A horse is worth more than riches.
Spanish Proverb

There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse
Robert Smith Surtees

To be loved by a horse, or by any animal, should fill us with awe-
for we have not deserved it.
Marion Garretty

My heart galloped through the skies that night.                 Spirit:Stallion of the Cimarron  

Stop Horse Abuse!            

Anyeay First dont use bands. Several reasons they loook tacky and they  will break the  mane hairs. And they are a PITA to work with... You will need:

yarn as close to mane color as possible.

sissors doesnt matter long short, blunt sharp as long as you are comfortable using them.

a pull through tool I use a  hook latch thing others use a large plastic needle others use things they have made from a wire clothes hanger by  taking part of it  making a loop at one end and twisting  to make a handle. What you use is your choice

Make sure your mane is clean nd pulled no conditioner  of any sort is on mane. and  it doesnt have to be perfect clean just those cruddy stuff at hte base dander etc. Puled to betwee n3 and 4 inches long depending on  how  well you work with   a short mane. I normally  even go as short as 2 1/2 inches but I have been braiding a long time.

take the yarn and  hold the end  between your  thumb and first finger. then bend your arm like you  would to wind up the lunge line.  wind the yarn  around  perhaps 25 times. 1 complete wind begins and ends at the oppsite end of hte thumb so down by the elbow. By  cuting there you have a short piece which I use to  tie the rest of hte yarn together to tie onto the halter  for easy reach.

YOu then sectionoff hte mane. Some people use  one of those  braid aid things but  imp they make hte braids themselves to big IF one is not a seasons braider. Others like me ( who couldnt afford a braid id at hthe  time I was learning to braid) use their middle 3 fingers  as a guide. I graba  peice of mane then  using my  middle 2  fingers  reduce the mane section down until the secition is about  manybe 1/2 inch wide.. But Honestly I dont know how wide it is  it is all by eye and 'feel'.. It looks and feels  the correct width... Anyway some people will section off hte entire mane before beginning to braid I do it  one section at a time as I reason that  area to braid. It is individule taste and perferances.

When you  get the  section you want to braid  make sure that 1) you dont  pull hte braid you are braiding  out  from the mane Or even  up or off to one side or hte other. This effects the lay of  the braid. You want to braid straight down. Even if you have to step down to the floor to braid each braid. I use a step stool so I am level with the mane when I am pulling and sectioning and beginning the braid. But as I braid I step down off stool.. You want to make each braid section  as close to even as possible. You also want to braid as tight as possible. this is normally where braids go wrong.. people dont  braid tight then  after  the braid is done and tied off they fall out.

Once you have begun to braid about half way down the braid you take a peice of yarn and braid the yarn into the braid. Still braiding as tight as possible. When you get down  to the end of hte  braid/ mane you  take both ends of yarn and bring them together. being very careful not to unbraid anything you just braided.  taking both  ends of hte yard  you wrap  it  around hte  bottom of hte braid. ( Some people  bend up hte ends of hte braid into hte wrap  for a neater appearance I never perfected that skill so I dont do that) then take the ends and  'knot' though the wrap and thighen the yarn down.  Using what ever tool you have  decided on  put it down through the  middle of hte top( along the top of hte crest not along the side but smack dab on top) of hte braid put the  yarn end through  the loop latch etc and pull up an through the top of hte braid.

Once hte yarn is through the top of hte braid. Being careful not to pull hte  end of the braid though. Take the yarn and split it back apart. taking each end  under the braid and do a half square knot or the  typ of 'knot' you tie when doing up your shoes. Then bring hte  yarn back to hte front. this is  the difficult part..  make another  shoe tie knot but dont tighten it until you decide where you want to  littl puff in the braid to be. Nrmally the upper 3rd or 1/4 of hte braid. I wish I had a decient set of pics to  show all of this but I lost the links since the last time I  wrote this out... Once you determine where you want to  puff  bump the braid   place the  yarn( the knotted part so hte  knot is in the center of the part you are  beinging up to puff)  tighten it  and  finish the squre knott. Cut off extra but not to close  to the knott to keep it from falling apart.

perhaps someone  still has the links to the   1 or 2  sites that show how to  do this..

Or you can do what many do barter  you can do tails  find someone who  can o manes  and trade a mane for a tail. OR hire a braider...


If ponies were human.. most would be in prison.

Mrs. Smith COTH

Proud to be owned by a thoroughbred.

Dressage; Mane Only. NO TAIL EVER

On the mane start by sectioning up the hair into equal parts. Then braid each part into mini braids, then fold up, and fold up again, and wrap white tape around the whole thingy.

Hunter; Mane & Tail.

Im guessing the same with the mane as dressage, but without the tape. You could also try sewing it, but thats a pain in the butt to take out.

Jumper; Anything.

Honnestly, jumpers dont really care about braiding. After all, its all about speed, and a clean round. Do whatever you like.

Western; Mane, crimped or super long shinny tail

So I used to just section the hair off, with same colour elastics, and id leave the tail in a braid over night to get that wavey appearance.          Or you could just Pull the mane and brush the tail then spray show sheen on it.. make sure its even though..

Uhm

Yeah. There are pently of books on how to braid, and you can rpetty much find anything on the internet so just look around for a good tutorial.