Dye or leave as is? Mane and tail on my gelding

[christina_ski]

My boy is a silver smokey black. He has a chocolate colored mane/tail. His first show he was fine. The second show I dyed him back dark as he was so sunbleached. But my friend thought that dying it dark made him look like a faded out black instead of his pretty color. He will be showing at Nationals in halter and I want him to look his best. What do you think?

this was his first clip of the year, with no sunbleaching

here is at his sunbleached worst

thats his hair color now. Its not too bad, he is being good and staying in the shade

He may also be doing color, so I want him to his as natural as possible.

 

[miniwhinny74]

No advice--I just wanted to tell you what a handsome boy you have!!!

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

Here is my opinion...If there are still sunbleached spots like in that second photo than yes you should probably dye it.. I would look for a dark brown color and try to match the natural color as close as possible. In the third picture the bleaching doesnt look bad at all. I do agree with a lot of people though that dying it can make a world of difference. I had just started showing and went to my first show of the season and some shetland people across the alley decided that my black mare needed to lose her bleaching in her mane and tail and it looked a million times better afterwords! Just my opinion but thought it might help

.

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

It is hard to tell from the pics, but looks like his mane is not naturally black. But I would put some type of color on it to get rid of the sun bleaching. Maybe try a dark brown?????

 

[mydaddysjag]

I would defiantly color it, but not black. A medium to dark chocolate brown, and do it a little in advanced so you can wash his mane a few times. Even on humans fresh hair color looks dramatic, but after a few washes it looks much more natural.

 

[Genie]

I don't know about black either, but as a couple of previous posters suggested, the medium to dark brown may be better than the sun bleached or brassy look he has now.

Nice looking boy, by the way

 

[krissy3]

As a hair stylist, I would say definatly do a test strand first . That color is going to be hard to match , because it is not found on humans, there is a lot of taupe color in it , and he is very handsome . I think he would be fine left alone , but with the right color he could look fantastic...I would go with a chocolate brown , no lower than a level 4 , to try first. Cut a piece of the most bleached hair to sample , mix a little of the color and wait 35 min ,or as directed . Store bought color is different than professional color. A level 5 might be perfect , but make sure there is NO red in the color. Example 5 n ... being dark nuetural brown . or even buy a little Ash color and mix about 1 table spoon of ash so you dont get a fake red " Mariah Carray " look. good luck....just had another look at that photo.. you want an ash color , and also about a level 6 not a 5 ...I think 5 would be too dark... a 23and sometimes 4 level is almost always in degreese of BLACK... depending on the name brand. Show your hair dresser , and tell her what I think, and compare notes , any other hair stylists out there?

 

[Miniv]

I agree with the others who say NOT black..........Krissy has some good suggestions about testing.

Go with an ASH brown. Stay away from any red tones.

VERY NICE boy, BTW.....

 

[mini1]

I showed a black gelding for years and I always dyed his mane and tail at the beginning of the year. It makes a world of difference. However, in hindsight, even though he was a jet black gelding, the jet black dye job always looked a little funny to me. No one else ever said anything so maybe it was just me.

Anyway, I tend to get off track a little. There are some colored shampoos for human hair. I think they just more or less tint the hair and will gradually fade out, not necessarily a permanent solution. You might try one of those but I would do it on the back side of the tail in a small spot first or the underside of the mane to test it. I definately agree that using a dark brown would be better than black. I think you can get the shampoos at a beauty supply store that is open to the public like Sally Beauty Supply.

You might also try to heavily moistureize the mane and tail or try a hot oil treatment. The sun bleaching has made the ends of the hair dry and brittle.