Why roach a horses mane

Deciding whether or not to roach is a personal decision. Some riders regret a roached mane, while others wonder why they hesitated so long to make the shift. Study your horses to get an idea of whether a roached mane would flatter their natural confirmation. For horses with an ewe neck , for example, roaching might be better left until the horse gains better muscle condition. Although arguably you can get a sense of how your horse might look with the roached mane by looking at them from their off-side assuming they do not have a double mane , I recommend a different approach.

Since you are accustomed to seeing your horse from that side without mane, try combing the mane to the opposite side so no mane shows on the near side. Rumors abound — for both horses and humans — that hair that is shaved will grow back thicker or harder to manage. The biggest challenge for riders trying to grow back the mane that has previously been roached is the patience to allow the hair to grow long enough. One of the chief complaints in the process of growing back out a roached mane is that the mane tends to have strange layers, boxy thickness, and unevenness.

Conditioning the mane , pulling it, and training it to lay over by using pasture braids can all be helpful ways to work with a roached mane as it is growing out. However, my best tip is to use thinning shears. After all the waiting for a roached mane to grow back, you may balk at the idea of using scissors on the new mane growth, but hear me out! Thinning shears cut only a fraction of the hairs that are captured between their blades. At inches long in the growing-back-out phase, thinning shears can be used on the edges to remove the boxy mohawk look.

A roached mane is a common practice for the Akhal-Teke due to fact that their mane is often sparse. Specific breeds, like Fjords , will almost always have a roached mane as it is their standard. And with the mane roached, the black stripe in the middle is easily seen — the unique characteristic of the breed. Roaching can also help with horses with an ectoparasite problem such as lice, so cutting it off makes it healthier for the horse.

A heavy mane can also make a horse feel pretty hot in the summertime. Also, if your horse likes to rub their mane on a fence post, or it becomes matted, you might be left with little options. Therefore, shaving it down can help it grow back healthy by starting fresh. This does not cost you a penny more! And I thank you, a thousand times over. Wahl Professional Animal Blade Oil for Pet Clipper and Trimmer Blades — for after coolant, after cleaning, before use, before storage, all the time.

My fave corded body clippers are these:. My fave cordless super powerful clippers are these:. And my fave lightweight cordless trimmers with a 5 in 1 blade are these:. Or it may not be. First, we should consider some reasons for roaching a mane, and some reasons for leaving the mane long. Photo by JCAndalusians. For example, some saddlebreds have partially roached manes and forelocks.

Growing up, I knew some Appys that were roached because their super wispy and pokey manes just looked better after being roached. You may also have a horse with medical reasons that necessitate roaching. A skin infection, sweet itch, a surgical site, laceration repair, or even lice infestation may remove all or part of the mane.

There may also be a case in which a mane interferes with medication being applied, so roaching the mane can allow for topical medications to be more effective. When I was traveling in Central America, the horses there have roached manes to facilitate the finding of ticks — which are everywhere.

Gross to think about, but a good reason to roach a mane. Polo horses often have a tuft of mane that remains long near the wither.