# Shaving off horses mane. Yes or No



## Yogiwick

Cutting it won't have any effect on the quality. You will just get rid of what is currently there, not change what is growing. The color (barring major nutrition issues) will be jet black if that is her natural color, though it will probably bleach again.


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## Yogiwick

Issue with post, sorry- read below!

Cutting/clipping it won't have any effect on the quality. You will just get rid of what is currently there, not change what is growing. The color (barring major nutrition issues) will be jet black if that is her natural color, though it will probably bleach again.

Just as with humans cutting does nothing to promote length or shine/health. It will grow slanted if you cut it slanted. Next time pull it though, it will look better 

IMO pull it and get the thickness down, do as much as is needed (clip if necessary)- then let it grow out as much as you can, continuing to pull/trim (NOT cut) it as needed to maintain what you have. Make sure her nutrition is optimal (always good anyways) and you can put something on the hair to keep it healthy and promote growth (I like MTG for growth). Once it's long enough keep it braided and continue to do all the maintenance stuff. Eventually just conditioning and if you want, MTG, as needed.

I have heard that paprika helps with sun bleaching, but the only thing that is 100% is keeping it out of the sun.


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## Speed Racer

Nobody can guarantee that your horse's mane will grow back the way you want. The same conditions that caused it to bleach will still be there, and you'll have to keep up on her grooming if you don't want it to tangle and form knots.

Roaching won't hurt it but if you're not going to care for it properly while the hair grows back, you're likely to end up with the same issues. You can moisturize and use a mane tamer while it grows out, which should help. Once it's grown out though, you still have to keep up on the grooming and moisturizing.


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## horselovinguy

Horses manes and tails along with their hooves are a indication many times of their nutritional needs being adequately met.

Yes, conditioning will help with brittleness, but healthy growth comes from within and takes time to happen.

I would not roach the mane.
I would pull the mane to thin out the thickness and "band" it to lay properly.

The next time a "knot" happens... I use baby formula hair detangler and work with much patience and my fingers taking the knot apart... it _is _tedious work.

If the horse is prone to knots and snarls, after getting the knot out, use some show-sheen or a product like this to help to keep the hairs from snarling so easily.
_
** when you pull that mane have her mane dirty and only a few strands at a time is easier on her and you than tugging... the "dirtiness of the hairs will make them easier to grip and remove by fingers than with a pulling comb and taking to much at once...ouch!**_

Good luck.


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## Bellasmom

Don't shave it! Not if your goal is to just let it grow out again. A roached mane takes FOREVER to get long enought to lay over and in the meantime it is just awkward and unattractive. I vote for working with what you've already got. As for the sun streaks....dark manes and tails get them if exposed to the sun, keep it conditioned and taken care of & it still should be healthy and shiny.


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## ButtInTheDirt

I asked this exact same question and ended up shaving my horse's mane anyhow. I had a filly with a wispy mane that was about four inches long but stuck straight up in the air and I couldn't for the life of me get it banded for our show. I gave her a full body clip, and just took the mane with it! People warned me that it would grow back slowly and wouldn't sit right for a long time, but I don't regret doing it. It now is growing back much thicker, due to all the hair being the same length. At the rate it is growing, it will probably take a year for it to get where it was if not longer.

I am sort of an advocate for hogging manes, as I've done it on several occasions. One gelding I had for training, with his owner's permission, I cut off his ratty, patchy, rubbed out, tangled mess of a mane. By the time he went back home, he had the most gorgeous black mane that was a few inches long and just perfect. Now it is a ratty, patchy, rubbed out, and tangled mess of a mane again. Oh well. But as long as horses are in my pasture I try everything in my power to keep them looking nice and feeling comfortable. If that means hogging their mane, so be it! It doesn't bother me, and the look is nice on some horses.

But once you make that decision you can't go back, so never let yourself go out to the barn with scissors in hand unless you are feeling in a rational mood. :lol: It takes a long time to grow back out for some horses, but being able to start from scratch and nurture it from the beginning can have its benefits. So far I've also hogged my Curly mare's mane. Some Curlies shed their manes in spring, her being one of them, and she had a patch left of hair that was probably a foot long that I snipped off. Also my miniature donkey, he had a scruffy mane and I said good riddance! So much cuter without it.

