Pulling tail

Takes me 3 days to pull a tail from scratch. After that I tidy it up once a month (takes 5 mins). I show once a week in show season! It is far far easier to pull a tail and be done with it then to have to worry about plaiting the tail on the day of the show.

I can plait tails but I find it such a faff, it is an unneeded hassle on the day of the show when I have far more important thing to be doing with my time!

Plaiting tails also doesnt give the same shape and doesnt make the horses bum look as good.

I showed my husband what to do with the tail and he was all "that's it?" lol. He wants to research it more...He changed his mind a lot.

Do you only pull thick tails? My horse's tail is thin but not appy thin and is a bit short and I'm working on growing it out.

I pull every tail as I show! If the tail is thin then steer clear of pulling the long hairs out!

Doesn't tail pulling hurt the horse though?

Tail pulling is a some what discipline specific thing. Most disciplines do not pull tells.

I would leave the tail alone. Its very pretty- I love the natural look.

Alwaysbehind, it may be more of a country thing.
In the UK showing it is expected that the horses tail is pulled, working hunter pulled tails are expected. I've also seen the vast majority of showjumpers with pulled tails, a good number of dressage competitors and a lot of eventers with pulled tails.

RedTree- pulling tails doesnt hurt any more then pulling a mane would. Reeco stands and falls asleep when I do his tail.

Personally, I love thick tails. Some horses are more sensitive to pulling than others-- like my mare. I don't think she'd appreciate it very much if I pulled any of her hairs, so I guess she's lucky that I like the thick look :) Plus, I just can't imagine purposely pulling out her beautiful hair. She rubbed out quite a bit this summer when she had an allergic reaction and it was terrible finding chunks of hair in her stall where she had rubbed them out!

I agree, Faye, I think it is a country thing.

You do not find pulled tails in our hunter shows over here. You do not have a comparable hunter type shows over there.

Dressage and eventers do pull tails at times (or so I am told).

Breed show people are adding tails by the pound, they most certainly do not pull to make it have less volume. They might pull some near the top to make the butt look bigger, but not any quantity.

YOu only normaly pull to make the top look neater and tidier, to make the bum look rounder and more developed and to give a look of refinement. The Ideal tail for the show ring over here is one that is gloriously thick at the bottom but pulled within an inch of its life at the top!
Reeco has the Ideal tail for this! He has a welsh cob tail so I can happily pull the top to my hearts desire and the ottom is still massively thick!

Neat and tidy but with a "waist" on it.