# Dying mane and tails



## Country Lady (Feb 22, 2011)

I know it is still a little early for spring grooming, but I cannot wait till my horses, well look like horses again!




I was reading that you can dye the mane and tail back to its original color to eliminate sunburn. What type of dye is safe to use? Also how do you keep it tidy, I have a buckskin that needs dyed, how do I keep it only on her mane? Thanks


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## hobbyhorse23 (Feb 22, 2011)

When I asked about this last year I was told to cover the horse with a plastic garbage bag like a poncho so they don't slap their body with the dyed hair while it's "curing."

I may try it on my colt this year and if so, I plan to use that new "Fat Foam" hair dye Walmart sells that Marty was telling us about. It sounds great!

Leia


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## BlueStar (Feb 22, 2011)

I usually mix it the right color dye and brush it on with a toothbrush on the sun exposed areas. I don't do the entire mane/tail. It looks more natural this way even if it doesn't all get colored.

I also recommend doing this when they have their winter hair still. Then if it gets on their body hair....it will clip off when you clip for the show.


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## Riverrose28 (Feb 22, 2011)

I use the wash out hair color from walmart I think it's loreal anyway, it doesn't last all year but will last for a while. Do not buy black, it will look awful if your horse has a black mane & tail get dark brown. I roll up a hand towel and place it under the forelock and stick the ends under the halter. It's best to do this before clipping if you get some on eht neck or the tail hits the horse wipe off with a damp cloth and any that you miss can be clipped off. I put vaseline on the neck just up to where I am dying to keep messes off. You can wash the vaseline off when rinsing the dye but you will need some dawn on the vaseline area. I also use hair clips on the mane to keep it off the neck and give the horse a hay bag to keep them happy while they are waiting for it to set. I hate dying manes & tails but it is a necessary evil. The first few times you do this be prepared for mess.


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## rubyviewminis (Feb 22, 2011)

Thank you for starting this thread! My bays have such bleached out hair. I was too afraid to try dying because they have mixed hair and I have experimented to see how much dark hair I could separate from the white hair. Anyone touched up manes like this?


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## RhineStone (Feb 22, 2011)

I actually got a "mixing bowl" and an applicator rubber "brush" from my hairdresser (I'm sure they have real names, but I am no hairdresser!



). It works a whole lot better when you use the proper "tools". I think it cost me about $5.

I have a black horse, so it isn't as big a deal for me, but I put a clear plastic garbage bag on both sides of the neck and secure them on the top and bottom of the mane with clothespins. The mane is on top of one bag. For the tail, I use one bag under the tail and clothespin it at the top of the tail. For the forelock, after I color it, I hold it straight up like a unicorn with a clothespin. I try to rinse it down behind his ears. Again, black on black is pretty easy, though.

I use Natural Black (not Blue Black) Nice n' Easy and mix it in the above mixing bowl. And yes, I do it before I body clip, and a hay bag does help to keep him occupied.


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## Leeana (Feb 22, 2011)

I use the cheap hair color and it seems to last just as long as the more expensive stuff, and at the price if I need to touch it up agian between shows it is not a big deal. I guess I do it the hard way. When I do the tail, I will put a towel under the tail and will hold the tail myself while the pony is tied or someone holds the pony. Its time consuming, but my nephew and I take turns. The mane is the same, put a towel under the main agianst the neck and use clips to keep it in place and I stay close incase they shake..I am sure there are easier ways.

The spray on color, well "enhancing color" helps as well and is great for the tail and mane. Although it won't by itself cover up sun bleaching, It will help if you color prior.


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## mydaddysjag (Feb 22, 2011)

The fat hair color at walmart is less messy, or just for men only processes for 10 minutes. Never do black on anything but a jet black horse, and even then, I probably wouldn't use a level 1 black.

You can get a mixing bowl at sallys, but any plastic bowl will work. An applicator brush should be 79 cents or $1 at sallys also.

