# Tail Protector in Pastures?



## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

Personally, I would not put anything long term (like longer than a few hours, and even then.....only very carefully) on the bone portion of the tail. I have just heard too many horror stories about tails falling off.:shock:

Just not worth it, IMO. My suggestion would be the braid with Vetwrap below the bone, but you said you have tried that, so, guess I am out of ideas.:?


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## Quedeme (Aug 6, 2008)

Well I never heard of a horse's tail falling 'off', but I did hear it's bad to leave tight things on the tail for long periods of time.

Thank you for your opinion and advice though!


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## CCH (Jan 23, 2011)

I think the better question is: Why is your mare's poop so loose or covered with mucous as to leave more than a tiny bit here or there in her tail? Is it more poop than urine, or more urine stains than poop? Are the stains from the end of the tail bone up or below the end of the tail bone?

You will not be able to make her lift her tail higher than she already does. I don't believe that her tail is too heavy for her to lift unless she had on a fake tail or weighted tail. You may also want to check to see if she had had an injury or "alteration" that is preventing tail movement.

A personal review on the Pro-choice tail covers - They do not fit horses with large/fat/thick hair on their tail heads. They don't stay up very well on tails that are clean or slicked up with product. They are not meant for more than overnight use.

Have you tried braiding & socking and then vet wrapping the base? If you do tue get wrap, you must be extremely mindful of not pulling too much and over-tightening. The vet wrap can be left on for about a day, as long as it doesn't get wet or dirty, before you should change it. Only bag or wrap tails on horses who are in a safe environment where it won't get caught on anything.


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## Northern (Mar 26, 2010)

Please do NOT braid a tail for turnout! A horse doesn't need to bat himself with a braid when he swishes at flies, & it deprives a horse from pair-swishing with another horse!

I have no experience with the wrap at base of tail, sorry! Naturally, I'd be concerned about impeding circulation, so please err on the side of caution.

ETA: I know the braid didn't work for OP: I'm saying this for all readers.


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## Katze (Feb 21, 2011)

Northern said:


> Please do NOT braid a tail for turnout! A horse doesn't need to bat himself with a braid when he swishes at flies, & it deprives a horse from pair-swishing with another horse!
> 
> I have no experience with the wrap at base of tail, sorry! Naturally, I'd be concerned about impeding circulation, so please err on the side of caution.
> 
> ETA: I know the braid didn't work for OP: I'm saying this for all readers.


Iv'e been reading soooooo many posts on bagging, wrapping, braiding your horses tail & mane, and only re-doing them weekly that I was starting to think that I was wrong in what I was taught. Thank goodness I havn't totally lost my mind (yet:wink and ye old school way of thinking of leaving thier manes and tails alone is still alive ****.


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## Quedeme (Aug 6, 2008)

She doesn't have a problem lifting her tail, she DOES, but the actual hair hangs down and gets bits of poo in it. 

I don't really want to bag or any of that because I want her to have it for flies and such, I just don't want it to be SO filthy all the time. And, it's not that her stool is loose, it's normal, but her hair is course so it kind of 'cuts' into the poo and that's when it gets dirty.

All well, I'll figure SOMETHING out lol


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## Coyote (Oct 23, 2010)

Would it be possible to trim the hair around the bottom of her tailbone (under the actual tail) where it is getting dirty? If her tail is very thick already it could be a solution for a while and depending on the amount trimmed might not be very noticeable at all. Just a stray thought.


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## Quedeme (Aug 6, 2008)

I've attempted that once, and as SOON as it starts to grow out...she has a HUGE bush lol. Butt bush looks funny!


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## Katze (Feb 21, 2011)

Quedeme said:


> I've attempted that once, and as SOON as it starts to grow out...she has a HUGE bush lol. Butt bush looks funny!


****, poor you, looks like you either havto put up with butt bush or poo tail XD

Maybe cutting it a bit shorter will make it easier to lift for her? What length is her tail?


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## ButtInTheDirt (Jan 16, 2011)

You could always thin out her tail somehow so it is easier for her to lift.

And as for tails falling off, it could very well be possible. Theirs two main ways people usually dock tails [on animals that regularly get their tails docked]. One is just cutting it off, then stiching up the end of the nub. The other way is banding, where the circulation is cut off and the tail eventually will just fall off. The whole banding thing could potentially happen if the circulation to the tail is cut off for a long period of time.

With a horse it would probably take a couple weeks, but then again, I've never banded a horse's tail so I wouldn't know. With puppies it takes only three days and it is usually done when they are a few days old. If someone was ignorant and put on a tightly wrapped tail "protector" for weeks on end they might not have any tail on their horse.


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## Quedeme (Aug 6, 2008)

I have thought of cutting some of the hair off because her tail is nearly to the ground! It's huge and thick and heavy. I thought about it because my other horse had a SERIOUS matt in it (from previous owner) and only way to get it out was to cut it out and I ended up bobbing his tail a few inches below the bone area. I kind of like the look to be honest and I'd much rather spray her with fly spray than comb/wash out poo every time I went to groom her! lol.

Also...there will be no 'docking' of tails. As foals it's one thing, but 6 years old is a bit too old for me to be ok with it, and I'm not one to really like it to begin with.


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