Putting up tails - opinions

[Carrie94]

What’s your opinion on bagging tails if a horse is turned out 24/7?

The reason I ask is I have a 3 year old filly who is entering her riding career and will be shown in-hand in some shows this year. She is turned out at pasture all day, every day. Her tail is pretty nice other than some short and broken hairs up top, but with her being outside all the time she tends to make a mess on it, catch it on trees, etc. It seems to me that putting it up in a bag could help me maintain it but it also seems like if she gets it caught on something she could rip out half her tail. Yikes. Of course I try to keep her pasture as safe as possible but horses tend to do impossible things.

Oh, and the flies! Living in the north we have a ton of them, so I was thinking if I did go ahead with this that I’d give her some sort of makeshift tail. Fly spray doesn’t do enough and a horse she’s turned out with pulls fly sheets off other horses and tears them (unfortunately no option to move her).

What do you think? Do the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa?

[goodhors]

We don’t put tails up, believing horses need them outside for insect relief. The one time I did braid a shorter tail with binder twine to add length, horse DID catch braid in a crack in barn beam around the door and ripped braid and twine loose. She was left with a VERY thin tail. I took down the other braids and twine, so catching would not happen again! She did grow a nice tail in time, but would have had it sooner if I had just left her tail alone. Hung the “scalped braid” as a reminder to never do that again!

Not sure what pasture situation is for you, but it may need you to go out to trim off things she can get tail snagged on. Low branches, bushes, rough fence boards, need attention, removal, to prevent horse getting in trouble on them. You can be SURE that if she gets snagged on things in pasture, she will end up getting hurt, lose more tail hair at exactly the wrong time. Maybe need Vet attention. Tail hair snag is sure better than poking her face or eyes!

This is your warning sign, messy tail issues, that field needs attention removing snaggy things. You just do a little work daily removing things, pretty soon the whole pasture is cleaned up.

I would not put up any tail hair unless I was prepared for horse to lose it. If you can live with her losing her tail in some weird way, possible injury when she tries to run from the monster that grabbed her by the tail, do it. Just know nothing you put on them, like braids or tail bags, is 100% safe with horses.

[Carrie94]

Thanks for your input.

By making a mess on it, I meant she sometimes pees on herself. I don’t have a lot of issues with her snagging it on things, I keep my pasture very well maintained - the fence itself is snag-proof. There’s a handful of trees that she can get it caught in, and a shelter which is made of wood (which can splinter, obviously) and I’ve found some hairs caught in it. And that gunk that a lot of mares seem to have can build up in it too. I don’t brush or wash it often, and I’ve left it down to this point, but seems like putting tails up is a popular thing to do for care and maintenance. Maybe just for stabled horses.

I suppose if I’ll be showing her I should probably be stabling her.

[retiredhorse]

If you’re showing her, she’ll likely get a bath at some point, so I wouldn’t worry too much about a messy tail, if that’s all it is. I’ve had better results in just leaving a tail alone – no brushing or washing or braiding – when not at a show, vs doing too much with it. If the tail is really sparse at the bottom, fake tails (if they’re allowed in your discipline) can be an option. If horse is rubbing, then putting tail up won’t solve that issue.

I knew someone who put their horse’s (braided) tail in a tail bag and it was beautiful. Horse was stabled, however, and only on half-day turn out. I guess it could have gotten caught at any time, but I’d be less inclined to braid or bag a tail if they were out all the time. The horse’s tail bag either allowed the tail to poke through the bottom or had maybe fake hairs/twine? attached to the bottom for fly swishing.

[RedHorses]

I braid and bag (sock) my horses tails, but in the winter, not fly season. They live out 24/7. I braid them up in the fall once they start wearing rainsheets all the time, and take them down in the spring once the flies appear. I do rebraids several times during that six month period.

I braid because the mud and later snow/ice in their tails drive me crazy. I did start it with the thinner tailed horse hoping to get more long hairs (which he did).

In the summer I use Healthy Haircare Skin And Coat Conditioner on their tails a couple of times a week and keep them brushed. Brushing regularly makes tails easier to brush and more likely to slip free than pull out when caught on things IME.

[trubandloki]

My mare has a light colored tail and she does pee on it. I swear she intentionally turns so the wind blows her tail right into the pee stream. It gets gross! It is work to clean for shows.
In the summer I make sure I condition it well when I wash it, that seems to help the pee not stick so much.

