Roaching Mane?

[dodedo]

I will probably get flamed here for this question but here goes anyway....
What do you guys think about roaching your horses to avoid having to braid?
Don't want to put braiders out of business.
Just a question...

[WorthTheWait95]

I really, really hate the look of a roached mane. It's just personal preference but I can't stand the look. Braids look so classic and nice...but then I grew up on the AA h/j circuit so it's what I know and think of as 'correct' (whatever that means!).

I've always had horses with fairly tractable manes though as well. I might feel differently if I had owned one of those infamous pony manes.

[IsolaBella09]

I also don't like roached manes. I feel roached manes get dirtier than normal manes. I know a couple of ponies that have roached manes whose manes have become infected. I don't like the look of roached manes and I think everyone should learn how to braid. I think "avoid having to braid" shows a little laziness as well, especially when this sport is supposed to be about the horse. Just my $.02.

[OnyxThePony]

I like the look of a well done roach on *certain horses* with a very wide yet otherwise shapely neck, with the forelock still on. Doesn't suit everyone.

I like mudtails too. so..... there I may be a bit nonconventional.

But I dont' like rust breeks.

[OneFineMess]

I must admit I did it last year... I roached a student's QH/Perch mare, she had a very thick neck and an even thricker crest. It's just tooooo much mane to pull with any sucess.

I did braid her twice for a show last year. I ended up with 50+ fat as a sausage braids, it was very un-pretty!! She looked much better with a freshly roached mane at a show, and it actually helped mane her neck look a little slimmer!

[fourmares]

I love a roached mane on the right type of horse.

[mjmvet]

I've been sorely tempted, let me tell you!! I have an irish draught x TB with a mane that behaves itself only in the lower 4-5 inches. In the middle, it stands straight up unless its over 6 inches long. And its bushy. Very, very bushy. Impossible to pull/thin and have it look cosmetic. Some horses hair sprouts out of a 1/2 inch wide area to make the mane, my horse's mane stems from about a two inch wide base. I don't think there IS a way to pull that. So I can either leave it long (looks ratty to me), roach it, or pull it to a 'braidable' length, and have it stick up all over the place. No amount of conditioner, training braids etc makes any difference. Sigh.

[Callison]

We had to roach my sister's paint horse. His mane was REALLY thick. We would have had to braid both sides of his mane and it still would be too much. But anyways, I think he looked pretty cute. When I was in college they roached a bunch of their manes, I think mainly because it was easier that way.

[sisu27]

I love it. I did my thbds in November and now he has a cute as hell mowhawk. I just got some advice on what to do with it now over on the Hunting forum which was to use the guides on my clippers to keep it a nice length. I guess it depends on the horse and your taste. My guy has a nice neck anyways so he has nothing to hide. I do get a lot of comments about it...giant Fjord, cavalry horse, fat polo pony, trojan horse...whatever. I really only know how to do show hunter braids and he has way too much mane and life is too short. It is only hair and will grow back eventually if you decide you don't like it so I say go for it.

[Staish14]

I've been sorely tempted, let me tell you!! I have an irish draught x TB with a mane that behaves itself only in the lower 4-5 inches. In the middle, it stands straight up unless its over 6 inches long. And its bushy. Very, very bushy. Impossible to pull/thin and have it look cosmetic. Some horses hair sprouts out of a 1/2 inch wide area to make the mane, my horse's mane stems from about a two inch wide base. I don't think there IS a way to pull that. So I can either leave it long (looks ratty to me), roach it, or pull it to a 'braidable' length, and have it stick up all over the place. No amount of conditioner, training braids etc makes any difference. Sigh.

This is almost exactly my horse's mane. She has a mohawk unless it is over roughly 6 inches long, too. I haven't caved yet - still trying to manage it (in fact, she is going in training braids overnight because she has a show tomorrow!)

I haven't seen too many roached manes.
Pictures, from those with horses with roached manes? :)

[CatchMeIfUCan]

My horse has a roached mane (but we are eventers)! Everyone absolutely LOVES it on him, and he's a 15.2 TB. His mane is thick, unruly, and believe it or not, curly when it gets long enough. And it will not pull out. So a couple of years ago we took some scissors to it, and I will never go back! You don't have to worry about infection or anything if you don't shave it all the way down-- I just use really sharp scissors and create a nice rounded look to his mane and leave it about an inch long.

Here is his photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=2&aid=2000650&op=12&id=1153950040#/photo.php?pid=30014680&id=1153950040

You can scroll through to see all of the pics!

[TBlitz]

I've been sorely tempted, let me tell you!! I have an irish draught x TB with a mane that behaves itself only in the lower 4-5 inches. In the middle, it stands straight up unless its over 6 inches long. And its bushy. Very, very bushy. Impossible to pull/thin and have it look cosmetic. Some horses hair sprouts out of a 1/2 inch wide area to make the mane, my horse's mane stems from about a two inch wide base. I don't think there IS a way to pull that. So I can either leave it long (looks ratty to me), roach it, or pull it to a 'braidable' length, and have it stick up all over the place. No amount of conditioner, training braids etc makes any difference. Sigh.

I totally feel your pain! I long to roach my ID's mane for these same reasons (plus the super fast growth) but have been forbidden to do so. It's not like he's showing for at least another 2 years, but I hate constantly having to pull it :mad: Right now it's about 6 inches long and EVERYWHERE, begging to be tamed (for the millionth time) and pulled.

