# My Mare's Mane Won't Grow! What should I do?



## KodasSlvrWings (Feb 5, 2014)

I got my saddlebred/thoroughbred cross 2 years ago. She had obviously rubbed or another horse was biting her mane off, It was very thin and a jagged mess. I let it grow out a little and then trimmed it all even. Well it has been a year and a half since I trimmed it and it has only grown about 3-4 inches since. Her forelocks are what I call "pony forelocks" and are frizzy, fine and short! But her tale is thick, full and if I don't trim it every other month it is dragging the ground. I have tried vitamins, supplements for coats, MTG, leave in conditioner, and braiding it. The only time I ever bush it is when we are getting ready to go to a show, other then that I just run my fingers gently through it on a daily basis, it really never gets tangled. My other mares' have long full manes and they grow down past their shoulder in a matter of months. What can I do to help it grow more? Here are some pictures over the past 2 years and her mane's growth. 

**Yes I am aware that she is under weight in the pictures. She was a rescue and has Inflammatory Bowel Disease. After months of steroid injections and lots of visits with vets and equine nutritionists she is finely slowly putting on weight. 

About 2 months after I got her. 








After I trimmed it even (6 months later) 








In October (almost 1 1/2 after trimming it even)


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## Larissa (Jan 25, 2014)

Genetics and feed play a huge role in it. I would recommend getting her teeth checked, worming her, if she is on a sweet feed I would put her on oats or pellets,mI have had very good results with MTG, I would recommend to continue using it, give it time to work, and I would add flax seed or flax seed oil to her feed.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

Braiding! braiding seams to help my mare (and her once short tail)


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## Chasin Ponies (Dec 25, 2013)

Larissa said:


> Genetics and feed play a huge role in it. I would recommend getting her teeth checked, worming her, if she is on a sweet feed I would put her on oats or pellets,mI have had very good results with MTG, I would recommend to continue using it, give it time to work, and I would add flax seed or flax seed oil to her feed.


Larissa is right and genetics has a huge impact on how much hair a horse will grow. I have a gelding that could never grow a tail past his hocks although there was no problem growing a mane. I have a picture of his dam and she had no tail also!! MTG worked great for my "no tail" gelding but you have to use it several times a week and be consistent. Nothing works overnight. 
For the long term, make sure you never try to comb or brush the mane or tail while they are wet. Wet hair is weak and prone to breaking. Just buy a cheap bottle of "leave in" conditioner from the dollar store and gently separate out the strands by hand, working out the snarls and adding
conditioner.
If your horse is on steroids, they will have an effect on hair growth unfortunately. We have a middle aged rescued/retired racehorse at the barn that had been pumped full of steroids to keep him racing in the past and he is unable to grow much of a mane. The vet said the steroids he had in the past is one of the causes of this.
PS He's a real cutie!!


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## aureliusandoinky (Nov 28, 2013)

My gelding had a short patch for about 4 years and now suddenly it has started growing out. Nothing has changed except an up in exercise.


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Never use a brush or curry on it....fingerpick only and massage the crest daily too from forelock to withers.


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## Cielo Notturno (Sep 12, 2013)

There's a huge chance it will never grow much more than that. Nothing you can really do other than keeping her well fed and healthy.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Some horses grow manes and some don't. It's mostly genetics but diet can play a pretty large part as well.

You might try massaging MTG into it every few days and see if that helps, but my best advice? Accept her for the mane she's got (or doesn't have :wink and go on.


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## Morgause (Feb 12, 2014)

I kind of think worming her, like they said.
Some show horses, have there hair wrapped up, so it cant be chewed off.
I can see it is growing, and looks nice. :thumbsup:


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## dreambig92 (Feb 16, 2014)

I am growing out my pony's mane and tail right now, i keep it braided and unless braiding, i ONLY use a SOFT brush on it to make it look nice. I also groom twice a day. I ready sometime back that if you massage the follicles, it promotes growth. The idea seems to work great on her mane, but to be perfectly honest, im too lazy to do all that massaging on her tail.


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## AppleTime (Feb 19, 2014)

I would use Megatex-Rebuilder and just see if that helps it to kick start the growing.It really does work!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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