Sensitive mane by withers

[Mariequi]

Well, Dub's mane had gotten pretty long over the winter (better to lie down under the Wug without rubbing). I decided to pull it every day over a week or two to get her desensitized. She'd only had it done all at once before, but not with a mane this long. Plus it's a luxury I can afford right now and haven't done her myself before. She's really good except over her withers. I thought most people had a problem towards the poll. I don't know if it hurts or is ticklish because she starts flinching there and reared yesterday. Starts moving her side to the wall to keep me from getting there. She used to do this with her shots until one day she just didn't care any more! I just used a bat to move her back over and start again, but not at the withers and she's okay. Should I tranq, find something to anesthesize the area or just give up and blade that part?

[Janet]

In my experience, that has been one of the indicators that the withers need chiropractic adjustment and/or (procaine) injection.

[mvp]

Horses' manes are more sensitive near the poll AND withers. Lots of them don't like pulling in these sections.

You have two options-- try pulling in tiny "fan-like" sections so that you never take too many hairs from one spot. Alternate scratching her somewhere that feels good with pulling and she'll learn to tolerate pain because it's mixed with pleasure. Pull after a ride when her skin is warm and her pores are open.

The other option is to just cut these sections, and there are techniques for that which will leave the bottom edge of her mane looking exactly like a pulled one. Since the mane tends to be thinner at the withers, this might be the best solution for you both.

[Mariequi]

Thanks. Re the chiro thing, I don't think that's a prob here. I planned to have chiro/masseur as soon as the blankies are gone, which is the next week or two. I think she's just sensitive. This hasn't been an area of concern in the past (not that I'd rule anything out!)

Today was the only day I didn't work her before pulling, so it probably was worse. I never pull much at a time, but I'll try to "fan" more. Thanks. Oh, she's scritched, treated, etc. It's not a totally unpleasant time for her for sure. And always ends very happily.

Thanks for your time, all.

[goeslikestink]

check out her saddle fits her as your surpose to re flock them twice yearly

[Janet]

If she LIKES the wither scritches, it propably ins't a chiro problem. But if she objects to the withe scritches as well as to the pulling, then it might be.

[Foxtrot's]

She may have a pressure point from the blanket?? One of the posters here advised me that they don't jerk the mane but put a steady pull on the comb until the hair gives
(Fairview I think.) I've still got to try it on my young one once the weather makes me want to be out there longer.

[yellowbritches]

I've known LOTS of horses that are just as sensitive at the withers as the poll, if not even more so. I had one who would fly buck in the cross ties if I kept pressing the issue. I have also noticed while pulling manes recently that a lot are more sensitive than usual, and usually it is right where their blankets sit. I use my solo comb there if it is really bad, or ignore the area if it is just a little shaggy.

[MunchkinsMom]

One of the posters here advised me that they don't jerk the mane but put a steady pull on the comb until the hair gives
(Fairview I think.) I've still got to try it on my young one once the weather makes me want to be out there longer.

I learned that myself from watching a show on RFD-TV by Lynn Palm, talking about mane pulling, to just apply slow downward pressure, and you will feel the roots give on their own, without the painful yank. So I tried it on my gelding who hates having his mane pulled and it works. Might take a little bit longer than the yanking method, but I don't think it adds too much time.

[Foxtrot's]

...it is called making haste slowly :D

[Mariequi]

Yes, I agree. No, I never jerk. And she likes the scritches. So that's good I guess. She hasn't had a saddle on since December, so don't think that's it. Reflock saddles twice a year!

[Simbalism]

My mare is more sensitive at the withers. She is sensitive at the poll, but with taking small pieces, I can get it pulled. I have given up near the withers. I generally get as close as I can and then cut the last bit with "oh horrors...scissors..." hehe.

[Mariequi]

Thanks. I think that's what I'll do!

[bambam]

My gelding is and always has been VERY touchy about pulling close to his withers even if it is only a single hair. I simply stopped trying to to pull near his wither and cut it- doesn't look great but it is not worth torturing him to pull it (and he clearly thinks it is torture).

[Mariequi]

She really thinks a single hair is torture, so for that 2-3" wide area, I'll cut/blade. It made her jumpy about the other part too, so pooey on it. I never yank, so that's not a factor. I remember a kid who used to pull her mare's mane by grabbing a bunch and HANGING on it until it gave. This was a teenager and not a small one. Geez!

[Angela Freda]

Today was the only day I didn't work her before pulling, so it probably was worse.
That would have been my recommendation- pull after she's been worked so the pores are 'open'?
Other one, cut it short, then pull just a little to make it look pulled.

