Mane and tail growth; mane styles

[ladyiceblink]

Hello everyone,
I'm not new by any means, but I don't believe I've ever posted anything besides comments yet, so here goes!
I have a 13-year-old QH/Arabian named Tuffy who seems to dislike having a mane and does what he can to destroy it.

Here is pony in question:

Comments

[greyskyridge]

The only additional recommendation I would have would be to put him in a sleezy hood.

Or perhaps a french braid down the neck.

He is flat out ADORABLE though!

[ladyiceblink]

I do the french braid on the neck for riding but the rubber bands cut off the hairs at his withers :(
I was thinking a sleazy might help! unless he tore through the sleazy, too..

Thank you very much :)

[chiquita522]

The Quarter Horse Journal ran an article about growing manes and tails a few years ago. A big time reiner suggested that people do 3-5 braids in the mane, straight down, and very loosely. Condition throughout the week, then take them down once a week. You could also try the thin hair bands made for humans; those probably wouldn't cause as much damage.

[ladyiceblink]

That's not a bad idea. Do you leave them down for a day or re-braid right away? That sounds similar to what I do to the tail; braid it in a braid-bag thing, take it out and condition/rebraid it every 5 days or so.
I use the same rubber bands on my hair that I use on his - regular slick bands in awesome rainbow colors :)

[chiquita522]

I don't remember if that article said anything about when to put them back up, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt the hair to have some "fresh air."

[androidheart]

Once upon a long time ago I worked for a Morgan barn for a little while and they used to use masking tape instead of rubber bands for everyday tail braids to prevent breakage, and I would think it would work for manes as well. Masking tape stays in better than the human no-pull rubber bands.

They would also hand pick the tails with show sheen instead of using a brush or comb to prevent breakage.

[glitteredhorse]

I wouldn't recommend the sleazy, every horse I've known that's worn one for an extended time has had their entire mane fall out, even those that used to have a thick and beautiful mane.

[ladyiceblink]

I wonder if just wearing it for turnout during the day would help? There isn't much to scratch on in his stall, but the pine trees in the pasture are perfect for ripping manes out. I wish manes were as easy to wrap up as tails :c

[glitteredhorse]

I'm not sure. The horses I knew had theirs on nearly 24/7. One had a thick and beautiful mane, the other had a thin and whispy one. By the end of the winter...both of them had absolutely no mane at all.