I bought a mare on New Year's!

[welsummerchicks]

In Spain and Portugal it's a tradition to cut the mare's manes, weanlings are also trimmed - tails shaved. I was told it was supposed to make it more obvious, even from a distance, who was what. In the US, I don't think most breeders/sellers do that.

 

[michickenwrangler]

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The breeder that my friend and I visited last summer did that with her horses. It is very odd looking I will admit. I just felt sorry for them during fly season.

 

[patandchickens]

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I have no clue about nowadays, but back in the early 90s I was around some amateur Andalusian people in Ohio and they did that in order to pretend their horses were imported. Seriously! "Well, lots of people do it, and if you don't do it it makes your horse look like some backyard-bred reject, so of course we do it too." <rolling eyes>

A lot of *silly* people get into Andalusians, it is the curse of being a hair breed

(They are perfectly good horses on their own merit, but, some of the people they *attract*...)

Pat

 

[welsummerchicks]

That business of shaving the manes on US born horses is not something that surprises me. Not within THAT group!

The climate in those countries is different - drier, and I'm not sure the flies are like here. Even if there were as many flies, tradition is tradition and that's about the end of that.

Agree with Pat. I would have bought one a couple years back, but I could not find a sane seller within the geographical area. Too many snotty and igorant remarks about other breeds, and too many ridiculous claims for their breed. I don't want to give people money if they are going around saying things like that.

Plus marketing very average horses with very, very poor gaits, as 'sport horses' and 'dressage horses' for incredible amounts of money. I could have bought 3 horses in Europe and shipped them here for what they were pricing horses at. Additional problem, the type of in hand training - even many of the young horses get it. Ruins them, as far as I'm concerned. The way they train them under saddle - fahget about it!

"Born on the bit", my applesauce.

 

[WIChookchick]

I purchased a saddle last yr in late winter from a lady who had a PRE- Andalusian, I had her put it on the mares back so I could see how well it would fit my mare.
The mare's mane had been roached. BUT as she herself said its only roached for their inspection, they can let it grow out after that, and that is what she was doing.
If you google PRE/Andalusian horse, you will get a boat load of pics of horses in LONG manes.
http://www.google.com/images?q=PRE/...&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1424&bih=692

I went to the PREhorse.info site, there are hundreds of pics of PRE (the pure spanish Andalusian, vs, the Portuguese bred ones)... and LOTS of horses there were shown to crowds both
roached mane and UNroached.. I looked through a few of the sets of pics.. and found too many but here are some you can go to and click on. Set 2 pic 2 ,Set 4 pretty much ALL of them.

You don't need to roach a horses mane. BUT the heavy manes cause a horse to sweat ALOT under there. My KY mtn does, so we braid it.

Carol

 

[knjinnm]

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Hi,
By "hair Breed" do you mean they don't shed?

Joe

 

[IcarusSomnio]

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Hi,
By "hair Breed" do you mean they don't shed?

Joe

I wish!

More that they loads of hair, i.e, long manes and tails.

And who says short horses can't do Dressage? My little 13.2hh Friesian Pony says otherwise, he's no Olympic steed, but he could win some ribbons if we put ours minds to it

My little dude also has The Neck, he was a stallion up until he was around 4 1/2 and it shows. He does get the MASSIVELY HUGE CREST but he gets a little one. Balances out his neck so nicely