Tail Bag Or NOT?

Winter is on its way....I Show and am looking for the pros and cons to tail bags? My mare is in a paddock were she cannot get caught in anything. Im not sure if its good to use I've heard mixed things about them...please help?

Thanks
Chris :)

My horses tails are always up, whether in a bag or wrapped. For the horses that will keep them on I like the Schneider's Dura Tech waterproof tail bag. For horses that Houdini out of them, I braid and roll the braid up and wrap in GuardTex. If there's any question about her being able to catch the bag on anything I wouldn't use it.

When used properly, tail bags can really help preserve a tail. I use only the single tube ones with 2-4 strands that you thread through the centre of the (braided) tail below the dock. I'm not a fan of the three tube ones, I've found them to be kind of overly complicated.

The tail should be taken out about once or twice a week, or at least every other week. The tail should be clean, thoroughly brushed out, and completely dry when you braid it up. Then fold the braid in half and stuff it in.
When you take it out, let it hang freely for awhile. I'll often take out the bag and braid, kind of massage the dock with my fingers, then let my horse out to roll in the sandy arena, then I'll ride/lunge and groom thoroughly and whatever else I need to do, then braid it back up as the very last thing I do before putting the horse back. It's important to let it get some air. If you can't leave it out for a long time while you're there, you may want to consider leaving it out overnight. I purposely leave it out for at least a day at least once a month, for extra balance.

Don't forget to also make sure that no other horses will be interested in pulling at the bag. I spent years perfecting one of my horses' tails and it was completely destroyed overnight by his curious pasture mate tearing it out, taking half the tail with it. I was horrified! It certainly couldn't have felt very good for the poor fellow, either!

Also, be sure there are not going to be flies present unless you get a tail bag that has swatters attached (and even then, I highly advise a sheet or fly spray). Not only can a horse not effectively use their tail when it's bagged, but swinging it around when it's tied up only breaks off more hairs than it would without the bag present.

Currently I only bag my horse's tail when it's muddy out, and leave it partially braided the rest of the time. I've found that to work best for me.

The bad thing about tail bags is when you braid the tail up to put it in the bag it could cause traction baldness due to being tied to tight (so if you DO decide to do a tail bag...DO NOT WRAP the tailbone .)

Also if braided if it does get stuck on something (i am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a paddock that can't pull out a tail or snag a tail or cause an injury) is it is more likely more hair will come out with it than if it were loose.

If you wrap it all the way up ..the air can't get in causing fungus,dermatitis or any other kind of itchiness that would defeat the purpose as they will end up ripping it off and tearing the hair anyway.



So basically I think it would be fine as long as you don't wrap or cover the tailbone (ie, only wrap the hair at the end up to the tailbone)

Just make sure you do the braid a bit loose for like an inch or two below the dock. There have been cases of people doing it tight and the horses tail falling off.... So just a tip!!

I can NEVER keep on on my horse..either it stays on and her tail ends up coming out or it falls off

I love my tail bags :) Can't handle horses with spindly, horrible tails so my guys always get bagged!
I don't use the rugless tail bags though, 9 times out of 10 my horses are in rugs anyway, occasionally they'll get a 'naked' day' then rugs go back on.

The bags that I use are a waterproof vinal type material with a zip and velcro on the top, so the whole tail is covered and protected.

These are the bags I use and swear by: Day Bag: Showerproof Denier

Have NEVER had a problem with them getting caught, coming off etc. Bloody fantastic, Billy will be wearing one as soon as his tail is long enough and I start rugging him :)