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The way your groom your horses mane and tail depends a lot on your goal. Are you planning on braiding your horse's mane at some point in the future? Then pulling the mane is necessary. If you don't plan on braiding then leaving the mane long is just fine. For the horses tale long and flowing is the best option. In addition to be pretty this allows the horse to swish off the flies in the summer months. Keeping these healthy and flowing takes some effort.

Remember that your horse's mane and tail are likely the way they are due to genetics. There is only so much that you can do to make them look better if they are genetically predisposed to looking awful. Some breeds, such as Thoroughbreds and Arabs, naturally have thinner manes and there is not much that can be done about that. The best option in these situations is to try and get the hair to grow as healthy as possible and live up its potential.

One of the most important aspects of getting your horse's mane and tail into the best condition possible is feeding your horse a diet that provides supplements for healthy hair. A healthy coat and hooves along with the mane and tail is very telling of the care and nutrition that a horse receives. What you can feed to help your horse get healthier hair is oil, biotin and apple cider vinegar. Oil is great for a horse's coat, and is relatively inexpensive and easy to feed. However it has a lot of calories so if the horse is one that gains weight easily then it is probably not the best option. Apple cider vinegar is great for a horse hair. It helps to even out the pH in the horses system. A hoof supplement such as biotin will also help to provide vitamin B to make the hair grow well and look great.

To keep the horse's mane and tail healthy they needed to be washed and conditioned once every two to three weeks. Not washing enough can result in a horse that rubs and therefore pulls hair out. Over washing on the other hand strips the hair of oils and dries it out which can also result in itching and rubbing. The shampoo and conditioner used for cleaning the tail does not have to be any fancy shampoo, human shampoo and conditioner works just fine. Make sure that whenever you wash your horse's mane and tail you get everything rinsed out very well. Also make sure to never brush your horse's mane and tail if they are dirty and matted. If you don't have time to wash be sure to use a leave in conditioner or detangler before brushing them out.

Learn more about this author, Megan Worley.
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