Roaching manes

[WalnutGroveEq]

Hi all,

I have a 25ish year old arab (retired) whose mane is long but tends to be a tangled mess. I have it in pasture braids at the moment, but I don’t have the time to maintain it like I would like and it generally looks pretty terrible a lot of the time.

Would it be sacrilege if I roached it? She is papered but hasn’t been near a show arena in years. I would let it grow out over the winter then keep it pulled as my other horses are.

When it’s well maintained it looks great but I just don’t have the time to do it properly with 5 other horses. Thoughts? TIA

[2DogsFarm]

Nothing wrong with roaching if you’re not doing Breed shows that frown on it.
Do what works for you :yes:

I roach my TWH’s mane down to the neck every Spring & right now he’s sporting a 5" mohawk.
He grazes through my fenceline & gives himself an Equine Combover that looks awful.
Roached he is quite handsome 😁

I am considering roaching my mini’s trolldoll mane too. 🤔

[Milobloom]

2 of my 3 are roached, the 3rd isn’t only because I hate how it looks on her

I wouldn’t hesitate to do it on a retired horse

[demidq]

Your horse- isn’t it nice you can do what you like with mane and tail?

[jvanrens]

Have at it! Your horse will likely be more comfortable without the dreadlocks and you won’t have to look at the mess. Win-win.

[Weezer]

When I roached my mare, she was noticeably irritated by flies that she could not swish at with her mane. I suggest trying a product like cowboy magic to keep it untangled. That has helped me a lot.

[skydy]

I used to roach one of mine. No problems. There were enough flies in the summer that I used fly masks.
He was no more bothered with flies than was the un-roached one.

If they really become a problem then use fly spray. Both of mine needed it in the summer. Legs especially. :yes:

[goodhors]

Nothing wrong with roaching. Our working horses are all roached in summer for easy care, letting them cool faster after hard work. The others we cut manes shorter, 5 inches, then trim to be even, more natural looking. Using scissors is fast, easy on your hands and HORSE neck! None care if you scissor trim their mane instead of pulling. You can whip a comb thru trimmed mane, get it nice in 30 seconds or less. That bit of length might help keep her neck warmer during winter winds.

Go ahead and cut it shorter, see if it will comb out to try getting it neat and even, see how she looks. If you don’t like it then you can still roach it.

[Foxglove]

William Tell has a beautiful curly mane (thanks to a Hancock mare in his pedigree) -but one of his pasture buddies ate half of it --the middle half —so I gave him a “high and white” Marine crew-cut for Mounted Archery competition–he looked fierce! He kept his curly forelock

[wildlifer]

I keep my older guy roached - I did even when he was competing in recognized shows (eventing), we always got compliments on it. I love it, I am not a Barbie hair person, plus it looks sexy on him. Flies are no worse in the summer, a mane doesn’t really protect that much of their body, & it also keeps him a little cooler, he’s not heat tolerant so I’ll take it!

Despite what some say, it’s just hair & it DOES grow back just fine.

[Haybert]

I roach my guy. He’s a 16 2” sporty guy with a good short bod and long legs. I also cut his tail ip to around the hocks. I won’t wrap it, plus ice chunks in the tail is a bummer for both of us.

[Bluey]

Why not?

IF you find something against it, it will grow back.
If it works fine, it may feel better to her not to have a matted mess on her neck anyway.

[imaginique]

It’s a sin to roach an Arab’s mane!! :eek: :no:

[ThreeFigs]

I have roached my Hanoverian’s mane for the last 4 or 5 years. He showed at 4th level and PSG roached. No one seemed to notice unless they walked right up to him. I believe they thought the braids were on the “other side” of his neck – whichever side that was. He looks fantastic with the roach and it was so easy at shows. Nothing to braid!

No judge ever remarked on it and I don’t think it hurt his scores. Go ahead & roach. it’s no sin!

[HorsesinHaiti]

I used to roach pony manes in Haiti because the heat was extreme and those ponies grow THICK manes. With one fly sensitive guy, I remember doing a half roach. Combed all his mane and then scissored off the upper 2/3 of mane thickness, the full length of his neck. It left him with a thin fly-fringe down his entire neck that he could whip around, that was much easier to comb out.

[NoSuchPerson]

OP, don’t let flowing mane snobs keep you from adopting what sounds like a simple and practical solution to your problem.

You could roach it now to give yourself a break while you’re so busy. Then, as it grows back out, you can choose to keep it roached, keep it short, or let it go long again.

I love roached manes. They look so clean and tidy.

If you do decide to roach it, I find that the easiest way is to take some big scissors and cut the mane off, then go in with the clippers to tidy things up.

[Palm_Beach]

Why roach it and then grow it out to a pulled length? That’s kind of a pain because the top layer needs to be longer than the bottom layer to lay over neatly, so you will have a strange mohawk look for 6 months, and might have to mess with it a lot to get it to lay down nicely. Why not just chop some off with scissors then pull it to the desired length?

BUT, like others have said, it’s your horse and you get to do whatever you want. I have no problem with roached manes.