# Fake tails?



## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

From what I've heard, it's just a points getter for appearances. It's not something you can generally leave on a horse for a long time, but there are specialty ones that will help if your horse has lost a lot of tail and needs a fly swatter.


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## newhorsemom (Jun 20, 2008)

Is this just at a 4-h level, or high level showing too? Is it breed specific?

If they get points for appearances than I definitely don't get it because I don't think they look that much better than a natural tail, unless the horse has a really thin or nasty tail. Shows what I know, huh?!


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## ohmyitschelle (Aug 23, 2008)

A false tail is simply for looks... a fuller tail enhances a horse's back end. I don't know how things go over in America, but here in the Showring, 60% of a judge's opinion of a horse is based on conformation (or should in as it's in the showing rule book.... but realistically its all a game of luck)... if a particular horse has a wispy tail, and it affects the back end in some manner (and can not be hidden with a different length of tail etc), then some turn to fake tails to emphasise what a full tail on that horse should do. 

I personally wouldn't use a false tail, but I'm not a huge showing person... I do however get what it does and how it affects the overall picture... if you want to make sure your horse's conformation is presented in the best way, then you''ll use whatever you can (thats obviously legal!) to help your placings... after all, you don't pay out all this money not to get anywhere all the time!
x


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

It's kind of a breed thing. It is ILLEGAL to put a fake tail on an arab. At the QH shows you will almost NEVER see someone showing w/out a fake tail. Hunt shows, Only the QH riders use the tails that I've seen......

actually, speed eventers don't use them at the QH shows...


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

newhorsemom said:


> Personally, I don't think they look that great, but maybe I just don't get it.


I think fake tails look....well...fake..., but I'm not a judge.


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## Angel_Leaguer (Jun 13, 2008)

I use them in my QH. They really enhance the look of the horse. I used them in the lower level 4-H shows to state shows. Im pretty sure for AQHA the tail has to be attached hair-to-hair... meaning no strings etc... I put the tail in before the show and then take out after my last class. It is a few day show I will take out every night and put back in for the morning. 

If people dont know how to put the tails in right it can look pretty bad. I attach the tail on top of the tail bone so that if the horse swishes the tail it looks like one. It takes time to learn... 

My tail for Chloe is about 3/4lb and 36 inches long. Aprils tail has been growing out really nice so "fingers crossed" wont need one next year. Otherwise Im going to have to buy a longer and heavier tail. Im lucky though cause both horses need black and black is cheaper then the rest. Here is a pic of Chloes tail...


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## newhorsemom (Jun 20, 2008)

Call me crazy, but I think Chloe's tail looks terrific as-is. I really do. I don't think it would look better with the fake extension. Sounds like this is mostly a QH/show thing and we aren't into showing (yet...) nor do we have a QH, so I obviously don't quite get it. But your horse's tail is beautiful.


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## newhorsemom (Jun 20, 2008)

Hahaha!! I just realized that that may be Chloe's tail WITH the extension  - if so it doesn't look so bad! Maybe it's just the ones that are straight across the bottom that swish back and forth that I don't like as much.


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## Angel_Leaguer (Jun 13, 2008)

newhorsemom said:


> Hahaha!! I just realized that that may be Chloe's tail WITH the extension  - if so it doesn't look so bad! Maybe it's just the ones that are straight across the bottom that swish back and forth that I don't like as much.


LOL...that is with the fake tail. Alot of people dont realize it and they will come up to me at shows and comment about how full of a tail she has and they grab it and are like "its fake????" Ya its interesting in the different tail styles are out there and how people put them in.


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## newhorsemom (Jun 20, 2008)

I'm such a dork!!!

I have to admit that I haven't seen too many - at least that I'm aware of! Chloe's tail fooled me! The few that I've seen/noticed look fake and I just don't think they look that great. Maybe I've only noticed the bad ones. As far as the good ones go do they really enhance the horses look that much? In other words, is Chloe's natural tail bad, or just mediocre?


