Horse Lovers

Here's a good video for your enjoyment and education on how to groom a horse's tail. My congratulations to the video maker. (And don't forget my own web page about horse tails: www.squidoo.com/HorseTails

My mom's a really good writer. Most of the time, she's writing about cooking and food and all kinds of scruptious stuff.  But she has come to love horses almost as much as her daughter does, so here's an article she recently did on horse tail grooming.

Basics of Grooming Horse Tails
by Sarah Sandori

What to do with a horse's tail?  That might seem an odd question, but it's one that horse owners answer in a variety of ways.

It might seem that the easiest and most natural way to care for your horse's tail is simply to let it fly free. What's more beautiful than the sight of a high-spirited horse runnning in a field, its long, flowing tail flicking joyfully this way and that?

Unfortunately, a "natural" tail -- one that is neither cut nor tied up in a knot -- is rarely maintenance-free. At a minimum you can expect tangles to develop in it; at worst, it can become so matted with dirt, mud, twigs and leaves that you might end up having to cut much of it off anyway.

If you own a horse, you know that you must groom it frequently. You should expect that you cannot escape grooming the tail along with everything else.

If you're new to horse care, the good news is that you needn't groom the tail every day. In fact, when it comes to grooming the equine tail, less is more. For most horses, brushing the tail every third day is about right. And when you brush, you should do it as lightly as possible, to avoid pulling out any more hairs than is absolutely unavoidable.

Before brushing, use a tangle remover or a conditioner made especially for horses, gently working the stuff into the tail hair and carefully removing as many knots or tangles as you can. Once you have done this, then you can brush.

Some people cut the hair of their horse's tail quite short, because they think it looks neater that way, or because it minimizes chances of the tail picking up dirt and mud. Others like to tie a knot in the tail, for the same reasons.

In my family of horse lovers, we are definitely biased toward maintaining long, thick, flowing tails on our horses. But there is no final right or wrong answer to the question of what to do with a horse's tail. As long as you treat it gently and make sure it is kept in good, clean condition, the choice is all yours.

Many people wonder if it's really possible to take an average looking horse and grow a long, thick, flowing tail or mane on it -- in a matter of mere months. Answer: Yes, it is.

A gorgeous tail can actually mean the winning difference in equine competitions,, even against horses that may technically be superior in terms of strict conformation. After all, judges are human, too!

Beautifying a horse by helping it to reach its full potential in terms of tail and mane growth has proved profitable for a number of savvy horse people. These are the folks who will buy a mediocre animal, then apply the secret methods that spur the tail and mane to flourish luxuriantly, creating a real "fairy tale" horse. They then easily re-sell the horse for much more than they paid, thereby making a nice profit.

Of course, most horse owners learn the secrets of growing amazing tails and manes simply for the pleasure it brings them.

My own daughter, Lacy, has become obsessed with figuring out how to increase the length and thickness of her horses' tails. She has compiled some of what she has learned about tail growth in particular at her Horse Tails site.

Her source of the true insiders' secrets for growing astonishing tails and manes may be found at http://www.HorseMane.info. As someone who has seen her horses take home the big prizes, time after time, all I can say is: it works.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Sandori