Hair Dye for Manes and Tails

[HorseMom]

We have a show in less then a month and my stud's mane and tail are faded from the sun. I know that I can use people hair dye for my horse's mane and tail to make them black again, but there is so many out there. Have you used any and what brands worked best for you?

 

[Jill]

I have had the BEST luck with Just For Men, the shampoo in kind. For getting a black mane black again, what you want to do is pick a shade that is almost black for a really natural look. And if you can, do it now before you body clip him (though the Just for Men drips way less than the lady products I've tried). There's a shade called "blackest brown" that is pretty much perfect for this job

Here is one I'm proud of, too. A silver buckskin filly I used to show (now a young mare). She had a lot of frosting and not a uniform color, but I found a shade that matched her leg points and think it came out really natural looking.

Key is to go with a not quite black shade for your job and to do it a month or so ahead of time is idea.

Good luck!!!

Fall before (as reference):

Right after the show (she did really well):

And how she looks today as a shaggy furry 3yo:

 

[Witts Mini Horse Ranch]

Wow, Jill that is awesome...gotta put that on my list!

 

[afoulk]

I also use Just for Men 5 minute hair color. Found that it is the quickest and easier to use.

Arlene

 

[Alisha514]

Im so glad you posted this question. I am going to have to do that with my one mare and was going to ask what one to do.

Jill That looks AWSOME... you cant even tell. Ive seen that picture a couple of times and never knew you died the mane.. It looks sooo natural.

Alisha

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

About 1.5 months ago, I dyed a horse w/ Just For Men. It took 3 boxes to do mane, tail and forelock.

Today I dyed the same horse again with womens color, and it only took 1 box. I also think the womens color lasts longer too.

 

[valshingle]

I just want to point out that, according to the rulebook, you are allowed to enchance the NATURAL color of the mane and tail, not change the color entirely. So, for a sun faded black, it's ok to use black dye, but I personally will not change the natural color. I will bleach or blue yellow-stained white and dye a sun faded black, but that's it. JMHO.

 

[minimomNC]

We use Nice N Easy for african american women. It takes to the hair better and I can use one box on a mane and tail. If the mane and tail are black, we use Jet Black. And I am doing two today for a show this coming weekend. Just make sure you do this before you clip and take a human hair conditioner that is very thick and cover around the tail head and on both sides of the neck to keep the dye from soaking into the skin if you have an drips. Use the cheap conditioner and put alot on, its great for their skin and keeps the drips off.

 

[ruffian]

Make sure to have lots of those spring hair clips to hold the mane and forelock so it doesn't fall down on their neck. I have a old blanket that I put on to protect the back and sides as much as possible. I also use an AI glove (cheap at farm supply stores) to put in the tail in after adding the dye.

 

[georgiegirl]

We have a show in less then a month and my stud's mane and tail are faded from the sun. I know that I can use people hair dye for my horse's mane and tail to make them black again, but there is so many out there. Have you used any and what brands worked best for you?

Is this really legal? I can see using Shapley's spray to cover a scar where the hair grew in white, but to completely cover up the mane and tail color to make it a different color.

 

[minimomNC]

It is against the rules to change the color, but to enhance the color is different. That would be making a bleached out black tail, black again. You can not change the color like from a true red tail to black or from white to black.

 

[icspots]

As Val pointed out it is legal to ENHANCE the horses natural color but not legal to change it. So say you have a black or bay, and the mane and tail have gotten that reddish coloring from the sun, it is legal to dye it black again. I would think the acid test as to whether the color has been altered would be the bridle path but then I had someone tell me that creative individuals will actually color that too OH!

 

[HorseMom]

We have a show in less then a month and my stud's mane and tail are faded from the sun. I know that I can use people hair dye for my horse's mane and tail to make them black again, but there is so many out there. Have you used any and what brands worked best for you?

Is this really legal? I can see using Shapley's spray to cover a scar where the hair grew in white, but to completely cover up the mane and tail color to make it a different color.

I'm not changing his color at all, just enhancing it. Jay is a bay but his mane and tail have the reddish parts where the sun faded it. As everyone else as already said, it is legal to dye the hair to enhance the natural color. I'm just dying it to make it black again.

Thanks everyone for your advice. A week before the show I'll dye it and maybe post some pictures of him before and after the dye job. I have to take pictures anyway to show how the cinnamon is working for weight lose.

 

[Leeana]

I use the same thing jill does - just for men blackest brown (or is it brownest black?) .. but it works good. I have a dark bay pinto, bottom half of her tail is brown/black..top is white and i do have to color her tail to get the orange sun bleaching streaks out of it..i just tie a plastic bag around the bottom of her tail and make sure its tight (so not to make much sound and spook her) and just hold her incase the sound does spook her until its done, but normally i will do this while i am clipping before or after. Works great

 

[georgiegirl]

It just seems kind of interesting to me that you cant braid a ribbon in the mane or add type of "ornament" or band manes to make the manet look nice,but you can dye the hair. It doesnt make any difference to me, at all, I just find it interesting.

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

Make sure you dye the hair BEFORE you do the body clip... been there, done that!!!!!!!!

But if you do clip then dye, use Vaseline all over the neck to keep any dye off the body. When doing manes, I use hair bands to keep it up, then use small pieces of foil over that. It works great when they shake LOL.

 

[maestoso]

Check out the ethnic section at wal mart. They sell dye that you just add water to. It is permanent and dries quickly.

 

[Charlotte]

GOOD LUCK! :arg!

Charlotte

 

[Witts Mini Horse Ranch]

Check out the ethnic section at wal mart. They sell dye that you just add water to. It is permanent and dries quickly.

I saw that at wal mart, looking for another product someone had suggested and wondered if that would work. I am doing a solid black colt, and his mane could use the luster these products claim.

 

[kaykay]

The current rule really applies to changing body color. You cannot dye the body at all or try to enhance it with dye. Only the mane and tail and you can only do it to the color it is (or should be if it wasnt sun damaged)

we have always used just for men but i did find last year that they made the bottles smaller. I had to buy 3 boxes to do one mane and tail.

we cut holes and slits in old towels (or trash bags but towels stay still better) put the mane thru the slit in the towel and then the towel will keep the color off the sides of the neck. we cut a small hole and pull the tail thru and have the towell cover the top of the legs and the top of the rump again so the color doesnt touch there