Tips on Washing Your Horse's Tail

A horse's tail if not groomed properly can become unsightly and straggly. It can also become full of mud and debris. You first want to wash the tail to remove the knots. This way all of the hair will hang down to it's full length. After you have washed and groomed the tail you can trim the tail so the bottom will be level.

You will need to gather some supplies before you begin. You will need horse shampoo, a mane comb, a dandy brush and a sponge. You will also need three to four buckets of hot water. To get started you dunk the tail as far as you can in one of the buckets of water. Then use a wet sponge to wet the remaining top part of the tail.

You then put the horse shampoo on the tail and work into lather. Use the dandy brush to brush through the tail and remove the knots; the shampoo acts like a lubricant to help you do this. Once you have removed as many knots as you can you can start at the bottom of the tail using the mane comb. You want to work from the bottom of the tail up so you don't end up with a huge knot at the top of the tail.

You then want to rinse the tail out using the other buckets of water. Make sure all the shampoo is out of the tail. Squeeze and swish the tail around to remove as much water as possible.

Now that the tail is tangle-free and clean you can trim the bottom. Stand to one side of the horse and run your hand down the horse's tail. You will then decide how long the tail should be. Usually it is about 10-13cm below the hock. Use scissors and cut just below your hand. It is better to leave the tail slightly unlevel than to keep trimming and cut the tail too short. If you wash the tail regularly it will be a quick and easy task.

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