How to Braid a Long Mane

Horses with especially long manes can present a grooming challenge for the hunter and dressage classes. Very long manes tend to be too thick and lustrous for both the buttoned-looking English style of braiding and the folded Continental style braids. Although French braids are the best option in general, they have the disadvantage of coming undone easily and sagging unattractively down the horse's neck. The secret of a good French braid lies in creating enough slack.

Things You'll Need

  • Rubber band or piece of string
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Instructions

    • 1

      Ensure that the horse's mane is neat, clean and free of foreign objects.

    • 2

      Just behind the bridle path (or with the first section of hair not combed into the forelock), separate the hair into three sections. Pass the left section over the center, then the right over the center.

    • 3

      Add another section of hair (about a half-inch wide) from further down the neck to the leftmost portion of hair that you are braiding. Continue braiding down the neck in this manner: each time the left section of hair passes over the center of the braid, add a half-inch more of hair to the left section. Keep your hands close to the crest and no further down the neck than the new hair that you are pulling into the braid; holding the hair perpendicular to the neck creates the slack that will allow the braid to move with the horse instead of unraveling.

    • 4

      When you reach the withers, leave any short hairs there may be out of the braid. When you run out of long hair, braid what is left until the braid is too thin to retain integrity. Tie the braid off with a rubber band or piece of string.

    • 5

      Fold the end of the braid up under the thicker braid against the horse's crest. If desired, tie it to the braid with string.