the hairs.

Putting the mane in thirds with the link in the OP’s post would be possible and not show a big disturbance in the pattern of the knots.

I also think this braid is a bit of genius.

[HJdaydream]

I this this is genius!! I much prefer the aesthetic of those braids to the traditional running braid used on long hair horses :yes:

[atr]

I do have to wonder what kind of giant pain in the ass it would be to take this out… If someone tries it, let us know!

[Quelah]

At the end of the video it shows it being taken out, easy peasy

[NotAtTheBarn]

I might have to let my mare’s mane grow out and try this :yes:

[SillyHorse]

Ingenious. The best part, though, is the little dog supervising. :lol:

[Puddin_Pie]

I will have to try this. I have been doing the big cobra braids with my Friesian.

[JLR1]

OMG perfect timing! I was just getting ready to cut (gasp I know!) my Arabians long mane because the running braid has become an unsightly sauasage! I will give this a try tomorrow!

[atr]

Guess who didn’t watch to the end, Quelah!!! Thanks

[andhourspass]

Pluvinel - can you post a picture or anything visual of your suggestion to break up a work day running braid into thirds? I’m having a really hard time picturing what you mean. It’d be very helpful to create a working running braid! TIA!!

[pluvinel]

Pluvinel - can you post a picture or anything visual of your suggestion to break up a work day running braid into thirds? I’m having a really hard time picturing what you mean. It’d be very helpful to create a working running braid! TIA!!

Don’t know where to find such a picture, but it is easy to describe.

Basically you start the running braid as usual, by the ears, and braid about 1/3 down the neck. Finish off that braid, then start a 2nd running braid, and braid 1/3 down the neck or a little more, and again, finish off that braid. Finally, make a 3rd braid that starts in front of the withers and braid as far down as possible.

The horse’s neck “stretches” the most just in front of the withers, so this section may loosen, but you have given 2 “expansion” joints for the neck to stretch by breaking up the running braid into 3 sections.

I use this for clinics or when you just want to keep a long mane out of the reins. I don’t “finish off” the end pieces, just finish off into a regular braid.

Hope this helps.

[JLR1]

[QUOTE=JLR1;8974684]
OMG perfect timing! I was just getting ready to cut (gasp I know!) my Arabians long mane because the running braid has become an unsightly sauasage! I will give this a try tomorrow![/QUOTE]

I failed…I’m not crafty enough to do this braid…never got the Girl Scout badge for macrame either LOL. I cut my horses mane today…looking forward to easier maintenance and hopefully an easier time doing Dutch/cobra braids.

[UXReins]

I loved it! I may never pull manes again!

[Kyrabee]

Here is an example of a two part running braid. My mare’s mane isn’t very thick at the bottom. A single running braid wouldn’t hold.
So, I just spilt it. It worked well, stayed in and the reins crossed her neck right about the split.

/Users/susamorg/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2016/Dec 20, 2016/IMG_NEW.jpg

That said…if I ever get back to showing, I might try the running/cobra braids. Her mane appears very similar to the model horses.

Susan

[Kyrabee]

Sorry—I can’t get Photobucket to upload and that little copy didn’t work. Of course we can’t edit…

Susan

[Kyrabee]

Sorry—I can’t get Photobucket to upload and that little copy didn’t work. Of course we can’t edit…

Susan

[pluvinel]

I just played around with the running braid technique in the video and think I discovered the difference between what I do and the vid.

I start a running braid as in the video, like a normal braid. Then when I go to add the “4th piece(4P)” I add it to the “leading edge piece (LEP),” combine those two and do the next weave. Again, I add 4P to LEP…and so on.

In the video, it seems that he adds the 4P into the "trailing edge piece (TEP). When I was playing around with the braid it seems like there is a “twist” in the two LEP pieces as he combines the new piece with the TEP.

It is hard to do when your fingers are used to a certain sequence. I also braided in a gabardine ribbon (like 1/4 inch) of the mane color that helped the braid not stretch so easily which really helped keep the braid nice and taut.

I am fascinated by this technique and will challenge the fingers to get coordinated.