How to Protect a Horse's Tail With a Tail Bag

Lead your horse into an enclosed area with a water source. Have your horse held by either another person or by cross ties, to free up your hands to wash its tail. It is very important that your horse’s tail be clean before you put a tail bag over it, or else a lot of damage can be done to the tail. Turn the water on and run it over your horse’s tail, completely drenching the hairs as high up as the dock and all the way to the very tip of the tail.

Put a generous amount of shampoo into the bottom of the small bucket. Turn on the water again and fill the bucket approximately half way, or at least until your see a lot of suds forming and there is plenty of liquid. Lift the bucket and try to get the hanging part of the tail into it. Once you have succeeded in doing this, swish the tail around quite a bit in the suds. Then place the bucket back on the ground. Massage the shampoo into the tail. When the tail has been thoroughly washed, pick up the shampoo bottle and squeeze out a large amount into your hand. Begin to wash the hair on the dock. Be thorough in this process, and massage all around the area. When your horse’s tail and dock are completely cleaned, carefully rinse off the tail with the hose.

When you are positive that the shampoo is completely rinsed out of the tail, squeeze a generous amount of conditioner into your palm. Spread the conditioner out as evenly as possible. Let it remain in the tail and work its way into the hairs for a few minutes before thoroughly rinsing.

The next step in the process is critical for successfully enclosing your horse’s tail in a tail bag: You will need to completely dry your horse’s tail. This step is very simple, though it can harm your horse greatly if not done completely. Lead your horse outside (whether or not there is sun) and let him graze. The air will dry the tail. Though this process is very slow, you can speed it up. Begin by taking the top of the tail in your hand and swinging the rest of it around, somewhat like a lasso, to send heavy water droplets flying. Next, take a small section of the tail and comb or brush it out a few times, letting the tail strands fan out as you brush. Eventually the horse's tail will dry, and will already be brushed and manageable.

The next step is to braid the tail. Find the end of the tail bone and go down about a half inch. Free all hairs that do not hang down below this point, so that your horse will still have something to use to swat flies or other pests. At the point below the tail bone, begin to braid downward, using a normal braid. Once you have reached the very end, fasten it with a rubber band, keeping any hair that you couldn’t braid at the bottom tied up in the band.

After you have braided the tail, make an opening in between the hair at the top of the braid and roll the tail up over itself, going through this opening. When the tail has been rolled, secure it with a couple of rubber bands. Using the vet wrap, wrap the entire tail. Cover everything in up to five layers of the vet wrap. To make sure it stays in place, wrap it through the opening you made between the tail braids. Once you have covered the braided part of the tail with vet wrap, you are almost finished.

The last step is to put the tail bag over the braided tail. The tail bag protects the braided tail and keeps it from falling out and getting dirty. To put the tail bag on, you slide it over the part of the tail you have been working with and begin to tie it. Wrap the ties all around; go through the opening in the braids a couple of times, making the tie complicated but easy enough that you will eventually be able to remove it. Knot the ends together when you think the tie is secure enough. Now your horse’s tail has been successfully wrapped in a tail bag.