Mud tails (spin-off from braiding thread)

[Painted_Wings]

Beverly, Your horse is lovely. Interesting marking on his left hind.

I finally looked through my archives and found the photo I was looking for. On a paint horse no less.

http://www.pbase.com/lesliegra/image/91286913

Alas the lovely girl that would do these just for fun has gone off to college. Guess I will have to have her teach me when she comes home this summer.

[Foxtrot_s]

A mud knot does set off a nice backside ! The lost skills of horsemanship that only get taught in Pony Club, and I’m not even sure if they are taught there anymore. So nice to come home and put down a tail that does not need de-brambling and washing.

[mountainbells]

Reds-n-Greys,

You write:

" turn that and put it thru the loop made by the twine, pull down til the twine is out and tuck the braid back in. No tape necessary and it will last."

I’m not quite seeing what you are doing…are you using the twine as a pull thru? so you are just pulling the final braid back under the wraps??? How exactly is the twine placed on the tail at first?

Thanks!

[Reds-n-Greys]

^^^ Yes description has never been a strong suit of mine - sorry!

Use the twine as a pull thru. Lay it flat against the tail with the loop just above where you’re going to be wrapping the tail (like an upside down U), then after you do that last braid put it thru the loop and pull down so it’s achored between the tail and the hair you wrapped around, and the twine is removed.

Does that make any more sense?

[wateryglen]

OMG I’m so lost!!

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I need help…would SOMEBODY please come over here and just SHOW me how??? I got lost on the second sentence of her description. So no it’s not the descriptor ; it’s the reader!!! :winkgrin::D:lol::lol::lol:

And that paints’ tail just rocks!
But then, I’ve always been a fan of Beverleys Nick. Amazing horse who did gates…and I don’t mean going thru them…over them!!! Yesssirrreee!!

And I don’t care how it makes the horses butt look; I care only about mine. Do mudtails make your butt look small?!!!

[JSwan]

[QUOTE=Reds-n-Greys;3928372]
^^^ Yes description has never been a strong suit of mine - sorry!

Use the twine as a pull thru. Lay it flat against the tail with the loop just above where you’re going to be wrapping the tail (like an upside down U), then after you do that last braid put it thru the loop and pull down so it’s achored between the tail and the hair you wrapped around, and the twine is removed.

Does that make any more sense?[/QUOTE]

Do you mean like tucking in a french braid (on a human)? Pulling it back in so it’s completely hidden?

Some things have just become automatic for me and then when people describe them I get all confused. :lol:

[mountainbells]

R-N-G’s,

Yes! that makes sense (and what I thought you were saying.)

Now once it stops snowing, I’m going out to try 1 (or a few…)

My question:

Will this be fancy enough for when I’m working cows…don’t want to be too casual for the ol’ girls!

[naters]

@Reds-n-Greys;3926090

I love mud tails! I hadn’t done one in years til this winter when I put one up on a percheron I ride. He looked adorable!
I use the divide 4 four parts (4th being a small section in the back) braid 3 part way down, turn that up and split it in 2, have a piece of bailing twine handy forming a loop along the tail, wrap the 2 pieces around the tail til you have about 6-7" left, take the 4th part wrap it around the 2 parts already wrapped til there’s about 6-7" left, braid those 3 parts, turn that and put it thru the loop made by the twine, pull down til the twine is out and tuck the braid back in. No tape necessary and it will last.

JSwan - I’m with you - spent many Sunday afternoons learning how to make a wisp!

Oh… need pics!!! I am so inept at braiding!@!!!:lol:

[Alibhai_s_Alibar]

LOVE it!

[QUOTE=Painted Wings;3926579]
Beverly, Your horse is lovely. Interesting marking on his left hind.

I finally looked through my archives and found the photo I was looking for. On a paint horse no less.

http://www.pbase.com/lesliegra/image/91286913

Alas the lovely girl that would do these just for fun has gone off to college. Guess I will have to have her teach me when she comes home this summer.[/QUOTE]

[SLW]

We have lots of mud tails all year in my hunt. I only tie up mostly when it’s, well, muddy.

I use the two section method a polo gal taught me. Take two equal sections of hair. Bring one part behind the bone and forward. Repeat using the other section coming from the other side. Pull taught. Now, repeat the wrap criss-crossing in front and keeping it snug. When you have about 8" of tail hair left at the conclusion of a wrap, divide it into three parts and do a traditional braid which creates a “tag”. A bit of plain old fashioned spit on the hair before you braid helps secure it. Once it’s done you can tuck the “tag” down into the wrap. This works fine for a school, farrier appointment or lameness exam. If I’m putting the tail up for hunting I add a string of long yarn to the last braid so I can tie it off securely.

[Equibrit]

Photo; http://imagebank.ipcmedia.com/imageBank/p/polo51.jpg tape method.

[SLW]

[QUOTE=Beverley;3925709]
Well, I needed to dust the picture frame so I scanned a picture of a mud tail from oh, 34ish years ago:

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd89/BevHeff/?action=view&current=Nick.jpg[/QUOTE]

Very nice! It looks done up the way I do mine: http://thumb12.webshots.net/t/66/766/3/43/32/2145343320052639572edHDpy_th.jpg

On another note, your photo of Annabelle is a study in excellent form during what seems to be a problem- eyes/chin up, giving w/ her hands and leg in place. What is the story behind that photo??

It reminds me of a favorite photo of me taken back in '73 at Fort Eustis, VA in a EQ class. At the first fence, a brush box, I completely dropped the ball and the gelding’s fetlocks smashed the top of the box- he was never in danger of flipping, just trashing the fence. The photo was snapped at what should have been the bascule of the fence- my form was just like Annabelles rider and in fact, if you added a trashed brush box under Annabelles front legs, the gelding was like her. Harry Diston was the judge. Seems like at that time he was a retired General but I may have his rank too high. The following year he judged a show for our circuit and he stayed at our house. I was about 13 and in awe of him.

[Beverley]

@SLW;3929323

On another note, your photo of Annabelle is a study in excellent form during what seems to be a problem- eyes/chin up, giving w/ her hands and leg in place. What is the story behind that photo??

Oh, that was in France, maybe April 1971 or so. Annabelle was a 4 yo selle francais and that was her first show. She left out a stride, and gravity was working…but it worked out ok. Funnest thing I remember about that mare was that she had a natural passage, and when I rode her in a parade in Fontainebleau, in the company of the Garde Republicaine (those drum horses were so cool), she was happy to just passage much of the parade route to oohs and aahs. BTW that jacket I was wearing, I had tailor made in Paris for dirt cheap. It was fairly lightweight but I used it for foxhunting in VA, CT and SC all through college and beyond, finally gave it to a growing kid in need of a black coat for hunting.

[Triplicate]

Beverly’s is absolutely correct.

Mud knots are only used on muddy days. The use of shown sheen on a clean tail is great. Just make sure you still wash his tail to get it out. It dries the hair and may cause hair breakage on some horses.

The photos of the polo mud knots are just that - for polo. A proper mud knot it just that, a knot around the base of the horse’s dock.

Zip ties, oh my God, I have to go lie down ! That is so tacky, and never use anything tight around the dock as it can cut off circulation and the horse can loose the dock below.