I don’t hate the look of a pulled tail, but I do hate the growing back looks like a toilet brush stage. I am sure it is throw back to my hunter years, but I think a well braided tail looks very nice. Without all the grow back issues. Is it in the rules that tails must be pulled? Anyone ever seen anyone at an event get away with a nicely braided tail?
For what it’s worth, I don’t mean at Rolex. I mean novice level eventing
Some people don’t like braiding in case it makes their horse’s tail look crooked.
But I’ve seen braided tails all the way up through 4*s. So braids are completely fine. Also, technically, as far as I know, there is no rule that says they have to be pulled or braided either. It is just presentation.
I didn’t pull or braid my horse’s tail through T and still won the dressage, so I don’t think the judges care all that much, at least through that level. I’m pretty sure I got the scores I got on cute points only, too. They all seemed to love my horse but I don’t think our dressage ever deserved the scores we got.
I don’t like pulling them, although I think it looks nice on SOME horses, I just don’t prefer it. I’m in a conundrum about what to do with the new girls though, as the tops of their tails are both rubbed out.
My horse goes au-natural. I do not like the pulled tail and do not have time to braid one, so I do neither. Judges in Evening do not care about tails or manes.
If you do a thread search, you will find some good discussions on this topic. I’m a fan of tails being the way tails were meant to be. While I’ve seen some pulled tails look nice, the majority of them don’t.
I love a nice neat pulled tail, can’t stand plaiting (braiding) tails as I think it looks amateurish but it’s a definitely throwback to my showing days, as long as you’re neat and tidy I don’t think it much matters for eventing 
I’m debating on this myself. The top of Sky’s tail is very bushy right now and looks very unkempt. I used to braid tails back in the day (when I was a kid, showing all-around classes, we always braided tails and did a running braid on our Arabs) and love the look when they are done correctly. However, it’s been so long, my skillz are terrible haha! I definitely need to do something though, it just looks ridiculous.
My mare has a natural tail as well. We did the faux-pulled look, with clippers for a bit when she was more in shape. She hardly lets me pull her mane, so I think she’d kick me if I tried to do her tail. 
I only think it looks good on muscular hind quarters, like quarter marks, so we go without. I’ve only shown up to novice though.
I prefer a pulled tail, BUT since all my horses are sale horses I won’t pull them.
I think pulled or the faux-pulled look, looks really sharp if done correctly and thats what I prefer. It also goes without saying that a well braided tail always looks nice.
I used to do pulled or faux pulled tails on all my horses. Now, I play around more in the HJ arena and so I leave tails natural (well, banged but not pulled). So far I haven’t braided at shows - none of my horses have that bushy-top look and so with a tail wrap for an hour or so before getting on, tails look nice. I will braid for bigger events/shows.
I used to love the pulled look but these days I’m kind of over it. Also, the horses I have tend to be re-sale projects and so I like to leave tails alone for that reason.
I cannot braid a tail well to save my life nor can I pull worth a darn so my horses tails stay in their natural state. Banged and brushed, of course, but that is all that I do to them.
For whatever reason, the look of pulled (and/or shaved) tails makes me cringe. 
I prefer to just leave it alone or, if need be, the look of a neatly done braid.
Why to pull tail? or a mane? Makes it easier to groom?
Does it make the horse faster or jump better?
To get more $$$ from the know-nothing customers?
The horse outline/conformation doesn’t change with pulled hair…
Also the show scores are not affected…
Why to torture the animals?
i don’t like the look of a pulled tail. I would either braid or wet it down and wrap it (and then unwrap before going in the arena).
I wash it, put some conditioner on it, then brush it. It’s not a “Barbie Test A.”
Try dampening the top of the tail, and then wrapping it before you show. Whenever you groom, dampen the top a bit and flatten the top area, making it so the side hairs don’t stick out. Do this enough and eventually the hairs stay close to the tail and don’t stick out.
[QUOTE=kinscem;7463059]
Why to pull tail? or a mane? Makes it easier to groom?
Does it make the horse faster or jump better?
To get more $$$ from the know-nothing customers?
The horse outline/conformation doesn’t change with pulled hair…
Also the show scores are not affected…
Why to torture the animals?[/QUOTE]
Well, other than the appearance factor, I do think a long mane keeps them hotter in the summer and when galloping, plus your reins are more likely to get caught up in it (this is especially an issue XC when you are slipping and gathering up your reins a lot). I hate riding with a natural mane if I’m going to be galloping or jumping XC.
I do like to CLIP the base of the tail (I’m not a fan of pulling the tail since I think it hurts, but to each his own). I do think having less hair there is nice after a gallop because the large vessels in that area are more likely to be exposed to the air (think about how some people put ice between the “butt cheeks” to help cool the horse down). Even with the horse lifting the tail after a gallop, I think there is slightly better air flow with that area pulled/clipped than with it “natural.” But leaving the hair isn’t going to make a huge difference.
[QUOTE=Eventer13;7466115]
I do think a long mane keeps them hotter in the summer and when galloping, plus your reins are more likely to get caught up in it (this is especially an issue XC when you are slipping and gathering up your reins a lot). I hate riding with a natural mane if I’m going to be galloping or jumping XC.[/QUOTE]
I do agree with both of these, hence my roached horses. Drives me nuts on someone else’s horse when the hair keeps getting in my fingers!
Why not try wetting the tail at the top, putting on some high control product and then wrapping it (allowing the wrap to be looser at the bottom so you do not get s line across the tail).
I have always wondered if/why this would not look good, since the main point of a pulled tail is to show off a horse’s butt, and this method would make the tail hair lie down in the butt groove.
Having done the eventing thing for several years, I do not think any of this matters up to Prelim. As long as the horse’s coat is gleaming, socks are blindingly white and the main and tail are shiney and brushed. (Oh, and the hoof polish. Don’t forget the hoof polish.)
Lord Helpus is spot-on: if they are clean and shiny, no one will give one whit about whether the horse’s tail is pulled/banged/left natural (but they will notice if it’s got shavings in it). Since none of mine have an established career until they prove they can go Preliminary, I bang but don’t pull tails below that level. Once they are established at Preliminary and above, I pull the tail, because I love the way it looks (and hate the way most clipped or shaved tails look). But I wouldn’t think twice if someone left the tail natural - at this stage, it’s really an aesthetic preference. I just happen to like what I think of as the English look: pulled on top, banged to mid-cannons. I don’t mind a braided tail if someone braids well, though far too often in eventing I see a sloppy, falling out braid that doesn’t go down far enough. Far better just to leave it alone at that point.
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