Just got a chance to look at the photos. How does one get a mane to grow like that? Are those hair extensions? Yes, you can laugh now! Like I said, just gotta ask… Those are photogenic, for sure!
You aren’t the first to ever ask this question 
Some horses just grow manes that are long and thick and lovely. https://horseandrider.com/health-and-advice/locks-love-23586
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My grandfather used to show Saddlebreds, and would always keep the horses’ tails braided. He’d take them down, work some kind of oil or conditioner through, then braid it up to keep the hairs from breaking. Those horses had tails up to eight feet long when they were undone. I imagine it’s similar for the manes, if they’re kept braided/protected most of the time 
But yeah, some of those look like Barbie’s dream horse, LOL
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They are kept braided at all times. Shampooed and conditioned weekly at least and then rebraided. No brushes or combs. Picked out with fingers. Supplements as well. Tails are fakes but still lush without. There are many wigs as well.
ETA fake tails are used but didnt mean to suggest everyone uses them as mane was changed to many by my phone. Although more do use tails then one probably realizes. Mane wigs are available. Not sure how many people use mane wigs. Pretty limited I would think.
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Barbie’s dream horse - LOL! That’s a perfect description! Thanks for the responses.
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Genetics and great products! Most of Team USA uses UltraCruz Products
And most reiners do NOT use fake tails.
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My question would be why would you want them that long? Looks beautiful but not very practical for reining, of course I don’t like the fake tails either. Maybe I’m just anti long hours of grooming :)?
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The long mane looks really good when the horse is spinning! That’s why the long manes!
I’m so old I used to show western pleasure when we wanted long manes!
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Don’t touch it. Ever. EVER! Same for tails.
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Reining tails aren’t fake.
Some are and it is kind of embarrassing when you lose one during your run, as happened last year to a lady in the Vegas High Roller Futurity, oops!
Was during her last run and stop, so she just dismounted and picked it up like nothing happened.
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:lol:
probably the best way to handle it
eta I believe the only fake tails allowed at the FEI level require a doctor’s note :lol:
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I feel like a fake tail in reining is asking for trouble. I worry about them stepping on their own real tales when they are backing…imagine with a fake tail. There are some beautiful horses there, though, huh?
Well she is just dumb. You don’t use fake tails in reining and you are not allowed to use them in ranch horse. Tails are trimmed short specifically so they don’t back over them.
Some do. Especially since they are now weighted. Don’t know if FEI rules allow it though.
I feel like it’s asking for trouble in over fences classes as well but it hasn’t stopped anyone.
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Reiner’s back over their tails and step on then all of the time.
I have a couple of videos from various reining shows where fake tales are obvious and some where they are lost.
Wasn’t there at least one instance not to long ago where a lost tail was deemed equipment failure and rider dq’d?
I also have a video from the Derby I believe where a rider doesn’t realize her shirt is coming unzipped. She manages to zip it up during the hesitation after a spin. Lucky for her it happened in an oppurtune place in the pattern LOL. She did have on a bra!
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Anyone with a clue about reining knows how to properly trim it, but yes, the ones that really sit hard and then back too quickly will occasionally will step on it. This is why (smart) reiners don’t use fake tails. And so many now cross over to ranch horse, and they are forbidden in ranch horse. No one in my area uses them. I have never seen the McCutcheons or Fappani sporting a fake tail, and they are the best of the best.
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If they are tied in well you wouldn’t know though.
I am tired of the fake tail look- I have come to hate the look of thick banged tails.
Someone needs to buck the trend and start trimming them at the hocks again. Or at the very least go back to fairy tail ends.
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