Wrapping Tail for Extended Periods?

[besttwtbever]

So I have recently found myself in a situation where I feel that I need to wrap my horses tails. First of all, I live in the soggy PNW so their turnouts are muddy for most of the year. As luck would have it, all of my horses are also part pig and LOVE to be as dirty as possible. They’re all bay (in theory) but I think they’re actually greys in disguise gauging by how dirty they like to be (How they get mud on the FRONT of their face and inside of their legs is beyond me). I find that it is near impossible to keep their tails clean and tangle free during the soggy times and because of the constant wet/dry cycle and their tails are extremely dry and brittle. Additionally, I have a mare who constantly has urine in her tail do to it hanging in her urine stream when she pees.

Because of all of the above, I have come to the conclusion that I need to wrap them somehow. First off, is this even possible, or will I end up with even worse tails? If possible, how would one go about doing this (instructions with pictures would be SUPER helpful)? Also, how long can I leave them wrapped without causing some sort of damage? Ideally l’d love to find some sort of wrapping I could do without having to re-do them every week or two, although I realize this may not be possible.

Lastly, for the mare that pees on her tail, since this is a year round problem, any suggestions? I was thinking that during the non-soggy months I could wrap the dock with vetwrap so that when she lifts her tail, all the strands go with it. Anyone see any issues with leaving this in for say, a week at a time?

Thanks in advance!

[Katy_Watts]

I once knew a former show horse that was sold cheap because a tail wrap was too tight and it killed all the hair follicles. Horses with bald tails look very strange.
Braid it and put it in a stocking. Leave it alone until a couple days before a show. Seen some gorgeous tails kept that way, but you only get to see them at a show.

[Tee]

I am in the PNW as well, and wrap my two guys’ tails typically from October to Mayish. They come down when the flies come out.

I use the three tube braid in wraps. Tied below the tail bone, braided, and then I loop them back up and tie to itself to keep the ends out of the mud. I’ll take them down and condition and brush out every couple of weeks and then they go back up. Come spring, we have some nice, long, fantastic tails.

[Where_sMyWhite]

I used to “wrap” my TB’s tail. Gooped up tail with conditioner, loosely braided down to near the end, looped a few pieces of baling twine for “tail”, rolled it up to within a few inches of the bottom of the tailbone and then wrapped in Vetwrap. Never got near the tailbone and at least her tail grew. Would take it down every few months…

[SnicklefritzG]

OP, it is totally possible to keep the tail wrapped for extended periods of time. I have a friend who shows on the palomino circuit and her horse has the most beautiful tail you’ve ever seen. They’ve won many championships both locally and nationally, where having a nice tail is super important.

I’ve only ever seen her horse’s tail at a show. So yes, it can be done.

[joiedevie99]

No. You can’t wrap a tail bone long-term, safely. You can, however, braid or cover the part below the tail bone.

Brush the tail out and put in some detangler or moisturizer. Start braiding a few inches below the tailbone.

If you prefer, you can use one of those three-tube slinkies before you braid - or you can put a single tube slinky over the braid after it’s done.

[csaper58]

A braided tail must be taken down, washed, dried, and put back up, at least once a week.

If this is not done, the hair will rot.

Do not wrap the dock of the tail.

[starrunner]

I have put up horse tails long term.

I use a method similar to this gal’s.

http://www.arabianhorseworld.com/how-to/clipping/clipping-6.html

My horses live out 24/7. I put in long bailing twine swatters during the summer so they can keep the flies off.

[JBD]

[QUOTE=csaper58;8839974]
A braided tail must be taken down, washed, dried, and put back up, at least once a week.

If this is not done, the hair will rot.

Do not wrap the dock of the tail.[/QUOTE]
Not in my experience. I leave tails up a lot longer than that and have never seen anything like rotting hair. Tangles, yes, when I leave it up too long. I use a mesh tail bag with string on the end and a Velcro loop on the top.

[nccatnip]

[QUOTE=csaper58;8839974]
A braided tail must be taken down, washed, dried, and put back up, at least once a week.

If this is not done, the hair will rot.

Do not wrap the dock of the tail.[/QUOTE]

Nope. Hair doesn’t rot.

[luvmyhackney]

[QUOTE=csaper58;8839974]
A braided tail must be taken down, washed, dried, and put back up, at least once a week.

If this is not done, the hair will rot.

Do not wrap the dock of the tail.[/QUOTE]

If that was so, many ASB’s, Morgans, Hackneys wouldn’t have tails!! We have always kept them up and from November to Feb, they are out in a field left alone. I’d wash and condition, and put them up and not touch them till warmer weather.

Make sure you braid starting a few inches from bone, I use an old cotton sheet cut into strips and braid it with the hair. I would coat his tail in MTG. Then tie it up and wrap with vet wrap or a men’s tube sock. I would use a shoe string to tie around the top of the sock and fold the top part of the sock over it. I would change the sock on a weekly basis, but I didn’t unbraid the tail. His tail dragged the ground by a few feet and we were constantly cutting his tail, it would get too long by the time show season rolled around again.

