Pulling manes....Possibly dumbest question this week!!

[Vindicated]

I started pulling a mane this week, and honestly got to a point and I said to my self "what the F am I doing?"
I seem to have forgotten how to pull a mane....or rather I have lost the ideal picture in my mind.

I have not pulled a mane in many moons, my pasture ornaments/semi-retired/need to start working again horses have had their's "trimmed" cause they were'nt going anywhere they needed to look "fancy". So now we are thinking about training for real again, and I forgot most everything I have learned about pulling a mane for braiding (down the road of course :winkgrin:)

HELP!!!!

I feel like a moron...

[Brown Horse]

Brush the hair out really well. Hair should be a little dirty and not have any conditioner (too slippery when it's nice and clean and conditioned). Take a small section of mane and backcomb until there's just a few strands of longer hairs. Wrap them around the comb (or just pull with fingers) and firmly & quickly pull DOWN, not up or out. Repeat several million times until fingers are bleeding and horse is sighing with discontentment :p
Seriously though, remember to take a step back every few minutes to make sure everything is coming out evenly. It's hard to tell when you're that close to it for that long. I was just pulling my horse's mane today...ugh.

[billiebob]

I pull mine to about the width of my hand when pressed against the horse's mane. About 4-5 inches, I think.....I have big hands! Don't take big hunks of hair--only a teeny bit at a time. Leave it longer than you think you need to in case of emergency (i.e. mane doesn't end up straight, horsey is fidgety and mane initially looks like shark's teeth, etc.). Also it helps to pull it after the horse has been worked.

[paintlady]

I just hire a friend to do it... ;)

[Vindicated]

Thank you all for your responses...

I remember the technique, my problem is stopping...the mane that I had left on 1/2 of the mane was not thick enough to have pretty braids.

What is ideal thickness?

Obviously, I want to attempt to make it uniform thickness from wither to poll.
What is ideal?

The horse I was pulling is not going anywhere to quickly, but he has not had his mane pulled in about 18 months, so it is all the same length & thick. I suppose I am trying to start the "good" mane process...

[bizbachfan]

I cheat and use the comb with razor to start then touch up with real pulling especially on really unruly manes

[ponygurl1]

wht i do 2 make sure tht itts the rite length is i take the comb im using 2 pull the mane and see iff itts as long as tht iff its shorter STOP!!! iff itts longer keep pulling hope tht helps

[cnvh]

wht i do 2 make sure tht itts the rite length is i take the comb im using 2 pull the mane and see iff itts as long as tht iff its shorter STOP!!! iff itts longer keep pulling hope tht helps

You're new here, aren't you? :yes:

FYI, you will make many more friends here when you use normal English instead of text-speak. :D