Braiding Tails For Winter!
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Braiding Tails For Winter!
First collect the necessary items: show sheen, old nylon stockings, electrician's tape, tail bag, scissors.
Clean & wash & rinse & condition the tail. Spin until Dry. Spray thoroughly with Show Sheen. Using only your fingers, comb the tail making sure that all tangles are completely worked out of the tail. Once fully dry you can begin to braid!
Take a pair of pantyhose (preferrably full of runs~!). Place the panty section at the top of the braid. Use the legs as you would a section of braid. Divide the tail in half, or thirds if it is exceptionally thick. Using the nylon sections, braid in from top to bottom the nylon sections in with the hair sections of the tail. Once finished braiding to the very end of the tail, secure the bottom of the braid with electrician's tape.
Take the bottom of the braid and fold upwards towards the back of the horse, pulling the end through the braid about 1" below the dock. Repeat this feed through process until the braided section is about 12" long. It is fine to continue to feed through at the same place 1" below the dock. Once completed, you may have two loops overtop of each other, or you may have five loops, it will all depend on the length of your horse's tail!
Now take electrician's tape and secure the tail loops at the top about 2" below the top loop through the base of the dock, and then about 2" above the bottom of the loops.
Pull the panty section at the top of the tail down over the braids & secure at the bottom with electrician's tape.
Slide a Tail Bag (preferably nylon) over the top of the nyloned braid & run the tab through the top of the braid, below the dock but above your braid loops. Taking electrician's tape, secure the top of the bag over the tab, making sure that it won't pull off!
During the winter, using this method, I leave the tail wrapped up as long as possible. If your horse is getting the bag very, very dirty, then repeat the entire process as often as is necessary. Each time you take the braid down, replace the pantyhose with a clean (but runned up) pair~!
Happy Tails To YOU!
