# Plaiting!



## speedy da fish

How do you plait your horses mane and tail?
I think when it comes to showing my boy I will put golf balls in his mane and just leave his tail (brushed but not plaited) and another thing is her kicks so how would i tie a red ribbon on him without it looking lame?

I love plaiting manes, What do you call the plaits? At pony club (long time ago ) we called them Golf Balls for boys and Rose Buds for mares lol (only for fun) and that kinda stuck!

also there was a Haflinger (maybe a cross) and we did his mane like this because it was long!








^haflinger in photo^


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## Jessabel

For shows I usually put my horse's mane in buds and French braid his tail like this:










For the ribbon, you could plait his tail and work the ribbon into the plait somehow, then leave the two ends loose at the bottom. I don't know how to explain it... :?


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## Horsel02

When I showed my half arab I french braided his mane, forelock, and tail. It loos really nice when it is done. I have also did the diamond pattern in my hafl arabs mane once fun and it is really a cool one to do if done right. My paint i show western pleasure and halter so I band his mane.


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## Honeysuga

Looking lame should be the least of your worries with a kicker. Put it in however it is most visible to other riders or you could get in trouble for not clearly showing that he is a kicker...


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## speedy da fish

Jessabel said:


> For shows I usually put my horse's mane in buds and French braid his tail like this:
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> For the ribbon, you could plait his tail and work the ribbon into the plait somehow, then leave the two ends loose at the bottom. I don't know how to explain it... :?


yeah i know what you mean! im not sure about plaiting hid tail at all :?, he is really fussy with his back side!


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## Amir

I'm letting my arab's mane grow as long as it can unless it gets all manky and uneven, then it will be pulled even to the shortest bit.
Since it's easily a foot long and thus too long to rosette, I do a running braid unless I'm bored and have the time then I'll do a net like you did on the Haflinger and then braid his forelock normally and french braid his tail.
My Appy X QH mare I'm showing soon will have a braided forelock, shaved tail and we're still deciding if we want to hog the mane or attempt to braid it. It never looks that nice rosetted.


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## HorsePride

Ugh, i hate plaiting!


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## Gidji

Do the button braids or golf balls (whatever you call them in the UK) for his mane and french braid his forelock. If you can't braid his tail due to the fact he's a kicker, just make sure its clean and brushed out. Make sure you get the ribbon in it too. If you feel concerned out standing behind him make him back up to a stall door or a hay bale, get someone to hold him and stand on the other side of the object and tie it in. Even if he does kick back, it won't hurt you he'll just kick the object. I know that doesn't sound nice at all but its a lot better than you getting kicked.


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## XivoShowjumper

I usually do rosettes and a french braid in the forelock and tail- as shown above..

but i have a quarab and his mane is a bit too thick for me to bother pulling coz he has a wide crest so i do a short scallop on him


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## brookelovesparelli

WOW xsj how did you do that?


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## speedy da fish

brookelovesparelli said:


> WOW xsj how did you do that?


yeah its amazing! my horse's crest is wide too so it may be worth me learning that one.



Gidji said:


> Do the button braids or golf balls (whatever you call them in the UK) for his mane and french braid his forelock. If you can't braid his tail due to the fact he's a kicker, just make sure its clean and brushed out. Make sure you get the ribbon in it too. If you feel concerned out standing behind him make him back up to a stall door or a hay bale, get someone to hold him and stand on the other side of the object and tie it in. Even if he does kick back, it won't hurt you he'll just kick the object. I know that doesn't sound nice at all but its a lot better than you getting kicked.


good ideas, when he is tied in this stable his back-side is close to the wall anyway, so i think that would work.


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## XivoShowjumper

sorry for the late reply guys-


so plait them as though u were doing rosettes or hunters-

just a small plait- depending on the length here comes the tricky bit


you can either stitch it under the next plait - for a 10-15 cm mane ( u just have to see how far it will reach)

or for the proper version 

skip one and stitch it to the next ( you will need a longer mane for this one- but it looks cool coz they crossover so the length of the finished braids should be the same as the above one)


heres a pic so u kinda know where the crossover ones go


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## brookelovesparelli

WOW! IM so trying this on my girl next weekend for the show, thanks SOOO much! just another quick question, what do you do with the last plait? it would have no 'friend' to link to.

Thanks again!


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## speedy da fish

oh i see! im going to try it on my boys mane, its quite long!


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## jumper25

XivoShowjumper that is such a nice plait!

I love plaiting! Whenever I showed my old pony I would put his mane in a french braid like this...


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## HeatherSkippy

I cannot plait. :l x


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## masatisan

I don't show, but sometimes I like to braid/plait Caleb's mane just for fun or to get it out of the way for schooling.

This is the best one, quick and relatively easy:








Right side:









Here is the style the O.P posted:









I was going to do that for a parade we went in, but he decided to get all dirty so I ran out of time and had to do a regular running braid, and I ran a little string of battery operated LED lights through it (the parade was at night), we got a lot of comments.


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## XivoShowjumper

well i havent been on for a while sorry guys- but with the last one i like to just fold it in half and sew it to itself- but i guess u could do a hunter braid or whatever really?


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