tangled main

I have had my horse for 10 years and never have I ever seen her with a main that is this badly tangled. I don't know what she got into but I need to fix it. It looks like sombody twisted it, knotted it, braided it, and whatever els to it all at the same time. I would like to do this without cutting it.

Welcome to the forum, Jessica23! Oooooh, so glad you haven't cut that mane!! Especially on the brink of winter :) My horses seldom get tangled that bad, but I've seen others - If you can, buy a spray bottle of ShowSheen, and work it inch by inch gently with a comb, then a stiff brush. There may be other "people hair products" out there that's less expensive. I would saturate the mane with it in parts, and work from there. I'm sure others will have some better suggestions as well. Good luck! :)

Witches knots are awful. My advice is to use you fingers, figure out how the twists go and go a strand at a time. IF you have to cut, make a small cut straight down, never across, and them go back to working one strand at a time. Try to cut at the knots where it has been tightened to the point of no saving.

A lot of times I have found that the worst tangles, twists and mats are from hair that has already fallen out. It could have been that she had a bad itch, rubbe some of her hair out and where it didn't fall it knotted. Don't freak out when you pull a clump of hair from the knot.

MTG sometimes helps loosen knots as well as Show Sheen and other really slick products. Don't over do them.
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Baby oil & even WD-40 work great.

I would literally saturate the entire mane in a conditioner and then very carefully comb it out, starting from the bottom, of course. I am a big fan of Fructis Sleek-and-Shine leave in conditioner. It is a people conditioner and it works really well. I put it on my horse's mane and tail religiously. And I love the Grooma Rake for a mane/tail comb. It has rotating teeth and does not tear the hair out. It is sooo worth getting. I can brush out my horse's mane, tail, and forelock (which are all very long and thick), in about 8-10 minutes with it, whereas it used to take me closer to 20-30 minutes!

Here's a link to it:

Grooma Rake - Grooming Tools from SmartPak Equine

Yes, put a lot of generic hair detangler on it and undo the knots/twists by hand first. Once the knots are out, you can start with a comb.

Ahh the famous wind braids, lots of baby oil :)

1. Apply coconut oil (don't need to wash it out it's also good for their hair)
2. With your now oily fingers separate the knots and matted hair
3. With a metal brush mounted in a rubber base (allows flexing vs always pulling) start at the bottom, holding the hair above, and gently comb it out working your way up to the base.

It works. I have minimal breakage with loads of very healthy mane and tail that reaches the ground. Note: if you end up with tail reaching the ground you may want to either trim it an inch or protect it, because they will step on it at times and can pull out a little hair (which takes some time to regrow).