I learned to bang tails a different way than the towel under the dock method: stand the horse square and then pull the tail forward between the horses legs about a foot (you’ll be crouching to do this), brush the end to make sure it’s all even and cut the end while pulled forward. You need to do it about 3 times to make sure you have it even.
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Distracted, whilst crouched down, close to the back legs, sounds like a broken nose to me!
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My horse’s Arab side came out in his tail. (Picture a Hannoverian with an Arab tail…)
Its a pretty good tail for what it is, except it doesn’t seem to grow length except in the middle, so its a natural switch, but with a Christmas tree top, because I keep hoping that part will get longer.
The hair is very fine, even though there is a decent amount of it.
I’m used to luxuriant coarse warmblood tails (even my Appy had one of those, in a strange turn of genetics,) so having this unbangable flag is a puzzle to me.
He has a warmblood mane, though. I’m whacking at that once a month.
However, with the warmblood, I would lightly trim the sides of the dock and bang the bottom. I got compliments and people would drag me aside at clinics to show them how to do it 
I dont think they will be doing that with this guy!
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I have been around long enough that I remember when pulling or shaving the top of the tail was a thing. I never pulled but did scissor the side up by the dock. I recall seeing magazine articles on how to shave half circles at the top/sides of the tail. The idea was to avoid the bushy top and just have a long, flowing tail.
That seemed to just gradually become less and less severe. I am sure there is trimming going on, but it seems more subtle now. “Back in the day” some trim jobs made the horses look like they had a braided tail without the braiding!
Nope. I wouldn’t try that (1) on a horse I didn’t know or (2) one I didn’t fly spray first. It is the quickest way to get a perfect banged tail–I learned it from an international trainer. I’ve never seen anyone do it a different way. But in any event, whenever you are trying to trim the bottom of a tail, you are putting yourself in a risky place, no matter how you do it.
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I attended a “new test” clinic recently. One of the horses in the videos had a braided tail. It looked beautiful.
When you think about it, those many people who think we are crazy for playing with horses are probably right lol!
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I show in Arabian shows so I leave the tail long. Wrapped at home and only taken down to wash or show at shows I tie in a knot until right before I go in the ring It drags on the ground when he is not holding it up.
It’s funny - I was around Arabian show horses as a teen, and thought knotting tails was just normal. I do it when I’m washing and conditioning, or to get it out of the way while trimming hind feet, and it blows people’s minds, oddly enough.
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Starting back in the 80s, I boarded for several years at a barn that consisted primarily of Western riders with stock horses. This was before the era of fake tails, and the way that the other boarders ensured that their horses made the most of the natural tails was to religiously use a tail bag and/or tie little strands of the tail in tiny individual knots that were just enough to keep the tail up off the ground. There would be a plethora of these knots, so this took some effort.
The horses I’ve owned have always had naturally thick tails that grow long (not selected for that, just so happened), and I never felt the need to do either of these things, although a fellow boarder did demonstrate the proper knotting technique. But I appreciate that these riders went to the trouble of bags and a myriad of knots, because I sure don’t like the look of fake tails.
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A big fluffy tail in a tailbag swinging at flies takes on the properties of a baseball bat LOL
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My husband paid his way through college by tying in tails. Well at least beer money. LOL
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And that is the reason they use them in Western Pleasure.
Does anybody have any tips for taming a bushy, frazzled dock? My mare has a nice long tail, but a giant Christmas tree up top. She doesn’t itch it, but the hair just goes “poof” and I’m reluctant to trim it because I’d rather have it grow.
For showing, the least invasive is to put a lot of leave in conditioner on and then wrap. Make sure the wrap isnt too tight and take it off just before showing.
I never had luck getting those hairs to grow out on my one horse with the bottle brush dock. I did resort to scissoring a bit on the sides. Looked okay as long as I kept after it.
I use hair gel rather than conditioner to tame a bushy dock before bandaging it. My mare DOES rub, and yes, I’ve tried everything that COTH’s posters have suggested. That’s just how she tells everyone she’s in heat.
I don’t normally do much with the dock of my horse’s tail (though I probably should because it’s a little fluffy), but I typically bang the bottom of it to about 1/3 up his cannon bone. He has a nice tail, but not tremendously thick, so keeping it a little on the shorter side helps it look fuller. Sometimes, I might even go shorter, which I don’t mind because in spite of his size, he’s pretty compact and it kind of makes him look like a show jumper playing at dressage. Fortunately, he doesn’t carry his tail quite as high as he used to, so I feel like I can get by with it a little more now than I could have a few years ago.
For those trying to grow out a tail or just the feathers at the top, Shapely’s MTG works wonders. Smells like crap and will splatter your shirt with oil drops, but it works well.
Their regular grooming oil smells amazing though! If you’re not concerned with bacteria/skin issues, you can skip the “stale bacon grease” stench
Funny you should mention bacon grease, that’s another good one for growing hair.
