by Al Badia
If you’re a horse owner, you know that braiding your horse’s mane is a great way to keep it looking healthy and neat. But did you know that braiding a horse’s mane can actually make their show experience safer?
A good mane braid improves the safety of both the horse and the rider in show rings as it keeps the mane from jumping into your face or getting into the rider’s equipment when jumping. It also helps keep dust out of your horse’s eyes and protects them from being bitten by other horses’ teeth.
Here’s how to do it:
- Cut a section of hair that is about half an inch wide and two inches long. This is going to be your “braid base”.
- Take your base and twist it while holding both ends with one hand (this will give you a single twist). Once you’ve twisted it twice, put another twist in front of it so that there are now three twists in total.
- Twist the ends again so that there are four twists total now, then pull them apart slightly (but not too much!) so that they form a square shape with four equal sides—this will help keep everything neat later on when you’re braiding your horse’s mane!
- Do this until all of your horse’s mane has been braided using this method.