Pictures show my filly with her wiley mane, and now with her tamed, thick mohawk. Then of course the donkey, and lastly my Curly mare with her mane grown out a bit. It will grow a few inches tightly curled, then over time it straightens out and it will hang past her neck! Then, it all falls out and we start all over again.


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## CLaPorte432

if you do shave it, dont shave her forelock. That will just look silly. but a roached mane can look very nice and it does give you the chance to 'start over' per-say.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## 4horses

Add a vitamin/mineral supplement. Horse's bleach more when they are not getting the proper nutrients. 

You can try adding biotin- it will make the mane, tail, and hooves grow like crazy.

Proper hair care will prevent this from happening again. Do not cut knots off, that is a mistake. I got a rescue in one time, who's tail was one huge rat's nest. It took 3-4 hours to wash and detangle it. By the time I was done, she had a beautiful tail. All the hairs had wrapped around each other. By the time I was done her tail was dragging the ground.

Get a good detangler- I use mane and tail detangler. During the summer, a good moisturizer will help.


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## PixiTrix

ButtInTheDirt said:


> I asked this exact same question and ended up shaving my horse's mane anyhow. I had a filly with a wispy mane that was about four inches long but stuck straight up in the air and I couldn't for the life of me get it banded for our show. I gave her a full body clip, and just took the mane with it! People warned me that it would grow back slowly and wouldn't sit right for a long time, but I don't regret doing it. It now is growing back much thicker, due to all the hair being the same length. At the rate it is growing, it will probably take a year for it to get where it was if not longer.
> 
> I am sort of an advocate for hogging manes, as I've done it on several occasions. One gelding I had for training, with his owner's permission, I cut off his ratty, patchy, rubbed out, tangled mess of a mane. By the time he went back home, he had the most gorgeous black mane that was a few inches long and just perfect. Now it is a ratty, patchy, rubbed out, and tangled mess of a mane again. Oh well. But as long as horses are in my pasture I try everything in my power to keep them looking nice and feeling comfortable. If that means hogging their mane, so be it! It doesn't bother me, and the look is nice on some horses.
> 
> But once you make that decision you can't go back, so never let yourself go out to the barn with scissors in hand unless you are feeling in a rational mood. :lol: It takes a long time to grow back out for some horses, but being able to start from scratch and nurture it from the beginning can have its benefits. So far I've also hogged my Curly mare's mane. Some Curlies shed their manes in spring, her being one of them, and she had a patch left of hair that was probably a foot long that I snipped off. Also my miniature donkey, he had a scruffy mane and I said good riddance! So much cuter without it.
> 
> Pictures show my filly with her wiley mane, and now with her tamed, thick mohawk. Then of course the donkey, and lastly my Curly mare with her mane grown out a bit. It will grow a few inches tightly curled, then over time it straightens out and it will hang past her neck! Then, it all falls out and we start all over again.


That donkey does like adorable with the roach


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## Faye83

I shaved my horses mane in the summer because he was scratching it off and it was all uneven and looked horrible. Even now it seems like it hasnt grown at all and after I did it I realized how helpful it was before I cut it. He is super tall and I am super short so he is hard to get on to start with and then take away his mane and I think I stood there for 5 minutes the first time trying to figure out how to get on....also realized how much I hold on to it going up hills. I think next time I will just deal with what I have and never shave it off again.


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## Ashkat128

Careful with roaching. It does take a long time to grow back, and depending on the horse and breed sometimes never does. For example I wouldn't roach an Appaloosa... A student was grooming our old gelding one day and decided to take the clippers to his already spare mane rather than pick burrs... This is 8 year later.


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## saddlebredridder

I saved my filly's she rubbed parts out and it looked shabby. It is starting to grow back nice and thick. I love it. I also saved her forelock as she is a saddlebred and that is what we do but she looks nice and clean. Thinking about doing to the brood mare I just got her and she had knots all over her mane. I think I will once she settles down some.


