Equine Braid Styles

Mane-braiding styles vary by riding discipline, location and breed. Braiding is considered a way to improve your horse's appearance, keep the mane neat, orderly and out of the way as well as as allowing the judge to see the your hands and your horse's neck position during classes. A well-done braid job is considered beneficial to the final show turn-out; a badly done braid job is often considered worse than no braiding at all.

  1. Hunter Braiding

    • As a whole, English riding diciplines are more strict about horse and rider appearances and grooming than western diciplines. At upper levels of competition, riders are expected to have manes braided properly and may be penalized by the judges if they do not. The standard English hunter braid involves pulling the mane to a length of 4 to 4-1/2 inches, then braiding the entire mane into a series of half-inch wide braids. These braids are then doubled over into small loops and secured with yarn into small, knubby segments of mane.

    Running Braid

    • The running braid is an alternative to traditional hunter braiding. The running braid resembles a french braid that runs along the bottom of your horse's mane. It requires a medium to long mane and is done predominantly on horses that compete in lower level hunters or dressage where the rider does not want to pull the mane. This is typically done to breeds of horses where pulling the mane is not standard practice, such as Arabians and Bakshir Curlies.

    Continental Braid

    • The continental braid is most often seen on Arabians, though it may be used on other breeds when pulling the mane is not an option or desired. The continental braid involves separating out strands of mane and using rubber bands to secure them into a diamond style net pattern. This can be done with loose manes or while braiding each strand of mane as it is incoroporated into the net.

    Basic Braids

    • Some riders, especially at lower level shows, will simply pull and braid the mane into half-inch size sections without doing anything else to the braids. This braid may also occur in western events, though it is uncommon as banding, a process where the mane is pulled then secured into small sections with a rubber band at the top of each section, is more popular.