05/26/2026
🤩 HOW TO PREPARE YOUR HORSE FOR BEAUTIFUL BRAIDS 🤩
Obviously having a great braider (or braiding skills, if you’re doing it yourself) is important. But the prep work is just as, if not more so. A dirty, unkept mane will NEVER result in good quality braids.
➡️ If your horses mane is dirty, you’re going to have dirty, dandruffy braids.
➡️ If your horse’s mane is uneven (not just length, but thickness) you will have inconsistent structure to the braids, and won’t have that uniform look.
So how do we achieve a perfectly clean (but not slippery) and perfectly even (but not too long or too short) mane? See below 👇🏻 for some trade secrets.
🧽 Scrub a dub dub 🧼
SCRUB that mane! Make sure you are getting all the way down to the roots - no one wants dandruff in between the braids! And make sure to get the top, up by the bridle path. This is a commonly overlooked area because some horses don’t make it easy. Grab a step stool and get on it!
If the mane has been left unwashed for a long period of time, such as the entire winter, you WILL need to do this several times, so PLAN AHEAD!
Use soap/shampoo only, NEVER conditioner. Old school trick: Palmolive Dish Soap gets the mane clean and leaves it slightly tacky, which is great for GRIP 🤚 when braiding.
NEVER add show sheen or other detangling products to the mane - it makes it too slippery!
🪮 Let’s talk About Length 📏
🐴 Dressage and Hunter braids ➡️ A good rule of thumb is to have the mane measure the length of the pulling comb (not including the handle). When measuring, lay section of mane flat and start at the bottom of the crest (NOT the root) and measure to the bottom of the comb.
🐴 Jumper style and button braids ➡️ the mane can be a little bit longer
⭐️ For best results, the thickness must ALSO be as consistent as possible ⭐️
🐴 Running braids ➡️ Let that mane flow!
So how do we achieve the desired length?
We will start with what NOT to do: do NOT use ✂️ to bluntly trim the mane.
For thinner manes, you can use the comb and scissor method. I’m going to share a video in the comments. Personally, I like to use the SoloComb which achieves the same results, but is easier to use and I think more natural looking.
For thicker manes, the old school pulling method works the best. You can make this process more comfortable for your horse by taking smaller sections. Video of proper pulling method is in the comments.
Manes that are too thick will result in messy, inconsistent braids that will not lay flat, and will come undone easily 😔
For ALL manes, be sure to comb out any tangles.
