The Tail Debate: To Brush or Not to Brush?
There are two types of riders: the ones that brush their horse’s tail every day, and the ones that never, EVER brush their horse’s tail unless it’s time for a show.
Why wouldn’t you brush your horse’s tail? The intention behind the anti-brush method is to avoid breaking tail hairs which, over time, can take away from the fullness and volume of the tail and creates those annoying shorter hairs that kind of just stick out and make professional grooms cover their eyes.
On the other hand, if you keep your horse’s tail fully conditioned and it’s slick and sleek as can be, maybe you don’t need to worry about brushing your horse’s tail because you’ve kept it tangle-free enough that there isn’t much breakage.
The trick? Be one…or the other. Don’t be in between. Do NOT take a hair brush to your horse’s tail once every two weeks when it hasn’t been washed, conditioned and maintained. That ripping sound of a brush through a dry, brittle, tangled tail haunts grooms in their sleep. Either keep your horse’s tail tangle-free every day, so that you’re not breaking the hairs (tip: look at the brush after you brush it. Is it full of hair? Then you’re thinning your horse’s tail), or don’t brush it at all, and just pick out the shavings and leaves by hand.
Repeat: One…or the other. Not in-between. Your horse’s tail will thank you!