# Making a tail (look?) thicker (NO fake tails)



## JaneyWaney9 (Jun 7, 2010)

My horse's tail isn't exactly thin, but it could stand to be a bit thicker.
He's an AQHA, so it is standard for people to have the artificial tails. My honest opinion is that I'd be wasting my money. They are expensive, and everyone knows they are fake. What's the point?

Anyway, do you have any ideas to make it look thicker when showing? I don't know if teasing it would be a good idea, though I could do it in discrete sections, I don't know if it would be hard to get it out. 

If there are products or feed supplements that work, I'm sorta interested. We don't show til May, so I have a while.

Ideas?


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## xJumperx (Feb 19, 2012)

I wouldn't tease at all. By the time you had brushed it out later, you will ripped a lot of his tail out, then you have a thinner tail then you started with. I would 'fluff' it. Simply take each strand of tail, seperate it from the others. It's VERY time consuming, but also a very simply proccess, and it makes the tail look really thick, clean, and soft.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

From now til May, nothing is going to make a noticeable difference in the fullness of your horse's tail in the way of products or supplements. Just finger pick it and wrap it and prevent any further breakage.


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## ApolloRider (Feb 14, 2013)

Baby powder!
Never used it on a horse but I actually use it in my hair when I want it to look thicker... (I hate teasing and it provides the same effect.) I'm willing to bet itd work just the same on tail or mane.
It might make the tail a little dry until you wash it out though.

What you do is put some in your hand and kinda toss it back and forth to evenly coat your hand dump out the excess so you don't tune dark hair white, and work it in at the roots first, and repeat going along the whole tail.
At the very end just kinda fluff and viola. Thick hair. 

You can also do it in your own hair! It provides the same results as the teasing powders from salons and it doesn't cost 45 dollars.

Edit- just make sure you Don't just clump it in. A black tail would look greyish if you do too much at one time. My hair is dark dark brown and it does not turn my hair any lighter just practice with the correct amount to put in your hand while you are fluffing.


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

if its wavy and you brush it, it will look fuller. my QH has a nice tail and its wavy, it grows twice its size and its fluffy looking.my paint has a straight tail and brushing doenst do much..


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## Ashsunnyeventer (Aug 17, 2012)

I have a mare with a tiny tail too. I tried wrapping it up with some type of spray (can't remember what I used) and nothing happened. The only thing I have done that seems to work a little bit is not brushing it very often. I only brush it right before a show and using a TON of detangler to prevent pulling hairs out. Here is a picture of her non existant tail: I think some horses will just have thinner hair than others. My mare has a thin mane, too (makes pulling it impossible). I'm interested to see what people suggest.


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## oh vair oh (Mar 27, 2012)

> They are expensive, and everyone knows they are fake. What's the point?


The point is to allow a horse with a thin tail to have a thick tail, lol. That's why we wear them. They have varying sizes, you know. You could get a small tail for cheap and you'd hardly notice it was in. If you are showing AQHA, everyone will know if you are _not_ wearing one, which can sometimes be more obvious than if you were, but I digress...

I would MTG the crap out of it, put it in a braidable tail bag, and feed your horse lots of Omega 3s and Biotin supplements and hope for the best.


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## JaneyWaney9 (Jun 7, 2010)

oh vair oh said:


> The point is to allow a horse with a thin tail to have a thick tail, lol. That's why we wear them. They have varying sizes, you know. You could get a small tail for cheap and you'd hardly notice it was in.


I suppose if the tail is really thin. I just like the natural look more than what I think a Barbie horse would look like! haha
I thought about getting a smaller tail piece, but again, I don't see the point in my particular case. This is my last full year of showing before I go to college, and I'd never use it again.


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## AQHA13 (Apr 19, 2017)

xJumperx said:


> I wouldn't tease at all. By the time you had brushed it out later, you will ripped a lot of his tail out, then you have a thinner tail then you started with. I would 'fluff' it. Simply take each strand of tail, seperate it from the others. It's VERY time consuming, but also a very simply proccess, and it makes the tail look really thick, clean, and soft.