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## Dustbunny

In the future, you can cut up through a knot instead of across. It might look a bit thinner in that spot but it will grow out.


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## ButtInTheDirt

With the gelding I roached I left a little patch at his wither to grab onto. I was breaking him to ride and he is 16 hands. It looked stupid, and I cut it after a while, but it was nice while it lasted. Also cutting vertically on knots has never been something ive done with horses, but with matted dogs it is a lifesaver. I can imagine it would work with a mane, but a really long one wouldnt look right with some pieces cut short.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## PattiLue

It depends on the confirmation of your horse whether or not to roach the mane. You should under no circumstances cut off the forelock. You need to get the horse on some kind of vitamin and mineral supplements. As for conditioning of the mane there are products such as cocoa soya that helps the entire coat, mane and tail. As for shines you can put a tablespoon of a good corn oil on the grain just as with your hair a horse requires good feed, fresh clean water, and the right vitamins and minerals. Check with your vet for suggestions for proper nutrition in your area. Once again there is nothing wrong with a roached mane, but it is not an instant cure.


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## AmazinCaucasian

If there are horseflies in your area, I wouldn't roach a mane at all


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## BoldComic

I hogged Comic's mane in June. Then I trimmed it every month through September to keep it standing up. I didn't trim it in Oct or Nov and it is now long enough to lay over. You'd be amazed at how quickly it will grow back. I say go for it. But then again, I love the mohawk look


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## acorn

Ashkat128 said:


> Careful with roaching. It does take a long time to grow back, and depending on the horse and breed sometimes never does. For example I wouldn't roach an Appaloosa... A student was grooming our old gelding one day and decided to take the clippers to his already spare mane rather than pick burrs... This is 8 year later.
> 
> View attachment 327282


 WOW! REALLY? Eight years and it never grew back?
I am occasionally tempted to roach my 13 year old apps mane and then I think of the times that wispy mane has saved my bacon.

A couple of years ago she had to go to Auburn for a non-healing ulcer in her eye and they braided the lavage tube into her mane. Another time I was glad I hadn't roached her mane.

I do think she would look nicer with a roached mane but for me the benefits of the mane outweigh the looking better.


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## HeelsSouth

My Haffie mare's coat used to get really sunbleached in the summer, since they are out 24/7. I heard that paprika worked well to stop sunbleaching, so I tried it, and it really does work! She stayed sleek and shiny all summer, and even now, with her winter coat, it's still a rich copper tone. She didn't get grain in the summer, so I just made treats with about 2 tablespoons of paprika in them, mixed with oats, molasses, and flax meal, I believe. Now that she's on grain, she just gets 2 tablespoons on top of it, and half a cup of whole flax seeds for her coat, hair and hooves. I've definitely seen inprovement in all 3; hair and coat is much stronger and shinier, and hooves are tougher (not that they were ever really weak, but she foundered before we bought her and since then has had lines in her hooves. These have finally almost grown out). So maybe you could try that, or any coat/hooves supplement with biotin and such, to help grow the hair out.

What I would do, if she were my horse, would be to work in some non-silicone based detangler product and just use my fingers and maybe a soft-bristled hair brush (like the human ones at the store) and get out all the tangles and knots, _without_ ripping out or cutting any hairs. Then, I would take a pulling comb and scissors and pull it to thin it a bit. Using the scissors, it would cut the ends sort of at an angle and in a lot of short, quick snips, so it gives the mane a sort of more jagged, natural look. Finally, depending on how long it is, I would loosely braid it to keep it tangle-free and help it grow. Take the braids out every 1-2 weeks, condition the mane with some detangling/conditioning product, then rebraid. Like others said, make sure she is getting enough vitamins. If her mane still gets bleached even with paprika, I know they have mane bags (like tail bags, but for the mane), so those might help. 
That's what I would do at least. Good luck! And maybe some pictures, so we can visualize it?


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