[SuckerForHorses]

Something to keep in mind with horses that get turned out:

Be careful with braiding/wrapping tails and then turning out where they can get the tail caught on things - you don’t want to get it caught and have the horse inadvertently de-glove the tail completely.

My horses are turned out where there are trees and such, and I refuse to braid or wrap the tails.

[Tiffani_B]

My horses are turned out 10+ hours/day and their tails are braided and wrapped. One of the tails is nearly 9’ long. If you take care of them, you can keep them wrapped while the horse is outside.

Here’s a video I made on how to braid and wrap a tail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2nvMbyd_ts

If you use vetwrap, be sure to check the tail regularly. If water gets trapped inside and sits for too long, it can rot the hair (yes, tail hair can rot LOL - ask any Saddlebred person how we know this). I usually take their tails down once a month, wash, pick, and rebraid.

During fly season, I wrap a few strands of baling twine into the vet wrap so they have something to swish with. It cuts down on the hair getting matted and tangled since if they don’t have anything to swish with, they’ll swish a lot more frequently (and angrily LOL).

[kupeski]

I wrap my geldings tail in the late winter/early spring to the mud in New England from all the snow. You just need to make sure you regularly unwrap it, comb it out, and rewrap (I normally change them every 10-14 days, depending on the weather). You want to keep the wrap 3-4 inches from the end of the tail bone, and keep the first few braids loose and then tighten up. You want to make sure you change the wrap every few weeks to make sure the wrap doesn’t slip too far down. If the wrap is too heavy and too far from the tail bone, it will break hairs and ruin the tail. If you wrap too close to the tailbone, you will ‘suffocate’ the hair follicles and ruin the tail. If you wrap with the tail wet, the hair will rot and you will ruin the tail.

The person I learned from was a saddleseat/morgan rider, who used vet wrap, and so I use vet wrap. Other barns have used the tail bags, and those seem to slide out more easily, but seem to be more forgiving if you leave it in a little too long, or if it gets damp, as the bag is a little more breathable.

I’ve also done the pieces of baling twine draped through the braid to help with flies in early spring, but don’t tie it in, in case it gets caught, you don’t want to rip your tail out!

[Mozart]

I have two mares whose tails are wrapped all winter. One has a naturally big thick tail and it becomes urine soaked. Come winter it is a frozen peesicle if I don’t wrap it. The other is an elderly pony with intermittent chronic diarrhea. If I don’t wrap her tail in the winter it literally freezes to her legs. I braid in a length of binder twine starting below the dock then fold it back up underneath itself, pull the binder twine thru the braid below the tail bone and tie it off. Then I cover the braided part (not that tail bone) with Vetrap.

The pony might get hers taken out once per winter if I have to do a major diarrhea clean up. The mare’s might come out a few times per winter when she goes to an indoor show and we can give her a proper bath. Both have beautiful tail come spring.

I have seen dire warnings on FB with pictures of horses who have suffered extensive tail injuries when wrapped tails caught on something. It seems to me all horses are bent on self destruction and for me the advantages (not bathing two tails almost daily all winter in sub freezing temps) outweigh the risk. Also, minimal things for them to catch it on.

[poltroon]

Another way to go is to keep the tails protected with heavy use of conditioner or detangler like cowboy magic.

Mud itself shouldn’t hurt a tail. If they’re really brittle I might be looking for some underlying cause, like a dietary deficiency.

If you end up feeling that wrapping is the best way to manage, you’ve got great advice here, but I personally prefer to let the horses enjoy their tails in the normal state if at all possible. A simple wash and they’re pretty good to go. The white horse’s tail is a bit yellow, but it looks quite handsome and sophisticated when it’s washed and groomed even so, and we don’t show him any place where that’s not good enough.

[Garythesquirrel]

I’m in the PNW and keep my two horses’ tails wrapped, usually from about November through March, depending on the bug situation.

I braid, starting about 2" below end of tail bone, roll it up and wrap with vet wrap. I change out the vet wrap about 2 times during the winter.

My horses have free access to the outdoors and love to stand in the rain. I haven’t had a rotted tail yet in the ten years I’ve been doing it.

[mypaintwattie]

I’m in the southwest so I don’t have the mud issues, but I keep my mare’s tail braided and in a tail bag year round. I take it down every 3-4 weeks, condition it, brush it out and rebraid and bag it again. Her tail grows long and thick that way, otherwise she pulls it out.

[CatchMeIfUCan]

Not to hijack, but does anyone have any recommendations for a horse who lives in South Florida (so lots of rain and humidity) and has a SUPER thick, white tail that his owner would like to keep white? He lost a lycra bag that I tied over a braided tail in about 2 seconds.

[GoodTimes]

Please don’t braid it and leave it hanging, wrap it “up”. I have personally seen the result of a braid that got caught on a gate (neighbour’s horse). Horse panicked, degloved (half his tail bone went with it), resulted in euthanasia from infection within 3 days.
Yes horses can get hurt in a million different ways, but this one hits close to home.