⭐️BRAIDING A TAIL VIDEO + HANGING THE FAKE TO THE BRAID (not the dock)⭐️
-soak the hair with water. Can keep re-wetting as you braid down, if needed.
-I spray with straight vinegar- makes it grippy, and reduces fly always. Can also use 1/2 Quic Braid with 1/2 water. Vinegar is way cheaper!
-for the first string down the braid, I use Red Heart. For the pinwheel, and hanging fake, I use Bernat Softee Chunky because it’s really strong.
-STAY EYE-LEVEL with your hands. At the bottom of the dock, I find that if I don’t stay eye-level, my hands tend to unconsciously pull upwards, causing the peices to be loose. So I have to crouch down at the bottom.
-keep your hands in the middle of the dock, and close to the dock. Try not to pull outwards on the braid, or it may be loose.
-as I pull each piece over into in the braid, I’m smoothing it, and making it flat with my finger.
-as I get lower, I start to pull on section of hair below my hand- I’m just pulling on the inside portion/the section that I just added to make it tighter. Not the entire piece, or it can make your braid loose.
-not only should your braid look good, it should be tight, so it doesn’t get loose as the horse goes around.
-if the horse sucks their tail in, can use a sweat scraper under the dock, as you braid, or can hold the tail between your knees, so you’re pulling it towards you.
If they hold their tail upwards, or swing it around, can try pushing your knee on their dock to keep it down.
-posted videos recently of tying down the top of the braid, so it doesn’t get loose.
Also recently posted a video of doing the pinwheel. Will have to scroll through the page.
Will post a photo of the finished tail in comments.
Happy braiding 💕
🦄DOING THE PINWHEEL🦄
I put 4 strands of yarn on the 2nd cross-over on the left. Helpful if the yarn is extra long.
4 strands allows me to get it tight. Less than that, and the yarn breaks easily.
Extra step- I tie the pinwheel to the braid to help keep it straight, and help prevent it from shifting sideways.
When the go through the pinwheel, I’m going through the actual BRAID, not the space between the braid. This helps me to get it tighter, to stay in place, and not shift.
I have a special rug hook- I get my rug hook from a braider in the USA, she doesn’t ship to Canada.
Fabricland sells a super long rug hook, it’s very flimsy, but could possibly also work.
✨Happy Braiding❤️
💙TYING DOWN THE TOP OF THE BRAID, SO IT DOESN’T GET LOOSE🦄
I have a special rug hook, but a normal rug hook from any store will also work.
I get my rug hook from a braider in the USA, she doesn’t ship to Canada.
🦄PULLING A MANE:
Just wrap a little bit around your comb, and pull out GENTLY.
If you pull out big chunks, it’s painful for them.
A pulled mane is ideal for having nice braids! This is something you can do yourself (this is not your Braider’s job, unless they are charging for it).
When they absolutely don’t let me pull it, I use my handy razor tool (posted in a previous post). I also use this tool right behind the ears, instead of pulling, as that’s a very sensitive area.
I can’t speak for other braiders, but braiding a thick mane is painful for your horse- the braid is tight at the base of the neck, and when I pull up the braid, the end is so thick, that I have to fight with it to shove it inside the crest. This is very painful for them…..maybe I braid too tight 🤷🏻♀️
🦄BUMPING UP BRAIDS VIDEO🦄
Lots of braiding videos have been posted on the page from years ago. Will have to scroll down a lot.
And sorry about the poor quality video- it’s hard to hold the camera when both my hands are braiding, but I’ll try to do a better job next time 🙂 (I did take multiple videos, and this was the best one that came out).
🐴BRAIDING DOWN VIDEO:
-Make sure your lines are straight when separating the sections of hair.
-Braid tight.
-Add the yarn in the same spot everytime.
-Make sure your knot is tight.
⭐️There’s many different ways to braid. Every braider has a different technique⭐️
🪒BRAIDING HORSE MANES TIP🪒:
After you braid down, if you find the tail ends of the braids are too thick, can use a razor to thin/taper the end.