Depending on how quiet your horse is, you may be able to lay sheets of foil under the mane, brush the color on, then fold the foil over to make a pouch. If you do this, do 2 or 3 sections so the hair does not come out when the horse stretches its neck.

defiantly body clip after you color.


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## Marty (Feb 23, 2011)

I've dyed my horses manes and tails for decades and always had a mess on my hands. The best thing to do is to dye them before you clip. I used to use those little baked potatoe foils but now i discovered Walmart's Fat Foam and don't need them. Fat Foam is great. It comes with a plastic shaker and you put in the liquid and then dump the powder on it and shake it up for a couple of seconds. Ends up looking like cool whip, all foamy. Just apply it on and it's already lathered up really good. I use hair claws to keep it up, no more potatoe foils and there is no drip at all or no bleeding spots. In other words, I didn't fuss with it a bit and it came out great. I am pretty sure I only had to use one thingy for mane and tail both and had plenty left over too.

I finally used it on my own hair, same thing, easy to use for a klutz like me and there was no dripping mess and no bleeding spots. It is $8.88 ! Covered the grey too!


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## mydaddysjag (Feb 23, 2011)

You know, I wish I still have a horse with a mane and tail that needed colored, My last two have been a palomino and a silver dapple, and I sure do like coloring hair.

Maybe I'll shoot for a bay or buckskin next. Hubby's favorite color is a nice plain dark bay with no markings. Simple easy to please man, isnt he? lol

Can he object if the next horse is his favorite color?


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## ruffian (Feb 23, 2011)

I use the natural black on my bay. His hair is very black and it matches well. I found that a AI glove works great on the tail after dyeing it. I put the dye on and slip the entire tail in the glove and secure it with the spring hair clips. I also put an old blanket on the horses before dyeing in case they decide to shimmy and shake just for fun!

I am going to try the fat foam - sounds very easy.


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## Laura Leopard (Feb 25, 2011)

This is what I resort to. However, I did try to put vaseline on the skin near the mane, forelock and tail area. I've also used Vaseline on the skin near the hair that was being colored.


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## Skylight_minis (Feb 25, 2011)

I have a buckskin pinto yep got a strip of white in her mane. I separated out all the white. Then i braided the white best i could and covered it up with foil then the roots that stuck out i covered with vaseline. Also did the base line of the neck so i didnt get black where the golden body coat was. Also found this awesome product that is called OOPS! It removes hair dye with out bleaching out the coat. I always seem to find a black spot after the hair has set and even if you clip after you dye with a light colored horse sometimes the dye will get to the skin and show up as black spots when your done body clipping. The oops product is great. I do also tie the mane up with clips after i dye to try to minimize amount of oopses.  I also found that after i thought i got all the black dyed and rinsed out there were still red strands that i missed. Theres a cover up crayon that you can get that some people use for grey hairs. Just touch up on show day to keep from having to re-dye. Luckily for me her tail is white.





Also peroxide usually takes dye off your hands if that doesnt work bleach is the last resort.


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## Laura Leopard (Feb 26, 2011)

Skylight_minis said:


> I have a buckskin pinto yep got a strip of white in her mane. I separated out all the white. Then i braided the white best i could and covered it up with foil then the roots that stuck out i covered with vaseline. Also did the base line of the neck so i didnt get black where the golden body coat was. Also found this awesome product that is called OOPS! It removes hair dye with out bleaching out the coat. I always seem to find a black spot after the hair has set and even if you clip after you dye with a light colored horse sometimes the dye will get to the skin and show up as black spots when your done body clipping. The oops product is great. I do also tie the mane up with clips after i dye to try to minimize amount of oopses.  I also found that after i thought i got all the black dyed and rinsed out there were still red strands that i missed. Theres a cover up crayon that you can get that some people use for grey hairs. Just touch up on show day to keep from having to re-dye. Luckily for me her tail is white.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Where can i find the ooops product?


