I just came up with the brilliant idea to advertise Braiding Instruction about a week ago, but unfortunately I am in CA, so that won't help much. I braided professionally for seven years but following show after show can be exhausting, and though many people expressed interest in learning, I couldn't stop working long enough to give proper attention to the student. I'm back in school now, to apply for an Exotic Animal program, and I was hoping that offering to teach others how to braid would make good economic sense in these times. Braiding is one of those things that needs to be tailored to each horse, and without years of experience, proper technique can't be developed quickly, I also think it is silly to use books and even the braiding kits tack shops sell are ridiculous. When I showed up for the first day of apprenticeship with a Pro Braider and had my tack store braiding kit and she told me... "well maybe you can use the rug hook"...I felt like a loser (I have never seen any other braiders actually use any of those other accessories either). Anyway, having learned to braid I can't imagine anyone can successfully learning this concept from a book, to many variables. I taught two people how to braid from scratch and fine tuned a girl who had learned to braid from well a book and well needed some serious help. I wish I could come to the east coast and give you a lesson but I was thinking of charging a 100$ basic braiding session that would be about two hours ending with you being able to braid a mane with some practice. Do you think you would pay for that kind of a service if available? Ideally it would take two sessions to totally establish the basics of braiding. The first would focus only on the mane and leave you with the idea and techniques best suited to your horse, then after a couple weeks practice I could come back and troubleshoot any mane problems and teach tail braiding to complete the turnout. This would be a 200$ investment but a Mane and Tail can cost 75$ dollars at a show so I think it is a bargain that will pay for itself in three uses.... sooooo not to totally hyjack this thread but since you expressed a need do you think this would be something you might consider? I am curious to see if people want this service..... I can also do different variations of braiding, just not banding, so I am not limited to Hunter horses.