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using just your fingers if necessary. Try using a leave-in conditioner once you're done smoothing and brushing to lock in much-needed moisture.

Wrapping horse tails has long been a debate in the horse industry. Some say that it increases your risk of breakage, while others say that an unwrapped tail can, and will, break under any conditions in the stall or pasture. Many also worry that wrapping or bagging a horse's tail will rob it of the ability to swish flies. I believe it depends on the horse that the tail belongs to. If you're trying to grow out your horse's tail, it will usually grow faster if it's wrapped in some way. The weight of the tail bag or wrap will increase growth time somewhat, while keeping the hairs you do have already growing in the best condition possible.

My horses are notorious for finding places on their stall walls, buckets and feeders to get their tails stuck and broken, so my show horses almost always wear some kind of tail bag or wrap, especially during show season. My favorite wraps are good, old-fashioned lycra tail bags. Apply a leave-in conditioner to the tail, braid it in one long braid, roll it up, and insert it into a lycra tail bag and tie tightly at the top (be careful to tie tail bags at least 1" below the tail bone, only tying the bag to itself and tail hair only). For my more vigorous tail swishers, I like using the 3-tube lycra tail bags. Separate the tail into three sections, insert each section into a tube, and braid one long braid. For longer tails, I double up the tail to avoid it getting stepped on by the horse. Tails should be unwrapped, unbraided, and allowed to "breathe" at least once per week. This also ensures that any rubs or problems are spotted early, and any adjustments to the way the tail is wrapped be made before any disasters can occur. I usually try to unwrap and wash tails twice per week, and trim off split ends with scissors just like you would human hair. It's important to keep tails trimmed to about 1-2" above ground, to ensure that your horse won't accidentally step on the end tail hairs and cause breakage. If you want your horse's tail to drag the ground, you will need to keep it in a bag or wrap to avoid unwanted breakage.

If you do choose to wrap your horse's tail, be sure to use a high-quality fly spray to make up for your horse's natural swishing mechanism to rid their bodies of flies during the hot summer months. Be sure that if the tail is wrapped, it can still move freely without causing any harm or pain to the horse. If your tail back is particularly short, consider adding some long strips of lycra or cotton to aid in the horse's fly swishing.

Just as healthy, silky human hair is often tedious to accomplish, so are soft, silky and luxurious horse manes and tails. If you keep them clean and tangle-free, make sure your horse is receiving the optimum nutrition, and care for manes and tail as you would your own hair, you are well on your way to creating that sought-after mane and tail that everyone can, and will, admire. Behind every beautiful show ring mane and tail, there is a proud owner, groom or trainer that spends many hours keeping it that way!

Learn more about this author, Deborah Messner.
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