I am really curious to see if anyone else has a horse/pony with this type of tail.
My Welsh/TB cross has tail hair that naturally twists into dreadlocks. You comb through it and as soon as the brush passes through the hair it winds back on itself. The top part of his tail has stick straight hair, but the rest of the tail has crimped hair and it refuses to stay untwisted. I’ve never seen anything like it. 
Guess that super straight eventer banged tail look is going to be a no-go. :winkgrin:
This is very common, I’ve owned and taken care of many horses who’s tails (and long manes) do this. 
My TB mare’s tail did that!! Just as you describe. I used a show sheen/Infusium mix which helped to brush it out, but it would just go straight back to the dreds!
She was a chestnut with whatever thingy makes them have a tri color tail and roaning.
RIP Katy :sadsmile:
Morgans, ASBs & Iberians (not unsurprizingly) are famous for it too.
My Colonial Spanish filly’s does it.
I LOVE it. I love it when they are clean and tangle free and in all their ringlets, with a freshly banged end. :yes:
Cool! Twenty five years of mainly quarter horses and thoroughbreds and this is a new one for me.
Crooked Horse–this guy is a bay roan with multi-colored tail. Top hair is white, gray, and black; crimped hair is black with brown ends. Funny that your horse had the multi-color tail thing going on too.
I have a quarter horse with a big thick tail that does this.
Yup, my TB mare’s tail does that!:yes:
Bonnie’s does. ID x TB. Gorgeous, thick tail–either requires much maintenance, or none. I go with “none” except before shows.
Jelly Bean’s tail does that. Its long, thick and heavy and falls into ringlett like tendrils. You comb them, try and to relax them and they just dont behave well. I have noticed if you put the tail up into a bundle of several braids (before a show ro something of such nature, not long term though) with a light leave in conditioner it will help some. The tail is wavey from the braids but its seems to relax the “dreadlocks” some.
Yup, my Clyde-X is the same way. UBER thick tail that is just a conglomerate of dreadlocks.
Infusium 23 is your friend for undoing them. 
My mustangs mane and tail do the dreadlock thing as well.
A student’s Appendix mare has a tail like that. She is half halter horse bred and half TB (go figure!) Insanely thick, dreads in the blink of an eye. We don’t do much with it except at shows, other than keeping it clean, which is a chore because she is too lazy to lift it to pee or poop.
I’ve never met an ASB who did that, but we had a foxtrotting QH mare who did.
My Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse mare has dread locks in her tail, too.
A friend of mine used to tell the other boarders that I permed it. :lol:
For eventing, her tail is banged. The only time that I brush it out is for a show. I wash it, then use Cowboy Magic Detangler on it. The dread locks brush out, leaving a thick, wavy tail.
Ye ol’ mare has this condition in her main and tail. Passes it on to her offspring as well.
Back in our showing days we used “Cowboy Magic” to get the tails to hang like a horse’s tail . . . it worked as advertised.
Both my appies have dread lock tails. Neither have huge quantities of hair, just what they have is in dread locks. No amount of brushing will make them not just twist right back as soon as I am done.
More info please. I believe that is a human hair product, right? Is there a specific ‘type’ that I need to get or does it not come in various types?
My perch/tb’s tail did the same thing. As funny as this sounds…RELAXER!!! I bought it at a beauty supply store and used like 3 boxes. She had a super thick tail. Worked wonderful and really smoothed her tail out!!!
Since it’s permanent, I only had to do it like once a month :winkgrin:
Kind of like using hair dye to color a bleached black tail darker…use relaxer to get the frizz out!! :yes:
My Friesian X’s tail has some wicked dreadlocks, all the way from the dock to the end! It’s a nightmare brushing him out, it’s a whole big production. Have to wash/condition. Let dry. Spray condition. Let dry. Then CAREFULLY start at the bottom and work on up. Takes me about 30 minutes to do just the brushing, if I don’t want to tear out a lot of hair. I only do this once every few months, try to leave it alone for the most part.
The tradeoff is that his tail is wonderfully thick, and when brushed out and banged it’s wavy and gorgeous. I must say, I’d rather deal with a thick, dreadlocked tail than a spindly thin one.
You can see the dreadlocks here:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_5Owdr29Nvnw/Sk1P5It3O3I/AAAAAAAABEQ/p_XBsfeCYTY/s576/DSCF0515.JPG
And brushed out here:
Yup, the human stuff…just one version. I get it at Wal-Mart 
I’ll wash her tail, pour on the Infusium and work it in with my fingers, as I separate/unroll the dreadlocks. By the time it’s dry, the tail is 100% knot-free, SOFT and shiney…with no drying like Cowboy Magic.
Our Dartmoor cross pony has amazing dreads!
My young HAN gelding has very long & thick tail made of thin dreadlocks. You have to get close to see that his tail is making little ringlets - but they definitely are there. His mom has a super-stick-straight tail (though her mane will form ringlets) so it’s odd.
Cowboy Magic Detangler is really great stuff :yes: I found that running some through the tail by hand (no brushing) once a week or so really keeps things under control. The dreads are still there, but the tangles aren’t.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
