HUS + Tail Extensions

This is just a question driven by complete curiosity. It's a rainy Sunday and I'm a bit bored so was looking at various horse sales videos. I came across a HUS class, some regional class I think, and there was a gorgeous grey gelding but his tail extension seemed a bit too heavy. It just didn't move as naturally as a real tail or some of the others in the class using extensions.

So I was just wondering, is it a disadvantage to NOT use one? He was a pretty mover, at least in my uneducated opinion, but because the extension just seemed too heavy, it was a bit distracting...again, to my uneducated eye.

I'm seriously just curious.

LOL. I would say you would look out of place without one. I have a 1.5 lb tail extension and at a recent show--one of AQHA's "top ten" shows--I was out of place. I wondered when in the heck did the tails get so friggin' big?!! (I must have missed the memo.) So I'm thinking of adding a bit more to mine.

Honestly, my tail will worked fine as is, but I like to give off the appearance of being in the know. Most judges will look past a poor tail, but when I trot in, I want to make a statement. I want everything to look just right. These days that means a big, whompum tail.

Pam
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I don't like tail extensions. I haven't seen one yet that looks natural when moving. They all end up between the horse's back legs and being batted back & forth. I find that so distracting, I can't concentrate on the horse's moves. Unfortunately, tail extensions are so popular that they are becoming the norm. This tends to make new show people feel they don't have a chance without artificial enhancements. Having a great moving horse that is totally natural is just not good enough in the show world these days. How sad.

At a recent show's vendor alley, I noticed one selling forelock extensions. What next, mane extensions for one that has been pulled too short?

I'm one of the odd ducks, I guess. I like my horse natural.

Well I actually like the looks if it's the right size on the right horse. My cousins old buckskin mare had a beautiful tail and a fake tail wouldve made it look horrid so before she went to a show I would just cut it straight across and no one knew the difference. So if it's on the right horse it'd be fine.
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I do not like them do not use them will not use them. They do not look natural they are more of a distraction then anything. Takes away from a good picture more then they add most of the time.

I have a 1 lb er I think is what it is. I need to wash it, it's filthy from the last show. I have seen some hunter tails that come in three pieces and have a natural cut rather than a blunt, they look pretty real on the horse. But in the QH world we use the blunts. I think the weight of the tail has to do w/ the carriage. If a horse carries his tail well then you don't need a lot of weight.

The speed eventers, cow horses, and reiners don't use the tails. I hate the reiners. They get to have the longest prettiest manes while we are forced to pull them short. NOT FAIR!

I think they look fantastic and they seem easier to care for than a real tail! I would love a forelock extension too. I like long hair on any horse and envy those that grow it naturally.

That just made me giggle because this grey's tail was big & whompum!

Thanks for the replies everyone. This particular horse seemed to have way too much tail, it was blunt cut but kept swishing between his hocks rather than flowing behind him. Maybe that had something to do with how he moved...IDK.

But some of the other horses in the class had what seemed like extensions (perfectly straight & blunt) but were much lighter and looked much nicer as they flowed behind them. They just seemed more natural. LOL maybe they were!

NANA NANA BOOO BOOO.

NRHAreiner...you are Evil!! LOL.

Seriously, I don't know where anyone would get the idea that movement isn't important. It is VITALLY important, but so is being consistently in a frame, and moving at the right pace, and having spotless transitions. If a great mover didn't place in a class it wasn't because of its "natural" tail.

In the USEF world, a great mover is rewarded, or maybe I should say rewarded *in spite of* its ill behavior. I speak from experience here, too (25+ years in USEF). But in the QH world that's not the case. Manners are as important as movement. Maybe that's where the "movement doesn't matter in AQHA" notion comes from. People see nice movers not win and they honestly don't know that it was the head toss in the corner that took them out--not the plain tack, or the non-blingy show shirt, or the long mane. Maybe. IDK. Baffles me.

Just my $.02 worth.

Pam
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