Conference noted::equitation

    Stephanie,
    
    I don't know what the requirements or etiquette for arab halter
    classes are, but you may be better off pulling the rest of the mane
    so that it is all the same length (and it will all grow out together)
    as opposed to letting the short section grow out and leaving the
    rest alone (which will grow also and you won't have solved the
    problem)?
    
    Also, in your base note you used the word 'trim' - I don't know
    if you meant this as pulling the mane or cutting it with scissors,
    but I caution you against using scissors - the results are usually
    unappealing.

    Stephanie,
    
    You may want to postpone halter showing until next year, or at 
    least until the little mohawk will lie down.  If you check your
    rule book, you will see that Arabians must be shown with NATURAL,
    unbraided, manes and tails.  The only time it is allowed to do
    ANYTHING to their manes and tails is for hunter classes.  Even
    then it seems most people don't pull the mane or tail but just
    do one of those beautiful patterned braids that look like 
    waterfalls - truly elegant.
    
    I've had to deal with horses who do their own hair and find that
    if you can braid the short part and then braid that part into a
    longer strand, you can train it to lie down.  Good luck!
    
    Gwen
    

    Thanks for the input.  I guess that I will have to carefully pull
    his mane as this section grows down (I did once cut with scissors
    on my old arab/welsh mare, she looked like she had a page boy!)
    until it is nice and long and even again.  Too bad to, because he
    was really starting to look sharp. Oh well.
    
    By the way, I heard that if you use something like listerine on
    the roots of the mane it will not only keep it from itching, but
    stimulate hair growth?  Anybody out there heard this? or am I looking
    for a miracle?
    
    stephanie
    

    I've boarded in show barns where a mixture of listerine and baby
    oil was used on manes and tails.  The theory was that the listerine
    stimulated the hair folicles to grow faster and the baby oil kept
    the hair in condition.  They used a spray bottle to apply, some
    mixed half each and some mixed 2/3 listerine and 1/3 baby oil.
    It seemed to work.  Don't give up on showing halter yet, you've
    got a couple of months before the shows really get going.  You may
    get enough growth to be presentable with a lot of hair spray to
    make it lay flat.    good luck
    

    Thank you, thank you.  I thought I remembered that correctly.  I
    am going to try it on his mane, I have nothing to lose anyway.  Your're
    right, I do have  some time yet before show season is over.  I might
    not have shoulder length locks on him, but it will be a natural
    mane. 
    
    
    stephanie
       

    Before you pull it...
    
    I had a show mare who removed a section of main in the middle of
    her neck.  We debated about pulling it or leaving it alone.  Since
    it was so thick we didn't pull it.  But to show, we back-combed
    sections of it together.  Then combed the top layer so it looked
    smooth.  It didn't look too bad.  And it eventually grew out (faster
    than I imagined it would.)
    
    

    .6  Did you use hairspray to hold it together? or some kind of gel?
    

    Oh, we glopped it up pretty well.
    
    We tried a mousse and dippity-do underneath.  Then back-combed.
    The sticky stuff made the back-combing hold really well.  It didn't
    take more than a couple of months for the hair to grow out enough
    for it to lay flat.  (We started with a BARE spot along the neck
    about 4 inches wide.  The dippity-do kind of glued the short hairs
    down as they came in.)  It really didn't look TOO bad.  Relatively.
    
    You might go home and experiment with your hair-styling.  The worst
    part is that chunk of hair when it wants to stand straight up. 
    But it can be dealt with.

    Anyone ever had this problem?  What did you do?
    
    
    Lynne

    One of our horses is prone to fungal infections so we've got lots of
    experience. 
    
    Use an anti-septic/anti-fungal shampoo like Weladol or Betadine brands.
    Wash the area every other day for a week then 2-3 times per week until
    its cleared up. Then once a week for 2-3 weeks to prevent reinfection.
    
    When you wash it, use a plastic curry or something to break up the
    crusts that the fungus forms. The crust is dead stuff and the fungus is
    living and breeding underneath the crust.
    
    You can get these shampoos from the local vet. I think you *HAVE* to
    get the WelaDol from the vet because it requires a prescription. Most
    vets will just sell you the stuff without seeing the horse so you won't
    have to pay for a barn visit. Sometimes the vet also recommends an 
    anti-fungal cream that is rubbed in after the scrubdown.
    
    You should see some hair growing back in about a week but it will take as 
    long as a year for the mane to get back to full length. It may take
    several weeks of treatment to wipe out the fungus too. Our horse lost
    the hair on her back during one fungal infection. It took 5-6 weeks to
    clear up and for the hair to re-grow enough that we could ride her!
    
    Good luck and I hope the vet's office is convenient for you. You may
    need a couple trips!
    
    John