[Tilly]

My mare, Ruby, has the infamous pony mane. Her crest is super, super wide and her mane is very thick and bushy. She hates having it pulled, we'd have to sedate her to do it, and her crest is just too thick for it to look nice. I haven't roached it because she has a very thick bushy forelock [think afro :lol:], and I think she'd look funny. It's been forever since I've done her mane, it's around 5 inches now and looks awful. I'll probably cut it short so that it sticks up, since somehow that flatters her neck :winkgrin: Not to mention her show career is over, so it doesn't matter whether she has a neatly pulled mane or not.

My other mare, Daisy, has a super thin TB mane. Just trimming it with scissors is all it needs. I'm afraid to even brush it that often, it's so thin! :eek:

To answer the OP, I think roaching just so you don't have to braid is pure laziness.

[Lucassb]

I will probably get flamed here for this question but here goes anyway....
What do you guys think about roaching your horses to avoid having to braid?
Don't want to put braiders out of business.
Just a question...

To each their own, but I would *never* do it just to avoid braiding. Actually I would never do it,period, but certainly not because I was too lazy to do the maintenance required to keep the mane properly pulled (or thinned) and neat.

It is not necessary to pull, either. If you take your time, you can easily shorten and/or thin a mane perfectly well with a clipper blade.

I love the look of a beautifully braided hunter and enjoy turning my horse out to the nines, though. YMMV.

[cosmos mom]

I roach my appy's mane because he basically has like, 290 hairs that stand straight up- so I have no choice unless I can make him a toupee :D

[norcalammie]

My old hunter could not stand being braided - would toss his head when ridden, flip over when being braided. After having an awful round in an AO class I asked my trainer if I could show unbraided in the next class. Got a 2nd to some strong contenders.

After that I roached his mane regularly before shows. I would roach it about a week or so before the show and then clip the bridle patch area super short a few days later so there was some differentiation, braid his very thin forelock and we were good to go. Most people and judges just assumed the braids were on the other side rather than roached. He did have a super neck and people got to know him as the horse with the roached mane.

When I transitioned him to jumpers, I no longer roached, just kept the mane short and tidy.

I remember back in the "Dark Ages" the 1960s when Jimmy Williams roached all his hunters to protest an increase in braiding fees.

[twobays]

It is not necessary to pull, either. If you take your time, you can easily shorten and/or thin a mane perfectly well with a clipper blade.




This is my weapon of choice for the unruly manes. My guy has the grossest hair and it gets attacked once a month or so with a clipper blade. It sticks straight up (actually, I think his mane naturally lays on the lefts and someone tried to training braid it, but did a half-assed job), but I think its adorable.

[horsetales]

I totally feel your pain! I long to roach my ID's mane for these same reasons (plus the super fast growth) but have been forbidden to do so. It's not like he's showing for at least another 2 years, but I hate constantly having to pull it :mad: Right now it's about 6 inches long and EVERYWHERE, begging to be tamed (for the millionth time) and pulled.

Maybe we need our own group ;) I too can relate - I am seriously thinking about roaching. I'm just wondering if I'll be penalized against those who can work magic and tame an Irish mane.

[TBlitz]

Maybe we need our own group ;) I too can relate - I am seriously thinking about roaching. I'm just wondering if I'll be penalized against those who can work magic and tame an Irish mane.

The manes aren't even the worst part... it's those supposedly dreamily thick and long tails that drive me crazy. I think I might almost prefer my TB's super thin and limp trouble-free hair :winkgrin: to the one I'm constantly detangling and fishing stuff out of (like pulling from Mary Poppins' bag).

Here's Mark's tail at 14 months (http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll171/ToniRogers/Yearling/?action=view&current=IMG_0409.jpg) with the TB's tail squeezed in the background. The thing has grown tons since then too :eek: but I don't have any new pictures of it.

[piaffequeen]

I'm not a fan of roached manes. I used to ride a horse whose owner roached his mane. That threw me off as to how to get on him since I grab mane to get on and then when we were jumping-my instructor forgot and said to grab some mane~I stopped and looked at her and pointed to his neck! :lol:

[crazy gray horse]

Well, I agree that roaching just to avoid braiding is lazy. I love hunter braids - when they are done correctly ;)

That said, last fall my TB cemented his mane in mud and clay and there was no combing it out - soooo, I roached it. (Of course, we aren't competing at this time.) It really didn't look bad. Now it's coming in and the way it sticks up reminds me of a fjord :lol: I will let it grow back in - he has a perfect mane for braiding: not to thick or thin, but just right!

Here's a picture when first roached http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/ringersuz/100_3444-1.jpg

[ccoronios]

Years ago, we had a pony with the aforementioned "pony mane." We roached the underneath side (that is to say, the side that the braid would lay on - the right side). That left a reasonable/braidable amount on the left side, which we braided over. The braids lay flat; pony looked respectable.

Under normal circumstances (and "to avoid braiding" does not qualify as 'abnormal' in my book), I would NOT roach a horse I was going to show in hunters or in eq or in pleasure.

And I, too, like a mud knot - on some horses ... those big, muscular buttts!!!

Carol

[mvp]

If that means roaching a mane that *can't* be braided, then do it.

Your horse's neck and head will look good or bad as God intended whether you accentuate it with hunter braids or a shaved crest. (I wouldn't roach the forelock, though).

But beware-- God also built in the poorly ennervated mane so that we would have a handle for when things get dicey. I once evented a horse whose owner liked the mane roached. It made ride me well because there was nothing to grab if I screwed up. I was too vain to accept the jumping strap he offered.