Horse Tails

Some people like to bang their horses' tails. Banging is usually done for jumping or dressage events. It means, simply, making the tail shorter by cutting straight across right where the thick hair gives way to thinner hair.

Banging horse tails is pretty easy, if you've had some practice. The result will be a very neat, cropped tail that looks good and makes for easy maintenance. The Catch-22 is that if you haven't done it before, it's also easy to make a mess! Your main goal in banging is to make the cut completely straight.

As with any grooming that you do to a horse's tail, stand to the side of the horse -- not directly behind. Even if your horse is normally gentle, it can be startled into kicking you if you start cutting its tail and it has never had this done before.

Remember to cut where the horse's tail begins to thin and narrow. If you're having trouble cutting, because the hair is thick, you're probably doing it too high up. Of course, you should only use a trimmer that is made for cutting horse hair -- don't attempt this with kitchen scissors, hedge trimmers, etc.!

Cut straight across. Do it as cleanly as you can.

That's all there is to it. Banging horse tails is really not that difficult, as you are sure to learn. Good luck!

When it comes to brushing or performing other grooming on horse tails, less is more. As a rule of thumb, you should not brush your horse's tail every day. Even once a week might be too often, depending on the horse's breed and personal characteristics.

Brushing pulls hairs out of the horse's tail, hairs that can only be replaced by the slwo growth of new ones. You can expect some hair loss during grooming sessions, but if you end up ripping out good hair with dead hair, the tail will become much too thinned-out and will not look good.

When you do brush your horse's tail, use a conditioner or tangle-remover on it first. Then, try to work out any tangles or knots with your fingers before applying the brush. (The same advice goes for the mane, of course.)

I am biased toward long, thick, flowing tails on my horses. I don't brush the horse tails frequently, and when I do, I am very careful.

P.S: If you really want to grow the longest, most luxurious tails and manes -- the ones that will take people's breaths away -- please see my "big arrow" link below!

Sometimes we horse folks get so caught up in the aesthetics of our horses' tails that we forget or overlook the importance of tails to the horses themselves.

As everyone knows, horses use their tails to brush away flies and other annoying insects. Keep this in mind if you decide to bang (cut), knot or braid your horse's tail. If you don't take other measures to keep your horse as fly-free as possible, denying the animal full use of its otherwise long, flowing tail, you could be committing anunthinking cruelty.

For me, this is just one more reason in favor of keeping horse tails as natural as possible.

Mud is the bane of horse tails. If your horse has the kind of long, flowing tail that most people prefer, it will be even easier for it to become caked with mud. Mud balls in a horse's tail are especially hard to get rid of.

When horse tails become so encrusted that they become little more than a solid slab of mud, about the only thing you can do is to cut them off short. Don't let it come to that!

If it's the rainy season, or you live in an area where mud is frequently encountered, one way to save your horse's tail is to tie a knot in it. Done properly, a knot will keep the tail tightly bound as well as elevated above the worst of the mud.

A well-tied horse-tail knot will not only keep the tail from getting too muddy, it can also look pretty nice. Be sure and untie it from time to time, though, so that you can groom the tail as you normally would (not too frequently, though!). If it's still picking up a little mud here and there, be sure to include shampooing and conditioning in your grooming routine.

Horse tails are rather amazing appendages!

Both strong and flexible, horse tails are used for the practical task of shooing flies away, and for the more elevated "purpose" of signaling mood and health, whether good or poor.

Horse tails contain 18 vertebrae, on average, though some have fewer and others more. The vertebrae become gradually smaller as you move down toward the tip of the tail. The final bone has a pointed tip on it. Muscles in the tail itself control fine adjustments to tail position.

Some breeds of horse are known for their extraordinarily long and luxuriant tails. What is not as well known or appreciated is that most breeds can be coaxed to grow similarly impressive tails.