Mane Pulling

[babeelis]

Hi everybody,

Im bored working the late shift and thought id ask for some advice.

My ex racer has told me that under no circumstances will she be getting a hair cut. As you can imagine the mane has now become very unsightly and i cannot pull it even using a solo comb without her causing a MAJOR fuss. (rearing, trying to squish me, the lot). As soon as she so much as sees a mane comb she becomes the tallest animal ever seen (and im about 5 foot nothing)

Ive been told to sedate her however this seems like such a drastic option for such a small thing!

Do u think a calmer would help? if so which one should i use? any suggestions appreciated

Thanks
Lisa

[Eleanor]

Can you get anyone to help you? Either nose twitch her or skin twitch her and work fast! Sedation is a bit extreme, I doubt calmers will work for such a thing as as soon as the adhrenaline gets going you may as well forget the calmer that you have already given.

[babeelis]

thanks i have a twitch but she manages to get out of it within a few seconds. may have to get a better one. I thought that might happen with a calmer!

Lisa

[mellj]

Have you been working her before pulling her mane so that its less painful?

[polly]

confession time i cut mine with scissors i say pick your battles,save the twitch for emergency veterinary treatment, when they're at parties he's got plaits in and the rest of the time - well he'd rather be grazing than wrestling with me and a mane comb - also to consider is if you are going to plait him the last thing you need at 5 a.m. is him thinking your going to pull his mane and panicking

[chestnuttymare]

I think I would go with Polly, what is the point of stressing her out if it hurts that much. Granted, it doesn't look as nice but once it is plaited it won't matter.
You could also maybe try someone feeding her and just try and do a few strands with the solo comb at a time until she maybe gets used to it.

I have to admit to having the oddest horse. She totally loves getting her mane and tail pulled, the bottom lip hangs and she almost falls asleep. strange bird really.

[bingbong]

lol argent used to do the same thing but i just kept doing it until he relised i wasnt taking no for an answer and he eventually relised it was easier to just stand still and it would be over quicker.
yeh if you work them then the pores are open and it doesnt hurt as much also if you put oil of cloves on it numbs the area

failing that would about scisors, a rake or a solo comb? or just pulling the hairs out with your fingers and and doing a tiny bit each day without her noticing your doing it

[carla1]

Hi, I realise you posted this a good few days ago but thought I would add a few comments. For your horse to be so paranoid about getting her mane pulled suggests that this possibly has been done very roughly in the past during her racing life. Twitching her would only confirm that she has something to be concerned about, in my opinion. I doubt there is a "quick fix" to this dilemma and you will probably need to resign yourself to working away with this problem very slowly and perhaps just simply initially working your way along her mane simply tugging it very gently with your hand to let her see nothing drastic is going to happen. Then perhaps try to introduce the mane comb and even if she only lets you put it through one small section of mane at first it would be a start and gradually build up on that. It does sound however that even if she does let you comb her mane eventually, it is highly unlikely you will be able to actually pull it. It sounds like the solo comb will be the way to go. I don't suppose you can blame her. Think how bloody painful it is when you get a bikini wax for example !!!!!!!!!! And after it she doesn't even get to go on holiday !!!!!! To be honest, I often wonder why so many horses let us pull their manes without causing more of a fuss. I know I wouldn't like it. Good luck, because when all is said and done, I know it can be very frustrating.

Carla

[babeelis]

Thanks Carla

I decided not to twitch her and as u said have been working on simply combing her mane. This is no easy task with the amount of hair she has lol. But I have been sucessfull and she no longer minds this being done!

I will work up to pulling it and just have patience in the mean time. Im so proud of how much shes come on so far and starting to think that this problem will resolve in time also

Thanks everyone for ur comments its gr8 to have some feedback, everyone else at my yard seem to have such well behaved steeds xx

Lisa