In the winter I braid it and fold it up and wrap it in vet wrap.
Too many bugs in the summer to leave them with no tail.

I would rather spend a little more time at bath time than leave her with no way to safely swat at bugs.

@Carrie94

the fence itself is snag-proof.

What is a snag proof fence?
That sounds like a challenge any horse I know would gladly take on.

[Carrie94]

@trubandloki

What is a snag proof fence?
That sounds like a challenge any horse I know would gladly take on.

Haha. Yeah . . . I suppose nothing is ever “proof” when it comes to horses. There’s two pastures she’s cycled between and one is wire/wood combo but is electric (not the wood of course, lol). The “snag-proof” one I was referring to is her other pasture, which has those pipe metal panels. Very difficult to snag anything on it.

The pee itself I could live with - she’s chestnut, not a palomino or a grey like my other two. But that mare gunk, whatever it’s called - that’s difficult to get out. Ugh.

[Montanas_Girl]

I don’t like tail bags - they tend to cause breakage at the attachment point, no matter how carefully they are applied and managed. I prefer to use “crochet knots” to keep tails from snagging on pastured horses, using this method: http://www3.telus.net/sherrisstable/HorseTails.htm. This way, you don’t get the short hairs at the top of a long, thin tail look that results from using tail bags. Since I show Arabs and therefore can’t use a fake tail (and used to own a horse who was not blessed with great tail genes), I am obsessive about maintaining tails! I usually take the tail down (about once a month in the winter, sometimes more often in the summer, depending on our show schedule and how how much fly swatting the horse has been doing) and let it relax a bit while I ride/work the horse, then shampoo, condition, and re-knot the tail afterwards. Works beautifully!

Here’s my old guy’s tail, after taking it down from the knots. He was never going to have a massively thick tail, but you can see how he maintains the thickness MUCH farther down the length of the tail than you typically see in horses who wear tail bags. (I banged his tail at ground length; you could grow the tail much longer if you wanted using this method, but I didn’t want him to step on it while backing.)

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[Feliz]

I use tail bags that velcro into an attachment sewn in the horse’s cover. Very light weight ones in summer & waterproof ones in winter. If the horse happens to get it really caught on something or stands on it when getting up then it will just come off

[demidq]

I have a grey mare (=white tail). If I leave it down in the winter, I can never get the tobacco coloured stains out but she needs it for flies in summer.
In fall, I wash and condition really well and keep it in one of those 3 tube tail bags that you braid . I double the bag up and wrap it in tape to make a nice neat “tail bun”. I undo and condition every 2-3 weeks and then do it up again. The tail grows tremendously over the winter!
In summer, when it is loose, I wash and condition usually weekly, and spray with a conditioning shine spray while still damp. The spray keeps the stains from setting and prevents snarls getting too bad.

[Palm_Beach]

I have spectacular tails and don’t bag. I do wash them once a week, otherwise it’s a big chore. If the horse is being ridden, she is likely at least getting hosed off so adding a quick tail washing is not a big deal. If she has a “gunky” tail, use liquid dish detergent and condition after washing. OP, if you want your horse to look really nice for showing, you do need to put in a bit more effort. And her coat will look better if you keep her out of the sun.

[Carrie94]

Thanks all! Really helpful.

[GraceLikeRain]

@Carrie94

The pee itself I could live with - she’s chestnut, not a palomino or a grey like my other two. But that mare gunk, whatever it’s called - that’s difficult to get out. Ugh.

Mare gunk?

[Showbizz]

My own show horses are not stabled. They are out 24/7 with bagged tails. All of them have super long (I have to cut them), thick tails. I’ve been bagging tails for about 20 years with no issues. I completely neglect them from November through March. Other than that, they get taken out and washed at shows or once a month or so, and go back up.

[browneyedcowgirl]

Fun fact, they do make hair extensions for horses. Tail extensions I guess. So that’s always an option if she destroys her tail or it’s not looking how you want. I think some shows may have rules against them, may want to check that.

[outerbanks77]

During fly season I leave them loose and wash and condition weekly. Mud season, I braid them into cloth rather than bagging, which as mentioned, leads to breakage. After conditioning I use Cowboy Magic because I think having the hair slick reduces breakage from snagging on things ( and pre stains in light tails)