Braiding Horse Hair: 6 Tips to Help Make It Go Faster
The first time that you braid your horse's mane you should expect that it will take you at least a couple of hours.
With practice you will get faster but until then you are going to want to look for ways to speed things up.
The following tips should help you to get the job done faster.
Wash the Hair In order to braid the hair on your horse's mane you are going to have to get all of the tangles out of it.
This is a lot easier to do if the hair is clean.
You do not however want to wash the hair on the day that you are going to braid it.
Freshly washed hair is slippery and not easy to work with.
Brush the Hair Thoroughly As already mentioned you have to get the tangles out of the hair before you start braiding it, the best way to do this is by brushing it.
Don't rush through this part; it will save you a lot of time later on if you take the time to properly brush the hair.
Gather all of your Tools Before you start braiding your horse's mane make sure that you have all of the tools that you are going to need.
You don't need much, a brush, some elastics and a needle and thread is enough to braid a mane.
You do however want to make sure that you keep it all with you so that you don't have to keep walking back and forth to get items you need.
An apron with lots of pockets will make this easy to do.
Keep your Horse Distracted You are going to need your horse to stand still while you are working, this can be a bit of a challenge.
The easiest way to do it is to give him an oat basket or hay that he can eat while you are working.
That being said you will want to make sure that he is securely tied up.
Use a Stool Reaching up and over the shoulder of your horse is not an easy thing to do; most people are about the same height as a horse.
If you try to braid the mane while standing on the ground you will almost certainly have to walk from one side of the horse to the other.
If you use a stool you will be able to reach over the horse and save yourself a lot of time.
Take Breaks When you first start braiding horse manes you will find that it takes a couple of hours, there is no way that your horse is going to stand still for that long.
Taking frequent breaks to allow the horse to walk around will make it a lot easier for him.
With practice you will get faster but until then you are going to want to look for ways to speed things up.
The following tips should help you to get the job done faster.
Wash the Hair In order to braid the hair on your horse's mane you are going to have to get all of the tangles out of it.
This is a lot easier to do if the hair is clean.
You do not however want to wash the hair on the day that you are going to braid it.
Freshly washed hair is slippery and not easy to work with.
Brush the Hair Thoroughly As already mentioned you have to get the tangles out of the hair before you start braiding it, the best way to do this is by brushing it.
Don't rush through this part; it will save you a lot of time later on if you take the time to properly brush the hair.
Gather all of your Tools Before you start braiding your horse's mane make sure that you have all of the tools that you are going to need.
You don't need much, a brush, some elastics and a needle and thread is enough to braid a mane.
You do however want to make sure that you keep it all with you so that you don't have to keep walking back and forth to get items you need.
An apron with lots of pockets will make this easy to do.
Keep your Horse Distracted You are going to need your horse to stand still while you are working, this can be a bit of a challenge.
The easiest way to do it is to give him an oat basket or hay that he can eat while you are working.
That being said you will want to make sure that he is securely tied up.
Use a Stool Reaching up and over the shoulder of your horse is not an easy thing to do; most people are about the same height as a horse.
If you try to braid the mane while standing on the ground you will almost certainly have to walk from one side of the horse to the other.
If you use a stool you will be able to reach over the horse and save yourself a lot of time.
Take Breaks When you first start braiding horse manes you will find that it takes a couple of hours, there is no way that your horse is going to stand still for that long.
Taking frequent breaks to allow the horse to walk around will make it a lot easier for him.
Source...