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## kickshaw (May 7, 2008)

I think the way a switch affects the overall appearance is how it's installed: 

good: 











bad:


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## Angel_Leaguer (Jun 13, 2008)

newhorsemom said:


> I'm such a dork!!!
> 
> I have to admit that I haven't seen too many - at least that I'm aware of! Chloe's tail fooled me! The few that I've seen/noticed look fake and I just don't think they look that great. Maybe I've only noticed the bad ones. As far as the good ones go do they really enhance the horses look that much? In other words, is Chloe's natural tail bad, or just mediocre?


I dont personally like her tail... here are a couple pics of Grace showing her this summer (the girl who leases her) I didnt let her use the tail when i wasnt at the show... they are spendy things, lol. The other pic is a moving shot with the tail.


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## Supermane (Sep 23, 2007)

It's not just qhs. A girl at my barn use to have one on her chestnut thoroughbred. I think it looked great. I'm even toying with the idea of getting Herbie one for bigger shows. Ours get braided in so you can hardly tell the difference (unless you get the wrong color, which I have seen)


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## ohmyitschelle (Aug 23, 2008)

Supermane said:


> It's not just qhs. A girl at my barn use to have one on her chestnut thoroughbred. I think it looked great. I'm even toying with the idea of getting Herbie one for bigger shows. Ours get braided in so you can hardly tell the difference (unless you get the wrong color, which I have seen)


Hahah I've seen some horribly matched tails before! What are some people thinking?!
I think Evo's tail is really sparse... but I dont know if I can be bothered with a false tail for him... I'm only doing showing for a little while and then moving him into dressage... and because I'll only be at the lower levels, I don't think I need the false tail.
Bailey's is so thick, and Honey's is a little thin too. Lucky I'm not a show diva 
x


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## PG'sGal4ever (Sep 25, 2008)

I used a Fake tails on my paint horse a couple years ago when she lost of her tail and it gave her a better apperance, Now that im showing my pg on the Tw Circuit were not allowed to use fake tails and I hate that he doesnt have a nice long tail, but were slowly getting it longer.


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## LauraB (Nov 11, 2008)

I absolutely always use one when showing my paint gelding but I would never think of using one with my mini. It just depends on the breed. In some breeds it adds to the appearance and some it detracts. The black and sorrel or chestnut tails are cheaper to buy, the flaxen, white, and gray tails are much more expensive. My horse's tail is just a little lighter and less red than a sorrel tail and it cost $75 more than the regular sorrel tail next to it. They also hold up very well as long as you take care of it. Cliff's tail is almost 8 years old and is still looking good. Cliff's real tail isn't bad and it is fairly thick but I like the appearance of the blunt cut bottom that the fake tail adds.


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

I have seen and know a lot of owners who use them for showing. Showing isn't based on a tail. I personally don't have the money or would want to spend a couple hundred dollars on a tail because of the looks. 

It's one of those things thats more a preference thing.


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## kickshaw (May 7, 2008)

they do last forever! We had several tails at the ASB barn I worked at that looked fabulous at 40+ years old!


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## Angel_Leaguer (Jun 13, 2008)

kickshaw said:


> they do last forever! We had several tails at the ASB barn I worked at that looked fabulous at 40+ years old!


Ya i bought mine off of ebay about 6 years ago for $50... it was new also. I look from time to time and I cant seem to find that kind of deal...

I thought ASB where suppose to be shown at natural mane and tail? Or is that just Arabs?


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

For some reason I find so disturbing to attach hair to a tail to make it look fuller. Not really sure what it is but it is just odd.


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## bgood400 (Nov 10, 2008)

At the QH shows you almost never see a horse being shown without one. It makes the picture prettier, and appears to be more balanced.


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## bgood400 (Nov 10, 2008)

My2Geldings said:


> For some reason I find so disturbing to attach hair to a tail to make it look fuller. Not really sure what it is but it is just odd.


the extensions are made out of real horse hair.


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

bgood400 said:


> the extensions are made out of real horse hair.


