# How to put up a tail for winter...



## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I just braid them. The braids will stay in for a week, easy...I take the tail out once a week, and recondition and braid over again.


----------



## ilovestitch (Dec 22, 2006)

I would say a braid would be fine but the only caution to that is i have seen horses that have never noticeably chewed a tail before, then tails were braided and all but 1 horses tail were chewed off in 3 days of not being watched, it made it easy to know who the tail chewer was but its such a bad thing to have happen. So thats my only horror story about braiding, so just make sure you dont have a tail chewer.


----------



## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I've been braiding my current horses for a couple weeks, now, and no one chews, so no worries here. Lol!


----------



## Nita (May 24, 2007)

lol thanks. I've been doing that, but most of mine seem to be houdini's and they can get a braid out without even trying haha.

And now their tail's are icing up. Hmm. I am not going to trim them, but what about braiding a tail and then rolling it up and taking a little bit of thread to hold it in place? do you guys think that would work?


----------



## PechosGoldenChance (Aug 23, 2009)

So, I was just taking a look back and noticed no one replied to your last reply. I just posted a thread on how long to leave a tail bag on. What I would do, is braid the tail, than take some vet wrap and wrap it up, but (and I'm sure you know this) don't wrap it up on the tail bone, wrap it just below the tail bone (if you wrap it on the tail bone it can cause some serious damage). I'm sure you already know what your going to do though, just thought I'd give in my little bit of information lol


----------



## PaintingMissy (Nov 9, 2009)

At my barn we take old tube socks, cut the top into two strips and wah la you have a cheep tail bag! We use these all winter and have had no problems. We braid the tails in one long strand then loop it though one of the strands near the end of the dock and it stays in fine. Make you sure you rubber band the braid becuase one of my friends didnt do that and i had to spend 45 min getting his tail dread lock out. Also sense it is winter you wont have to worry about flies. Hope this helps. We also leave these in for months at a time so them being up only a week isnt that bad.


----------



## PechosGoldenChance (Aug 23, 2009)

PaintingMissy- Yea, I actually used one of my fiances' socks (It was like 3 ft long, I've never seen a sock that long lol). Anyways, yea, it did work good, except they wear out real fast.


----------



## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I've made the braid in ones before out of polar fleece...I gotta do it again...Lol! 

Never thought about putting those long socks on their tails...genious!


----------



## PechosGoldenChance (Aug 23, 2009)

I'd say the polar fleece ones are probably more durable lol. You could try the socks though and see how you like em'


----------



## CharliGirl (Nov 16, 2009)

I too was considering putting my horses tails up for the winter. My only concern is how would a braided tail affect the horse's warmth in the winter. I've noticed my horses often put their but to the wind, and their tails tend to cover their legs. With a tail braided or bundled up, would that affect how they cope with the freezing temperatures? I'm in MN, so it can get pretty cold and windy here!

I recently read an article where someone braided a long strip of gauze (like 8-10 feet) into the tail, then used that to tie the tail up. Never tried it, so I'm not sure how well it would work!


----------