[MunchkinsMom]

Here is the trick that I use to cut a mane and yet have it looked like it was pulled. Instead of cutting across the hair, cut up into the hair (so the scissor blades are parallel with the hair) maybe with a very slight angle, so that you don't get hair that it all one uniform length. It takes some time, not as much time as pulling, and the horses don't mind it at all.

I do this for two of my horses for different reasons. The mare has a very thin mane, it was pulled when she was 3 and never grew back in thick. The gelding is because he hates having his mane pulled. He is okay with me just yanking out hairs when getting the tangles out (so that is how I thin it), but for actual pulling he really hates it.

[mvp]

From a guy who had groomed for Anne Kursinsky and then showed up on the barn of a trainer I worked for in Cali:

1) grab a section of mane and back comb it as you would for pulling.

2) When you have the longest hairs you would have pulled, cut those in small snips BY HOLDING YOUR SCISSORS ON AN ANGLE CLOSE TO VERTICAL. Measuring down from the top of the neck, you are cutting more or less at the length you'd like the mane to be in the end. So if I wanted a 4 inch mane, I would place the middle of my almost-vertical scissors about 4 inches from the crest.

3) Come the remaining hair back down and repeat.

4) Still take a "fan-like" section of mane to back comb each time. The farther apart the hairs you will cut, the more likely you are to achieve that feathered edge of the pulled mane.

If you do this right, each individual hair should be a slightly different length, just as you get from pulling.

The technique takes practice, but it's also useful for horses whose manes are thick in some sections (pull those) and thin in others (cut those). If you do both, you can make a mane that will yield even braids all the way from poll to withers.

[Mariequi]

Thanks. Very valuable. With my old mare I used the veritical/angle cut because her mane was so thin. With Dublin's I think it'll be a little pulling and a little cutting. I appreciate the suggestion to fan out and then cut. That makes a lot of sense for making it more "natural". Thanks for not thinking I'm horrible for not just traditionally pulling. The first couple of times Dub was done she was thinned so much I don't want to risk something not growing back. I used to think the more you pulled, the more you got back, but not always so. I liked it long over the winter to lie downunder the Wug, but it is, except for a wave or two like her tail, way straight and long, so looks particularly funky at the withers - but no rubs! You know what's funny? She has like a 1/2 inch of dark brown at the end of the withers area and then about 2-3" of the same at the poll. All in between is white. It immediately changes to totally flat against the neck when it turns brown. Can you see in the picture that pulls up in my link? Funny.

[Angela Freda]

Can you see in the picture that pulls up in my link? Funny. Goodness she's gorgeous!

[Mariequi]

Why thanks. My vet says her white is alarmingly white. He always asks me if I just bathed her. She's not a piggy, thank goodness, but she has her moments. Especially in the spring. Itchy, rolling, mud times.

[Mariequi]

Okay. Since I have no length-gauge eye, I taped a tape measure onto a longhandled comb and will try to have some semblance of length that makes sense. Whether I use blade or scissors (I got beauty supply store SHARP ones), I intend to backcomb and then figure out where I want the length to end up and cut at about a 30 degree angle leftside lower to rightside higher. Any other suggestions welcome. And thanks again. Glad I'm in no hurry!

[mvp]

Three things.

First, leave it a tad longer than you think you need. I use my hand as a gauge. But you can even up later.

Second, start from one end and go to the other. Press the finished sections down against the neck to make sure the actual hair is the same length. The changing relationship between you horse's crest and neck at the poll, middle and withers can mislead you!

Third, know that no one (or you for that matter) will ever look as closely at the mane as you are while working on it.

You'll do fine and her mane will grow anyway!

[cherham]

An interesting fact that I discovered after 35 years of horse ownership is that mares in particular have a pressure point near the base of their neck and shoulder area this is super sensitive to pressure. Whether it be placing a saddle (or sometimes even just a saddle pad) or pulling a mane.

The mare is not being difficult to be difficult she truly is in pain in that area especially when they are about to come in season. I had always presumed it was just a "mare" ish issue and something not to tolerated. Since my new Chiro Vet did a bit of acupuncture on that area it has subsided substantially. The chiro work itself just aggrevated the situation in my case but the acupuncture sure did the trick. Too bad these horses cannot speak English and just tell us where their aches and pains are.....

[Mariequi]

Interesting because I know she's in season and more sensitive right now. I have a masseur coming next week at end of blankie season, so I'll see if we go on to a chiro after that. Maybe acup at end of blankie season would be a good annual ritual. She's gotten to be a pretty sensible easy to work around girl, so you're probably right that it's a real pain.