I have had a request for one of our ponies to be turned rainbow colored for a birthday party. I do not want to dye his mane and tail but was hoping for some creative ideas to get the same effect. I walked through Hobby Lobby and found fluffy boas in all seven colors and was thinking that maybe that would work for his tail. Any ideas?
Find some of that single use colored hair spray that people use for Halloween. It’ll wash right out.
We used some for a charity trail ride this fall. You can see the remnants on my horse’s haunch–he got pretty sweaty on the trail and it was coming off just from that.
When my lovely, patient, long-suffering gelding got all gussied up for the Visible Horse demo at Equine Affaire one year, we used kid-safe Crayolla markers. You’d think they’d die pretty quickly, but it only took two packages. He was clipped though, not fighting winter woolies.
It all washed out (or scrubbed out, since I don’t have a heated wash stall and had to use warm washcloths!) easily the next day.
I imagine you could do the same thing for the tail. Or use chalk. (Google hair chalk, comes in tons of colors.)
Definitely DON’T use Kool-aid…don’t believe anyone who says it’s easy to get out!
I am hoping to just clip or tie something in as it needs to be removed quickly. Could regular ladies hair combs work? If I sewed a rainbow strip and then just stuck the combs in his mane?
I think the colored hair spray sounds like an ecellent idea
Maybe a bunch of long, rainbow coloured ribbon that you could braid into short sections of tail?
For Halloween I used to make customs for the horses.
Go to the Fabric store or Wally world and get some jersey T-shirt type material in a rainbow of colors. The jersey /fleece type material will work best cuz material wont shredd or fall apart.
Cut into strips of what-ever length you prefer. Sew 4 or 5 strips together just at the top & then sew a flower or bow (made from material) . Make a bow or flower if your crafty otherwise buy some fancy ones matching your colors.
You could easily sew a comb or hair clip to the back of these.
Or
Take a handful of mane & rubberband them on.
Or go get some of those battery operated Christmas tree lights. 
If you just want to clip in, the boas will work fine. You can cut them shorter and band them into the mane, too.
I appreciate wanting it to be easy in and out. My suggestion is not a clip but it is easy to undo. I used to use my daughter’s show pony to raise money for her school auction by doing pony rides at a birthday party. Elmer’s glue mixed with lots of color glitter in it worked really well changing sections of my pony mane, tale or body into a glittery colorful pony. End of the day, quick shampoo and everything was gone.
Go to the craft store and get artists chalk pastels. Do not get oil pastels. It must be chalk pastels. You might also consider rubber gloves. Take sections of mane and tail and wet them then rub the section with a stick,of pastel. Repeat with various colors until you are happy with the results. It is easy to wash out, or ot will fade away in a few days.
Th
I used two large spools of rainbow yarn and mane bands. I cut the yarn for the mane twice as long as I wanted it and put a band in the middle (I think I made 16 bunches for his mane) and then just banded them into his mane at the point where I had the original band. Easy in, very easy out. I also made a tail. Depending on how quickly you need all this, I would be happy to send you my mane and tail. Good luck!
use alligator clips to add in the boas or ribbon.
tie the ribbons or boas onto the clips.
Or braid them in. combs might fall out, but would be easy to put back in.
I think ribbon in tails is a lot of fun!
as to the Kool-Aid it is made with food dye and will DYE protein fiber. I am a handspinner and use it to dye wool. It does not come off.
I decorated my horses mane and tail for the Christmas parade. I used some strands of curly ribbon cut at least 2 feet long maybe about 4 strands together and then folded in half and make a loop at the top by wrapping some wire around the ribbons under the loop. I made sure they were fairly full and then did a few braids down the mane to attach the ribbon bunches to. I did similar with tail except made the bunches of ribbons longer and not quite as curly.
https://flic.kr/p/aY92xH Sorry don’t have a picture where you can see tail. Used the thick covered rubber bands to attach ribbons to mane.
I have carriage friends who do the unicorn thing with their white percherons for birthday parties- the temporary spray color really does wash out clean and the horses look very “my little pony” perfect.
http://knot-a-tail.com/node/1099
http://myhorsebling.com/mane-and-tai...rs-are-better/
http://gypsytails.com/shop/bling-string-metallic
These^ we sell them in the feed store I work at and they work really well.
Sally Beauty has some colored clip ins
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