I cut Mimi's mane.
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| Please note the "wild pony" eyes. This is the look she displays pretty much 24/7 through the months of March and April. Fun times. |
It's not like I roached it off. I won't go that far. I just cut it to the point that it was at back in our show days.
A large part of me wants that "long, flowing Arabian mane" look. Unfortunately, the reality is, Mimi got the "crappy Appy" mane/forelock in her POA breeding.
And her mane was three or four different lengths, thanks to the fact she rubs out the middle section of her mane every few months by sticking her head through the bars of her pipe corral stall. So she had the long, flowing mane...for the first four or five inches of mane. Then it was the wimpy, rubbed out, really thin middle section. Finally, the last third of her mane is a different texture (kind of wavy...not unlike my own) and never grew as fast as the front portion.
Cute as she is, the mane was not helping her looks any. And I can't get braids to stay in for longer than a day or two.
She still looks cute (she always looks cute) and very much like she could go right back into the show ring. (If you overlook the metallic rub stains, saddle sweat, mud, manure, and yellow tail. I wanted to give her a bath...then the clouds came in and she was given a reprieve. Mostly because I didn't want to end up cold and soaked.)
I don't know if I'll just leave it like this, or if we'll attempt to grow it out and and see if she can keep it a little more even.
I am crying with you - but you can't fight genetics and fences. I chopped SIX INCHES off Dixie's mane when she pulled it out on the fence a couple months after I bought her. (It grew back, because she is a yak.)
ReplyDeleteShow-short manes do accentuate the neck, and Mimi looks very nice. (For a crappy Appy! :ducks and runs!:)
Hey, do you get the green fur from brass fittings? Dixie has those huge green splotches on her shoulders from the brass of her breastcollar and I'm really thinking about getting a custom breastcollar with stainless steel.
Well, she's not *actually* an Appy...she's a POA, which pretty much means pony-sized Appy. Except for the fact she looks like a mini-Arab.
DeleteI've had problems in the past with the green splotches, but only on the left side where the clip on the top strap of the breastcollar is. I started putting a fleecy noseband tube over that strap, and that elevates that fitting enough so I'm not getting green spots anymore.
Interesting!
ReplyDeleteBut I don't like my hunter green breastcollar, and I really like the custom purple and sparkly blue ones that Hought makes... I am going to pretend you didn't suggest fleece!
In that case...disregard the fleece. After all, you have to pull it off and wash it frequently, and it can possibly pick up stickers...or if you get the wrong one (black fleece) the dye bleeds when it gets wet/sweaty and turns your horse an interesting blackish-burgundy color.
DeleteI love Hought's custom tack. My Zilco works really well for Mimi, especially since we're not actively competing anymore, but my next horse will be getting a full custom set from Hought.
Ugh, washing fleece booties would be the straw that broke the Funder's back. I should definitely hold out!
DeleteYes, definitely! In the interm, a really cheap suggestion that might or might not last very long: paint the underside of the brass with clear nail polish, kind of like painting the inside of rings that turn skin green.
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