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GIANT mat in new horse's tail - Help!

12904 Views 26 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  aforred, 
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Hi! I have a bit a back story before I get to the real issue. My nieghbor's friend gifted us an 11 yo Rocky Mountain mare about 2.5 months ago. She's shy and stubborn - but coming around nicely. They said she was trained well until about 3 years ago when she became basically a pasture ornament and got no attention at all.

This past weekend we worked up to hooking a lead rope on her. To my surprise, she stood perfectly still while on a lead. So, I took the opportunity to begin working on her mane. I got all the knots out of the mane and forelock and she cleaned up beautifully.

Then, I moved around to her tail. Yuck! Pretty much the whole tail, minus about 4" at the top, 4" at the bottom is one giant mat. We're talking 3-4" diameter and about 3' long. What do I do?? I bought some Cowboy Magic conditioner/detangler but I don't know if even there's enough magic in the tube to help.

How long should I expect to work on a mat that size? If I can only get some combed out in weekend, will it be ok to wait until the next weekend to work on it again? What's the best type of comb to use for this type of project?
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baby oil works i heard someone told me to drown it in baby oil leave it and it will kind of fall loose idk never tried it my horse had three big nots i didn't have the pacients and enough trust with my horse to be messing with her tail so i just cut it off you don't even know shes missing hair in her tail its comming back.
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mistygirl said:
baby oil works i heard someone told me to drown it in baby oil leave it and it will kind of fall loose idk never tried it my horse had three big nots i didn't have the pacients and enough trust with my horse to be messing with her tail so i just cut it off you don't even know shes missing hair in her tail its comming back.
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(laughs)

I appreciate the feedback. We ended up working her really nice and let her expel any and all pent up energy. "My little darlin' is a fire cracker (music note)"
Then did a full-body groom. We tried to brush her mane out and decided it was too disasterous and just lopped it off. Cerra seemed relieved about it (she sweats super bad under the mane because it's sooo thick.) and then brushed out her tail. As for the burrs, it's better to be safe than sorry. And like Silvera said, burrs in the eyes are horrible! NEXT summer, she'll be the blazing beauty I know she is for everyone to see. :D
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aforred
I bet she's still a beauty, just one with short hair :D.
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aforred said:
I bet she's still a beauty, just one with short hair :D.
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Aww! She totally is. :)
I love seeing her coat shine.. cause it's like a rich ember colour? She's a bright-eyed bay.

I'll have to post new, GOOD pictures of her now that she's cleaned up! :D
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aforred
Please do! Her coat sounds gorgeous.
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draftrider
myhorsesonador said:
Yeah thats the lazy unnessesary answer. Show sheen is your friend. Use your fingers or a brush. Just start at the bottum and work your way up.
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Its not a show horse. The hair WILL grow back. She asked for opinions, I gave mine. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean its not a valid opinion. Sorry I don't have days to brush out one mat on an incoming horse's tail. Lazy? Unnecessary? Hardly. I had one horse that came in with a 3 foot long club that used to be a tail. I cut it off. Literally, this thing was a mat 4 inches across, 3 feet long, and had the ability to be used as a baseball bat, it was that hard and stiff. It grew back fine, a year later horse had a nice tail again.

Its just hair, it will grow back.
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aforred
@carrotsticks, did you ever get it out? If so, which method did you use?
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