Oh I know. Specialized horse shows like the AQHA and the arab circuit is always popular in using tail extensions. As posted in another thread, have you ever thought about the fact you are using the tail of an animal that went thru a slaughter pen? just a thought


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## kickshaw (May 7, 2008)

ours don't come from slaughter bound horses!

saddlebred switches (well, most of them, anyway) come from other saddlebreds...retirees, broodmares, etc. 

There was one horse at the ASB farm I worked at that had a tail 20 feet long...when he retired, they cut off the length and had a switch made ;-)

I have seen the one's with "real skin"...those are disturbing. These have yarn/nylon as the backing


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## Siggav (Nov 21, 2008)

I keep running into "horse culture" culture shocks. Heh..

I had no idea it was even possible to put a fake tail on a horse. I had noticed that the tails on the show QH I'd seen clips off looked rather odd. As in they were so evenly cut and I don't know. Moved a bit oddly but I just put it down to me not being used to very heavily groomed tails. (I'm by far most used to Icelandic horses that have just big dirt brushed out of their tails regularily (as in clumps of mud and grass if it gets stuck etc) but are pretty much never brushed all the way through.

I also didn't know you could tie the tail up and wrap or put conditioner and stuff like that on it.

I knew that the general horse keeping back home is fairly "au naturel" so to speak but I don't think I quite realised how big a difference it is


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## kickshaw (May 7, 2008)

Angel_Leaguer said:


> I thought ASB where suppose to be shown at natural mane and tail? Or is that just Arabs?


Arabs are always shown natural mane and tail

For saddlebreds, it depends on what class you are showing in...pleasure classes have full manes and tails, while park, 3-gaited and 5 gaited and fine harness wear switches (well, not all of them, just the ones who need it ;-) )


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## LadyDreamer (Jan 25, 2008)

There is big money in tails. The next time you see a gray horse go through an auction, look at the length and fullness of his tail. If it is long and thick, you could probably sell that tail for more than you pay for the horse.


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## minihorse927 (Aug 11, 2008)

I know the ASB barn I use to work at owned at least 40 of them. One for every horse color under the sun. They were never noticeable in the ring as being fake. As it was said before, it depends on if you know how to put one in right or not.


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## Angel_Leaguer (Jun 13, 2008)

kickshaw said:


> Arabs are always shown natural mane and tail
> 
> For saddlebreds, it depends on what class you are showing in...pleasure classes have full manes and tails, while park, 3-gaited and 5 gaited and fine harness wear switches (well, not all of them, just the ones who need it ;-) )


Thanks!!! I learn something new everyday


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## arastangrider (Jan 5, 2008)

My friend went to appy world show in wp a few years ago she and everyone else but two horses had fake tails when the horses move I don't care how you put um in they were fake and you know it. I feel that when your showing your horse as someone else mentioned it has alot to do with your comformation and with a full tail it adds to the horse but if its fake isn't that making your horse into somthing its not Id rather see 20 appys with barley any tails jogging around the arena at least its real. Another reason people use fake tail is because with stock horses they are supossed to have a low tail set and when I boarded at a QH barn they were trying on different weight tails on a horse so his tail would be weighted down. I'm not saying thats wrong or right every breed does wierd stuff (arabs weighted reins)


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## bgood400 (Nov 10, 2008)

My2Geldings said:


> Oh I know. Specialized horse shows like the AQHA and the arab circuit is always popular in using tail extensions. As posted in another thread, have you ever thought about the fact you are using the tail of an animal that went thru a slaughter pen? just a thought


If you dont use one at AQHA shows it makes you look inexperienced and out of place, so basicly you have to use one.


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## sandsarita (Jan 20, 2008)

bgood400 said:


> If you dont use one at AQHA shows it makes you look inexperienced and out of place, so basicly you have to use one.


There are some horses that can compete at AQHA shows without fake ones, but they are few and far between. I remember waiting for a Trail class and hearing somebody mention that my mare's "fake" tail was too heavy (had more hair than needed). It was her real tail, and the two foals she has had have those huge tails as well. Some horses just have it, some don't. Another friend who has won two AQHA Amateur world champs competed at the World show and placed just a couple of years ago in multiple events (including showmanship) without putting a fake tail in or using hoof black. You can get it to work on occasion and with good care of the tail, just not often. 

