# Haflinger Mane Problems



## IndiesaurusRex (Feb 23, 2011)

Princess Bubblegum said:


> Well, half of my Haflinger's mane is about a a foot long. The other half, on the same side, is about 6 inches long. I really don't know how it happened, probably rubbing/ripping it out.. But anyway, my question.. Should I roach it, or just cut it all to 6 inches?
> 
> She's only doing drill team this year so no real showing or anything (I might show her, but I definitely don't take my showing seriously.. LOL.) so I don't mind if she looks crazy for a while, really..


If it were me I would probably pull it all to the same length and let it grow out from there (cut the long parts first to a slightly shorter length then pull from there). Personally I think cutting the mane looks atrocious - you can get the solo combs that do a similar job but I don't think they ever look as good as a well pulled mane. Hogging (across the pond term for roaching) the mane would pretty much have the same effect, it would just take a lot longer to grow out if you love her having a long mane.

My next port of call would be working out how and where she was rubbing it out on, and making sure she can't do it again, else the problem will just repeat itself. Does she get irritated by flies, was she not getting groomed enough and getting itchy? After you've sorted out how it looks, you want to go for prevention techniques so you don't end up with crazy mane again :wink:


----------



## LoveHaflingers (Feb 11, 2012)

Hey fellow Haflinger owner!
I'm lucky enough to have a Haflinger that is so vain she would never dream of rubbing out her mane, but this winter, I decided to try to grow it out a bit, since it was only 6-8 inches long and kinda thin. I ended up using MTG, and wow! That stuff works! I put it in 1-2 times a week, and it really helped grow it out! Now, it does smell like barbeque sauce, but that fades away after a few days. I did it in the winter, so I couldn't wash it out, but if I could, I probably would have washed it out before reapplying it. It makes the hair a bit greasy.

As for how to cut it, I think I would do it like Indiesaurusrex said above; cut to a few inches within the shorter hair, then pull to the same length as the shorter hair. You could roach it, but it would take a long time to grow back, or even to grow enough to not be sticking straight up. 

And do find out if it was chewing or rubbing, because then you could fix whatever it is she's rubbing on, and not turn her out with the chewer. I've also found my mare really likes it when I stick my fingers deep in her mane and give her a good scratching. He'd probably like that!

Wow, long. Ooops.


----------



## 2horses (Oct 11, 2009)

Since it is a Haflinger, and they're supposed to have the long, thick mane, I would just trim it to an even length. I don't even think I would bother with pulling it. It might look funny for a while, but it shouldn't take as much time for it to grow long and thick again.


----------



## Princess Bubblegum (Jul 3, 2012)

I just got her back a couple weeks ago. I'm not too worried about her rubbing/whatever happened at that place happening at my own house.

I'll post pictures tomorrow morning, because it's really weird.. I definitely don't want to pull it, LOL. It's like 4 inches thick on both sides.. And then it'd just grow back weird again, right?


----------