In addition to this suggestion, I like to braid the tail the night before. I separate the tail into three pieces and braid each one with a herringbone braid. After it sets overnight, just undo the braids, brush it and kinda fluff it up. Sometimes this can make it too poofy looking, but if you add a bit of showsheen it'll make it look a little more tame.


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## GoAppendix (Mar 22, 2012)

JaneyWaney9 said:


> I suppose if the tail is really thin. I just like the natural look more than what I think a Barbie horse would look like! haha
> I thought about getting a smaller tail piece, but again, I don't see the point in my particular case. This is my last full year of showing before I go to college, and I'd never use it again.


Not to mention it is a horse show, which happens to include looking the part. For AQHA, this includes a fake tail. You can always sell it when you're done.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

The biggest mistake people make with grooming the tail is to brush it or use the rubber curry on it as it breaks the hair. It needs to be finger picked. Finger picking will make it look thicker. Always start at the bottom and work your way up. Something like Show Sheen worked in will make the job easier.


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## RBOlena (Feb 17, 2013)

On the fake tail issue, you could always get one with a naturally tapered bottom instead of a blunt look. This will make the tail look more natural. I do use a fake tail, but I do put a lot of work into my horses tail so it looks fuller. What I do is I put mtg in it...like...a ton. And then I braid it up and put it in a tail bag. I ride with the tail braided. I take the braid out once a week or every other week and wash the tail. If you don't wash it, the mtg will just build up in the tail and make the tail fall out in large clumps. I rise out all the mtg and then put in conditioner. I use eqyss mega-tek equine rebuilder. I swear by the stuff. It works miracles. I leave that in the tail for about ten minutes, and then wash it out. And then I put more mtg in the tail and braid it up again. I did this with my other horse and he looks like he has a fake tail in.


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

If you want to keep tail and manes nice? Never ever brush them. It pulls out too much hair. Great if you want to thin it.

As for thickening?

Use White Mink, found in human hair sections, above hair dye usually, get darkest color if you need black, but if others, can match somewhat.

Wash tail, then use this.

To dry, take electric hair dryer, and dry tail, while you finger pick it, one small section at a time. And raise each piece up and let it float back down, over and over to make sure hairs separate. To bobble, take end of tails, maybe 6 inches from ends, and take it and bobble it to hair at end of tailbone very gently. Make sure it stays fluffed out and don't smooth it down.

Unbobble and then fluff by taking end and shaking it lightly to get it aired apart.


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## Fowl Play (Sep 22, 2009)

With my daughter's mare, who has a thin, but reasonably long tail, we blunted the ends and it looks much fulller now. We had been letting the long, whispy ends touch the ground, but it always looked thin, until we decided to trim it evenly. Now the tail looks more even and full. 

When we got the mare she had a very short tail. We had it in a braid in tail sock for months. When we take it out, we use a good conditioner, brush it out (yes, but it's so soft you don't hear breaking), and rebraid it. The weight of the braid helps it grow, and keeps it from getting too icky. We undo the braid every couple of weeks, and recondition it, and rebraid it. 

I have had very bad experience with MTG. I used it on a gelding who had rubbed his tail. It burned him and made his rubbing way worse. My cousin used it on her horse and it did the same thing. He lost almost all of the hair on his neck and face.


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## moniegx3 (Feb 18, 2013)

Braid it really tight in several braids the nicht before. Take it out right before your show and brush it lightly. The waves will make it appear thicker.


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## TeamRoper16 (Apr 30, 2012)

I feed a product called BioMane and it seriously has thickened up my horses manes and tails. (And they grow like crazy!) I haven't found it in feed stores but I order it off the website (Home page) and I get it within just a couple days. It's a great product. I wouldn't brush very often, and when you do make sure and use a detangler spray and brush that you would use on the horses body (NOT A CURY COMB!) but a soft bristled brush. I takes longer but I promise you won't pull out as much hair because the soft bristles don't cut or pull through knots and tangles. Hope this helps


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