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## Jennywashere (Apr 11, 2011)

Found the ooops pads here in Mi at an ethnic store they are in a little white jar with blue writing. Worked great for getting all the black dye off my sisters ears and neck ooops my bad.


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## Mominis (Apr 12, 2011)

Laura Leopard said:


> This is what I resort to. However, I did try to put vaseline on the skin near the mane, forelock and tail area. I've also used Vaseline on the skin near the hair that was being colored.



OMG! lol That's just good old fashioned funny! lol


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## weebiscuit (Apr 12, 2011)

Country Lady said:


> I know it is still a little early for spring grooming, but I cannot wait till my horses, well look like horses again!
> 
> 
> 
> I was reading that you can dye the mane and tail back to its original color to eliminate sunburn. What type of dye is safe to use? Also how do you keep it tidy, I have a buckskin that needs dyed, how do I keep it only on her mane? Thanks


I have three all-black horses, and I do dye the manes and tails. We don't show, but I just hated how that "orange" color was streaking through their hair. (Just like I hate that "grey" color that is streaking through mine, LOL).

I buy ANY black permanent hair color at Walmart. Last summer they had Loreal Excellence to Go hair color in Natural Black on Clearance... less than half price, and I bought all 12 boxes of it. It worked great!

When I dye I don't mess with the plastic bags or towels. I simply wait till it's warm enough in the spring to bathe and clip. They get a good bath in the morning, then I dye the manes and tails in the afternoon. The next day I body clip them. Of course, the horses *are* black to begin with, and any hair color stains come off them in the clipping.

With their forelocks... I just put the dye on them and they sort of put a plastic clip at the base of the forelock with lifts it straight up in the air while the dye is working.

Isn't is just ridiculous? All these things we do with our horses! My husband keeps telling me I didn't have enough Barbie dolls to play with when I was a kid! LOL!


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## Helicopter (Apr 12, 2011)

Laura Leopard said:


> This is what I resort to. However, I did try to put vaseline on the skin near the mane, forelock and tail area. I've also used Vaseline on the skin near the hair that was being colored.




Sure hope you didn't show this photo to his/her buddies. Oh the embarrassment.


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## Maple Hollow Farm (Apr 12, 2011)

mydaddysjag said:


> You know, I wish I still have a horse with a mane and tail that needed colored, My last two have been a palomino and a silver dapple, and I sure do like coloring hair.
> 
> Maybe I'll shoot for a bay or buckskin next. Hubby's favorite color is a nice plain dark bay with no markings. Simple easy to please man, isnt he? lol
> 
> Can he object if the next horse is his favorite color?



:OKinterestingYou can come and dye my horse's mane if you like to do it LOL!!! I have never dyed any of my manes or tails just because I am terrified of getting it on the body since most of my show horses have lots of color!


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## Marsha Cassada (Apr 12, 2011)

I just did my bay horse's mane and tail using Nice n Easy. I was not happy with the color; it doesn't look "alive". I think the last time I did it, a few years ago, I used Garnier. I had forgoteen what a mess it is to do.

Our walmart did not have the Foam dye.


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## Skylight_minis (Apr 12, 2011)

I just did my buckskins mane the other day. Doesnt matter what I do still get it everywhere she even likes to shake and get it on her ears. So when you buy the hair dye also get a product called Oops. It takes the die right off and wont bleach their coat. Its more or less a given that I'm going to need the oops. She's a buckskin pinto and just happens to have some white mane too. So trying to keep the black off the white yep lots of fun. I slathered the white with petrolum jelly. Worked to keep the dye off but now cant get the jelly off lol




I tried shampooing and scrubbing, rinse shampoo, scrub..rinse.. Still on there. Oh well show is Sat. Hope it wears off by then.


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## Skylight_minis (Apr 12, 2011)

CVS and Walgreens also carry hair dye and right in that same isle you'll find the Oops product.


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