Manes

[Flight]

Does anyone have a horse with a long mane and do a running plait for shows? Ding has the thickest mane ever, and I've tried thinning combs, shaving out the middle etc to make it easier to plait but I hate the maintenance or it just goes very whispy and my plaits always look terrible! I can do neat plaits with my other horse though, so it's not entirely me
His mane is growing, I'm not sure whether to just push on and grow it long. I did think that a running plait wouldn't help our cause in the dressage arena, but there's no disguising that he's a hairy pony so it shouldn't make a difference if we have a braid or normal plaits?

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[StraightForward]

You could always go the other way and roach/hog it.

I did that to Obie the first year I had him because his mane split down the middle and I couldn't get it trained to one side. His mane is really thick/wide for a quarter horse, and would have been a nightmare to maintain, so I just kept roaching it. Now he's retired and has grown out his locks and it looks so odd to me.

[quinta]

I used to running braid my Morgan. Takes some practice, but it is really fast once you get it. I don't have a great photo - all of my closeups are of the other size of her neck. Here's the best one I can find. Excuse the early-spring-still-hairy rest of the pony. I never had a comment from anyone at a show about the braiding.

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[blob]

oh me, me, me!

MM has quite the mane and early on I decided trying to maintain it as a pulled mane was never going to work. So, I let it run wild and free and do a running braid for shows, clinics, and sometimes just because. The running braid takes me under a minute when I'm doing it just for a regular ride. I go a bit more carefully when doing it for a show, making sure it's nice and tight, but it still takes me well under 5 minutes. So, you can't convince me having a longer mane is more work.

In the summer to keep it maintained, I co-wash it pretty regularly (putting conditioner only in and rinsing) and only do a proper shampoo when I need to.

Here are pictures of mane in and out of braids:
(it's not that easy to see in pictures, but for shows I take the end of the braid and roll it up like you would a traditional button braid and fasten it that way):

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[goldhorse]

I do a running braid on my Morgan but his mane is long and thin. I've also done this method but I braid to the end so the scallop piece showing at the top is also braided.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UFZ2Gwy4uM
These things make it a breeze to pull the end through the knot.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075F ... =UTF8&th=1

[Chisamba]

I do not think Dings mane is long enough to hold a running braid. I would split it down the middle and do a double row of plaits.one to the left and one to the right. but try a running braid and see if it holds, that is definitely easier.

[blob]

I do not think Dings mane is long enough to hold a running braid. I would split it down the middle and do a double row of plaits.one to the left and one to the right. but try a running braid and see if it holds, that is definitely easier.

Oh yes, I agree with this. I don't think it's long enough YET for a running braid--the thicker the mane the longer it needs to be. Though I suspect if you leave it alone for a couple months it will be long enough for one.

In the inbetween time you can try the double row of plaits or do really big fat buttons or maybe this method will work with the length you have:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UFZ2Gwy4uM

[Chisamba]

have you tried this method

https://youtu.be/OMm5vRVmmdU

[Flight]

Quinta and Blob, your horses look fine in a running braid. Nice photos! Yay! I think I'll keep growing Ding's for now and aim to do it.
How long does it stay in for? Do you go and warm up and then re-do it before your test or is it good for 1/2 hr or so?

Yes, Ding's is too short to stay in one now. Not sure if I can face doing 2 rows of plaits chisamba, but it might have to happen while I wait for it to grow. I did try the scallop braid thing, but it's still a bit short and being so thick that tail just sticks straight up in the air and wont bend well down into the next plait.
Goldhorse I was wondering how they get the scalloped bit plaited! Thanks, I might get some of those hair puller things, it was hard to push the hair up through.

Straightforward, it did cross my mind to hog it. I think he'd look cool with it hogged, especially for working eq. But then the thought of trying to grow it if I didn't like it changed my mind. When I shaved out the middle, it stood up for what looked like a foot before it went to the side

I did big plaits the other weekend, despite sewing the bejesus out of them, they still fell out! And looked kind of ridiculous ...

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[blob]

I think your giant plaits look fun! But I don't envy you having to do them, they don't look easy

The running braid usually lasts for both my rides per day unless I do a sloppy job. I braid when I'm tacking up for my first ride and then leave it while MM is untacked between rides. I haven't had more than a 5 hour gap between rides that I can remember, but I imagine if I had a ride at 8am and another at 5pm or something like that, i would probably rebraid (I'd probably also be glad to have a little extra something to do to help kill that much time).

[Moutaineer]

There was a woman braiding at the next trailer to me at the last show I went to--she was doing two rows of running braids. It looked really good when done and didn't take her that long. She said it stayed in better than one would because there was so much hair. Some kind of Friesian cross, if I remember rightly.

[Flight]

I tried the 2 running braids. Looked ok but fell out in under 30 sec of riding! Still too short I think.
Thanks blob, maybe if his mane grows enough I can do it.

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[quinta]

That looks good! Once it gets longer, it will hold much better. He certainly is a hairy beast.

[Chisamba]

I like the double running braid. Once its longer it will hold. Meanwhile if you have a close show, split it and scallop it, or split it and button braid. Or at least that's what I would do. It's not hard to split and it's no worse than braiding two horses

[blob]

You can put keeper rubber bands as you braid to make it hold while it's shorter. Every couple of pleats just slip a small rubber band over the part you've braided and keep braiding.