Oh, and I'm not against them at all. My gelding needs one, and has never stepped into the ring at an AQHA show without one.


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## bgood400 (Nov 10, 2008)

sandsarita said:


> There are some horses that can compete at AQHA shows without fake ones, but they are few and far between. I remember waiting for a Trail class and hearing somebody mention that my mare's "fake" tail was too heavy (had more hair than needed). It was her real tail, and the two foals she has had have those huge tails as well. Some horses just have it, some don't. Another friend who has won two AQHA Amateur world champs competed at the World show and placed just a couple of years ago in multiple events (including showmanship) without putting a fake tail in or using hoof black. You can get it to work on occasion and with good care of the tail, just not often.
> 
> Oh, and I'm not against them at all. My gelding needs one, and has never stepped into the ring at an AQHA show without one.


I wasnt saying that all horses need one. We had a 3 yr old that had an absolutely beautiful tail. We didnt need to put one in him, his natural tail looked the same as those horses that had fake tails in.


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## WesternPleasure27 (Nov 9, 2008)

I don't have to use a fake one on my Paint mare...her tail is HUGE.
I'll be getting one for my gelding though.


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## pleasurehorse11 (Dec 1, 2008)

Fake tails are most common with quarter horses, paints, and appalosas . i don't know anything about the trends of other breeds ( i am a little breed prejudice, what can i say i like my quarters, and give a lot of credit to those who ride the more high spirited horses) Personally i like the look of an artificial tail whether its tapered or a blunt end it makes the horses end look much more muscular and its just pretty lol. A fake tail isn't required at any show that i am aware of. At all of the breed specific shows most horses will have fake tails and at the county i show at most QH and Paints will have a fake tail but it is not required anywhere.


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## Junebug (Jan 18, 2009)

bgood400 said:


> If you dont use one at AQHA shows it makes you look inexperienced and out of place, so basicly you have to use one.


 This girl Knows what she is talking about, hehe, You look like a a sore thumb in a AQHA show, and at congress there anit nobody without one!
And it finishs off the horse and evens them out. A mimimal expense you have to pay at a AQHA show.


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## lizzie_magic (Sep 18, 2008)

I borrowed a fake tail for the last show I went to, my horse has a really pathetic tail so it really helped, I think they look good.


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## ALYJOMOFO (Dec 30, 2008)

CacheDawnTaxes said:


> Oh I know. Specialized horse shows like the AQHA and the arab circuit is always popular in using tail extensions. As posted in another thread, have you ever thought about the fact you are using the tail of an animal that went thru a slaughter pen? just a thought



it is absolutely illegal to use tail extensions when showing arabians at any level... you wont see them class "A" or anywhere


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## TipTop (Mar 2, 2007)

Morgans are not allowed to use fake tails.


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## irisheyes12 (May 19, 2008)

I think it depends a lot on what region you're from. They're very popular in TX and AZ but not so much here in MD. A lot of associations don't allow them.


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## toosleepy (Jan 14, 2009)

I was lucky enough for to have a horse with an awsome natural tail. this picture shows his real tail. If he didn't have as nice of a tail, for sure i'd have an extention in his tail.


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## CobbleStep (Jan 24, 2009)

Some horses, like lots of Appy's, have very short tails. I'm not sure, though, interesting question.
__________________________________________________ __________
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## SaddleUp158 (Dec 26, 2008)

At the moment Morgans are not allowed to use fake tails. Now, there is something going around that is either contemplating or has decided to allow fake tails in the future. I heard about it at nationals, but cannot remember if they were saying the morgans will be allowed to use them or if it was just being reconsidered.


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## Walkamile (Dec 29, 2008)

Being a trailrider, fake tails are totally foreign to me, however I am very curious to know how they would be attached. How do you care for them once attached?


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