I recently purchased a terrific young crossbred who is perfect but her mane is…well, not. It’s similar to a fjord, it is THICK, has a center stripe, and stands completely upright. Is there a way to thin this type of mane and train it to lay down? I’m uncertain you would ever be able to braid it as-is. Thanks!
Not much help but the way they did the mane for the Norwegian Fjord I rode was the black in the mane was cut higher than the lighter sides to enhance the different colours and yes a mohawk going straight up.
This is why so many folks won’t roach a mane… because getting it to lay over again can be a project. I’ve known many who actually have to have a series of individual French braids across the width of their mane, pulled up singly, in order to mimic the ‘button’ braids so many h/j/ eq folks like.
So you’re going to have to strategically start pulling that mane in order to thin it. Start on the off side and pull the hairs that are keeping it from laying over to one side. You can sporadically just go through and start pulling randomly as well. If yours is as bad as the ones I’ve known, it will take weeks of daily attention for it to thin to the point of laying over.
Whatever you do, do NOT use thinning shears. You’ll have to pull the man from the root in order to get it to lay over. And let it get some length. Once it’s about 8" long, you can start putting in chunky braids and hope to train it to lay over. You’ll find the crest will be the last section to obey, because that’s where it will be thickest.
Patience. Diligence. and even some Dippity - Do might help for the short term.
And yes, go google it. I’ve just shown you my age.
Yes. Start by letting it grow. Then once you can start pulling it will have to be maintained with regular pulling.
Leaving it all winter and pulling before the first show is a really bad thing for your braider. Pulling that much thickness out in one go (even if the one go meanstakes two weeks) means it all comes back at once… before the end of the show season. And there is nothing that can be done when 2/3 of the mane is only half an inch long.
Yes, I found this out the hard way with my own horse. The following year I started in January and pulled it a bit shorter once every three weeks. It was fully braid ready by July, and braid-able by mid May.
I would actually use thinning shears now, just on the end 2-3", at a 45 degree angle to make the hairs different lengths so that I wasn’t pulling all the hairs out of one side of the neck when I started pulling.
So, her mane is about 8" long and 6" wide. I’m just not quite visualizing the techniques described. I feel like I almost have to shave it to the base of the neck to get it to a manageable width to start pulling/thinning.
Let it get long enough for the weight to pull it over naturally( trust me it will) . In the good old days we would loosely braid to help it stay over at first and then when it lays normally we would pull to thin it.
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Are you saying the width of the mane bed is 6"? :eek:
With a thick “pony” mane like that, you may never be able to have is short and lying down. It is simply not possible to pull enough and likely not humane either.
Pony people likely have some ideas for you. I have seen drafts and ponies with the under side of the mane shaved off. You just have to keep up with it. I have seen thick manes allowed to grow long and then french braided for neatness (sometimes two braids, one on each side). And, of course you can shave it all off or choose to maintain it like a fjord!
I really want to see a pic of this!
Really not uncommon at all with those drafty types. it’s amazing how thick their necks (and therefor the root bed of the mane) can be.
