unbraided forelock?

[Tucked_Away]

So I had a bit of a mishap when I last cleaned up my beastie's bridle path and somehow clipped too far forward and, uh, took out the top of his forelock. Don't ask how it happened. I don't even know. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.

But as you can probably imagine, he's got a bit of a punk look going now as it grows back in. There's enough there to look very silly if I braid the remainder of the forelock, but not enough to braid into the rest.

I'd like it to grow back sooner rather than later...would the fashion police (insofar as events have fashion police...) come after me if I showed up in the dressage ring with a braided mane but forelock left loose? Or should I just keep the unorthodox bridle path for the rest of the season (there is plenty of forelock left to braid if I go that route) and wait until October to start growing the shaved bit back out?

[sisu27]

Is your horse a stallion? They are left with forelock unbraided.

[yellowbritches]

I have left a rather HUGE forelock that I could not muster unbraided. At the time, I didn't realize it was a stallion thing and I was very new to braiding and had a hard time doing forelock braids on normal size forelocks.

I would suggest braiding it and using some gel quite liberally on the punk rock section of forelock.

I have a mare that someone on the track or on the farm she was on briefly between the track and us that BUTCHERED her forelock. It took a loooooong time for that punk rock section to grow out (over a year), and I just braided what she did have and either ignored or dealt with her punk personality as I could. No harm. She's cute enough that no one seemed to care! :lol:

[technopony]

I have shown at recognized events (and dressage shows) with my mare's forelock unbraided... I was very bad at braiding forelocks, and my horse is a curly with a very unique and (IMO) attractive curly forelock. I never had a comment from a judge, fellow competitor, or anyone else.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

same here....I suck at braiding forelocks. I have competed at rec. events with it unbraided and I don't have a stallion. No one really cares. Do what looks best.

[ideayoda]

It shouldnt/doesnt matter per se, but ideally braid it. As far as not braiding a stallion, one horse (stallion) wouldnt stand for it, and somehow that translated to dont braid. The top line looks better when it is shown off, if you want to hide it then dont braid.

[deltawave]

Gwen's forelock consists of about 11 hairs, all different lengths. Rarely braided it.

[2ndyrgal]

Junior has his mane roached. But not his forelock (it's about the summer flies). I attempted to braid it, and he attempted to rip it out by going berserk in his stall, flinging his head around and trying to rub it off. I don't want to have to braid it, nor do I wish to cut it. He is not, ahem, intact (in gentialia or brain). So nobody will care (or at least not at the pitiful level we're showing. I'm still busy reading the rules about how many feet can leave the arena without the bit E, I don't want to worry about his gorgeous forlock.

[Dr. Doolittle]

I'm in the same boat with Deltawave; chestnut mare with a "virtually nonexistant" forelock.

(If and when I attempt to braid it, the braid is SO tiny that it's nearly impossible to turn up--plus I can't even see what I'm doing, since I'm WELL over 40, and the close stuff, well, yeah, uh...not really visible to me anymore, and my arms aren't long enough to enable me to see what I'm doing when I'm *attempting* to braid mere wisps of hair :lol:)

When I don't braid it, no one comments (or even notices!), so if I were you, I wouldn't worry about it.

You can gel it down or mousee it down so that it doesn't stick up--at least until it grows out...

If the horse has a *thick* forelock, you can always thin it out--and I would definitely recommend braiding a thicker forelock (if you are braiding the rest of the mane, of course); otherwise it tends to stick out like the proverbial sore thumb!

[octavian_jazz]

My horse's mane is roached. I did a couple of events with his forelock unbraided, but then for distinguishing mark on our dressage test, it was "unbraided forelock", so I became self conscious and started braiding it. I didn't know about the stallion thing either until reading another thread on this board, but I think leaving it unbraided may have saved us in a couple of dressage tests where he threw fits, we managed not to get a 2 on those movements, so I'm always tempted to leave it unbraided, but don't. And I would never roach his forelock because he would look ridiculous.

[Raison d'etre]

I never braid my gelding's forelock. He has a nice one, too, I just prefer not to braid it (as does he). At our last outing, the judge's comment was that I had a beautifully presented horse, so I really don't think it matters.

I've done some braiding at dressage shows, and about half the time I was told I could leave the forelock unbraided.

If I were doing more huntery braids, I'd probably braid the forelock. But for the plaited variety, I think it looks fine without.

[wabadou]

If the part that is growing back in is at least an inch long, you can do a french braid kind of thing ( like a braided tail)starting with the really short hairs and going down and pulling in what is left of the long part of the forelock. Then turn it under just like a regular braid. Use lots of gel.
You could also take the short part and a small section of the long forelock and put 1 braiding band in it just to pull down the part that sticks up and make it flow somewhat into the rests of the forelock.

One of our geldings has a very pitiful forelock and we've let more of the top part of his bridlepath grow out to be combed in with his forelock, kind of like a bald guy with the long hair "combover", I guess!!

[Heinz 57]

If, by chance, your beastie is bay - maybe you could pin/clip down the short pieces to the braid?

Pins probably wouldn't work, but I have some clips for *my* hair that are pretty strong. They only came in black, silver, or burgundy, though, which is why I say only if your beast has a black forelock.

Of course, this is all if you decidedly MUST braid. :)

[Hilary]

re-clip the mohawk part for the season and let it grow back over the winter. And braid the rest of the forelock.

Along with hairnets for the humans, unbraided forelocks are one of my pet peeves. Braid or don't, but don't do part and not the whole thing.

Would you braid the forelock and not the mane?
To me, not braiding the forelock looks equally dorky.

[FairWeather]

You can actually doctor those hairs to look just fine. Braid fairly tightly up top, and all the way down as you usually would, then tie off. Before you pull up, use the pull-through to run a piece of yarn under the spikey stuff and tie a little knot on top. Do two or three of these, and then pull up your braid as high as you can and tie off. Works like a charm :)

Or uh, leave it unbraided. :winkgrin:

[bip]

I think you can't let the pet peeves of others run your life. They certainly aren't letting yours run theirs!

What does the Susan Harris book say? I was taught that the forelock could be unbraided and I had a very headshy gelding as a teen and sometimes left it unbraided.

However, if the hairs are short and spikey, they are going to look dorky without some "management". I'm thinking the clip solution sounds like it might be your best bet.

[Sightunseen]

I am a bit obsessive and would say braid it....end of story. I would attempt french braiding with A LOT of hard core....think 12" Liberty Spikes......gel.

[melodiousaphony]

I am a bit obsessive and would say braid it....end of story. I would attempt french braiding with A LOT of hard core....think 12" Liberty Spikes......gel.

You know, liberty spikes would suite my horse's personality well. Time to start a trend, I say!

Except that, in my "old" age [24] I suddenly got smack by the conservative for stadium/dressage and gaudy is only allowed in XC stick. My 16 year old self would have scoffed at me.

[Tucked_Away]

Except that, in my "old" age [24] I suddenly got smack by the conservative for stadium/dressage and gaudy is only allowed in XC stick. My 16 year old self would have scoffed at me.

I don't know if I've told you this story, but last year when they were putting new name tags on the saddle racks at the barn with each person's colors, they asked me for mine...

"I'm a recovering hunter!" I wailed. "We hate color!"

I, uh, have recovered. But I think spikes might be a little much for me. I'm still trying to get used to the blingier-than-expected funny hat/ear net...

No worries, Bip; no one but me gets to run my life. ;) Just wanted a little input (I'd heard of the unbraided forelock = stallion thing and part of my motivation for asking here was to find out whether that was a general rule). Thanks, all!