# How to properly hog a mane?



## ImpulsiveLucy (Oct 8, 2012)

Alrighty guys  I'm heading out to our first show of the year with my Appy mare Lucy. And she has a true appy mane.. Very thin, wispy and fine. Pretty much non-existent. 

Last weekend at the regional App show there were a few horses there with hogged manes. One of the ladies even had a before and after picture of her horse. WOW! Totally different look! Much cleaner! I of course didn't ask her how she clipped it...

So do any of you guys know how to properly hog a mane? Do you do the forelock too? 

Thanks guys


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## IndiesaurusRex (Feb 23, 2011)

With the forelock, it can depend on the horse's face. We'd normally take it off, but we have one horse who, when we lifted his forelock back, his huge white face made him look like a Hereford cow, so we left his on :lol:

We normally just get a pair of standard clippers, do one fell swoop from bottom to top, then an angled cut from bottom to top on either side, so it doesn't look too square and blunt.

The big question is though, does he have the neck to pull it off? :wink:


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I'm also wondering about the neck. Some horses can pull it off









and some can't (hers isn't actually hogged, its' braided, but you can see how she would look if it had been hogged)










As for how to do it... on a horse with a good neck, I'd probably take it all the way down with the clippers; the same way that you trim a bridle path except all the way down.

If he's got a neck that maybe isn't so great, you might be able to sort of arch his mane. Think like a fjord haircut









Leaving it longer in the middle of the neck and cutting it shorter near the withers and poll will give an otherwise flatter/thinner neck the appearance of thickness with a very nice arch.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Ugh, duplicate post...


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## BekahBear (Jan 16, 2008)

post some pictures of your mare so we can see how she is put together and what her mane looks like now. it will help us to give you pointers of how you should roach her mane and what will look best on her. 

every horse is different. when star was little he liked to rub out sections of his mane so i roached is a few times. he has a nice neck so i could just roach it all the way down but some horses look better if you taper it a bit to give then a rounder topline on their neck. personally, i am not usually a fan of roaching the forelock. i think most horses look weird without it but i have seen a couple that could pull it off.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

I hogged my friend's QH's mane. it was thin and rubbed off. He is a huge stocky horse with a big 'manly' neck and he looks quite good XD.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

you grab ahold of it, wrap your arms around it and, yell out, "MINE MINE ALL MINE"!


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Oh, Joe. :rofl:


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

I think im going to die laughing! 
The term I know for shaving the mane off a roaching it.


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## BekahBear (Jan 16, 2008)

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:


Joe4d said:


> you grab ahold of it, wrap your arms around it and, yell out, "MINE MINE ALL MINE"!


Bwahahahaha!! :rofl: that comment made my day


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

If your horse has a skinny or ewe neck , dont roach / hog it off. Leave some hair by withers, and leave her forelock. clip from the neck/base of the mane in toward the center of the mane . do this on both sides so there are not ridges left. If you dont know how ask someone who does . You dont want to go to show clipped wrong.


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## poppy1356 (Jan 18, 2012)

Just took a clippers to hers. Eyeball it to make it look even.


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