Braides

[Tanza]

How do you do all the different braids? which braids are needed for which disciplines/shows? I know how to do a basic tail braid... But i know nothing else Can you send me some links or anything that might help. Thanks

[darlaflack]

try just googling. I don't know what breed, classes you are thinking of. There are awesome sites, giving step by step instructions.

[HatTrick]

What classes, breed? Discipline? All depends. Need more info.

[Tanza]

uhm any discipline is okay, Mostly breeds like warmbloods, andalusians, georgian grandes. Classes like hunter/jumper, dressage (classical and modern) and western pleasure.

[Mandy Mayer]

hmm... well hunters are braided with wool, jumpers generally don't need to be braided, dressage are braided with elastics and white tape, and western pleasure is generally banded. I would youtube anything you want to learn.

[tammyy]

Just to note... no tape for dressage-unless your horse has a neck you'd like to showcase and you and incredibly even with your braids and taping otherwise it just looks sloppy and can make your horses' neck look like there are lumps and bumps where there aren't. Taping was a fad in dressage similar to the white piping on the dressage bridles a few years back. Also, just to note, the hunter or dressage braids should lay against the horses' neck, not straight up on the neck... again, looks sloppy if they are poking up off the neck. And I've seen jumpers braid manes for the bigger classes to show respect for the judge-but their braids are similar to dressage braids and are usually only about 11-13 braids for the entire neck.

With tail braids, they typically are only really done for hunters. For dressage, the horses tails are either pulled or clipped on the sides (I leave mine natural, but make sure it is tidy at the top-no toilet brush tail for us!), and jumpers typically don't braid tails either. For western I haven't really seen much tail braiding either except at the small schooling shows because owners are just having fun with their horses.

The whole point of braiding is the enhance the look of your horses' neck, while presenting a tidy professional picture. Have fun learning the different methods and keep in mind that using different sizes and placement of braids will change the appearance of your horses' neck, so practice a lot!

[tammyy]

Proper running braid-they are supposed to be tight to your horses' crest so they stay put, not long and droopy, again it can do not so positive things for your horses' neck if done incorrectly..


Dressage braids, note that they lay along the crest of the neck


Hunter braids-again they lay flat along side of the crest.


Lattice or Continental braid

Banding for western classes, again the mane is laying flat.

[tammyy]

A nicely braided hunter tail (braid just like doing a french braid in your own hair, take hair in SMALL sections... )


Another nice one


For the most part, you want to avoid this braid in the show ring...

[LAKES]

Ha yes the fat braid looks bulky for sure.
However, I sure hate how thin the tail braiding style is.
I like it a lot thicker (happy medium?) - I think it looks nicer with a litttle more hair. But the thinner is the expected style right now!

[tammyy]

Yeah, I personally hate tail braids, no matter how nice they look... I much prefer a tidy well kept tail, pulled at the top-not overly though, and trimmed at the bottom, just above at the fetlocks-no longer. But that's probably the dressage upbringing haha. I find that it's very tough to actually do a nice tail braid that complements the horses' rear Most end up lopsided, or messy, or people don't know how to finish them properly at the end of the braid, so they have this big bulge, or knob haha... ahh well...