Thick tail ends can be very hard to hide, and can make the finished braid look not so good. This is why a pulled/thinned mane is ideal—-> your braids will turn out looking better!
⭐️Only razor a little bit, or you’ll end up taking the entire tail right off 🤦♀️🙈
🐴My FAVOURITE Mane-Thinning Tool🐴
This is great for horses that don’t like their mane being pulled. And great for right behind their ears, as that area is very sensitive (even if they are okay with their mane being pulled, I will usually use this tool behind their ears).
The edges are not sharp, but must be sharp inside the blades…🤷🏻♀️? It razors the manes, makes it thinner, and tapered at the bottom- perfect for braiding, and being able to hide the tails of the braid easily.
It makes it look like a pulled mane.
If using it for braiding: do NOT thin it too much the first time, as you can make it extremely thin at the bottom, and you’ll have nothing to braid with. Do a little everytime you braid, until you get the mane you want.
Do NOT use this on top of the crest, as you will have short pieces sticking up when it’s braided. Use it below the crest.
Can buy at Bahrs for $41.99, and on Amazon for under $20. On Amazon it’s sold as a dog, and cat grooming tool- works AMAZING on my cat, gets so much hair off. He loves it!
Facebook won’t let me post videos, and photos on the same post, so I’ll be posting photos of the tool in the comments.
💖Thank you to my braiding client who introduced this tool to me, as a braider, it is LIFE-CHANGING.
-Melissa 💕
📹Right outside the horse show, on Appaloosa Trail. Just one of the MANY horse communities surrounding the show.
Farm, after farm, after farm. One of the farms is Ian Millar’s.
Horse Lover’s paradise☀️🌴
Winter Equestrian Festival 🦄 Florida.
🦄BRAIDING A TAIL VIDEO🦄 🔹Helpful Tips- Soak the hair with water. Comb with a plastic comb. Stay eye-level with your hands/the part you are braiding. You might have to crouch down, or kneel on your ladder as you do the bottom part of the tail.
📹Video on how I tie down those short hairs on top of the crest-
Last horse of the day/week🦄❗️
DONE ✅
11:15am
Bumping Up Braids Video 🦄
HOW I TIE-IN FAKE TAILS 🪢
🐴UPDATED VERSION OF HOW I TIE-IN FAKE TAILS 🪢
There’s many ways to tie in a fake tail. The tail can be braided afterwards, or left un-braided.
Here is how I do mine:
1. Hang the fake against the real tail, to figure out where to hang the tail. The bottom of the fake tail, should be in line with the bottom of the fetlocks. If hung lower, it could get stepped on, and ripped out/the fake could fall apart.
If your fake is blunt cut at the bottom, you might need to trim the real tail, so it’s in line with the bottom of the fake tail. With a tapered bottom fake tail, the real tail can hang lower than the fake, and it blends in.
2. Take a section in the middle, and put through the loop. Take a section on the side, and add it to the last section. Take a section on the other side, and then one more section, so now you have 3 sections to make a braid.
3. BRAID TIGHT, or the fake could drop lower. Cross the left section over the middle, and add 2 pieces of yarn. Half the yarn goes on the left section, the other half on the middle section.
4. Continue to French braid, by adding in pieces from the sides as you go along.
5. After French braiding for a bit, add in 2 more pieces of yarn, to add strength.
6. Continue to French braid a few more times. Then do a few regular crossovers without adding in hair.
7. Tie your knot tightly. If grabbing all the yarn is difficult, just grab minimum 4 pieces of yarn.
My knot is similar to a quick release knot, except you pull the wool all the way through. And the second knot I do, is a Surgeons knot- instead of going through once, then tightening, I go through twice, then tighten.
8. Then go all the way around the fake, and also grab some of the real hair from the back side (so the fake swings with the real hair), and tie a Surgeons knot. Repeat this one more time.
9. Cut off the wool. Leave about an inch of wool, so it’s not cut so close to the knots.
⭐️Make sure everything is done TIGHTLY⭐️
Thanks for watch
