HELP!!!! dry mane and tail!

One of my mares has the driest mane and tail that I have ever seen! I have tried all kinds of leave-in conditioners, detanglers, coat sprays, moisturizers, and nothing seems to work. She used to have a beautiful mane and tail. Does anybody have any suggestions?

If all of their hair is lackluster and dry it could have to do with diet. I would recommend adding an edible oil to their feed, such as vegetable oil. Just enough to coat the feed.

I have also heard that you can lightly spray it directly on the hair, braid to retain, leave for a few days and wash out.

Have you changed her diet just before you noticed this? Many times, nutrition can have a lot to do with how healthy their hair and coat are. Or, her nutritional needs could have changed and the feed you have her on is not meeting those needs. I don't know. If it is not that, have you tried those hot oil infusion things?

Welcome to the forum by the way.

The rest of her coat is fine, she's very shiny, just not her mane or tail

Since the mane and tail used to be in better condition, there must be some cause for the dryness. If you can rule out dietary issues, you can try massaging mineral oil or baby oil into the skin along the crest and tail. This worked for one "dandruffy" gelding. If the rest of her coat is shiny and healthy, a feed through product or coat supplement probably won't do you much good, but you could try it.

In addition to the previous comments that all makes sense, don't discount sunburn and flakiness just from a buildup of sweat, dirt and flyspray from when the horse rolls.

I have two horses that have thin tails. The tail dock is almost nekkid in the center on the one horse

I have to apply a thick coat of generic diaper rash cream every morning before turnout and every 3 or 4 days, completely wash the tail dock with MalAcetic shampoo which is an antifungal, all natural shampoo.

A third horse has such a thick mane that it lays over both sides of his neck and gathers dirt, sweat and fly spray to the point that I have to clean his neck every day as well.

While the baby oil is an excellent suggestion, I'm not sure I would want to use it in this high heat and humidity for fear of it burning if the horse is outside during the day.

I might be more inclined to use a light coating of the generic version of diaper rash cream and just rub it in the same as one would the baby oil.

I think I'd save the baby oil to use during cooler temps

Hope this helps.

I agree with the oil in the food, also Infusium 23 (a human product) works incredibly well to condition! It has helped me through many dry manes & tails!

Thanks for all your help everybody!

If the skin is flaking iv`e seen maney people use human dandruff shampo. Also make sure your fully rinseing it out or elence it will cause build up leading to dandruff. Don`t use show sheen every day it will cause build up also.

Biotin could help as well. It can make the hair smoother anywhere, including mane and tail. Also Vitamin E. It's the best for dry skin. I used to take the gel caplets, poke a hole and use the inside. It works awesome.