Braiding for Dummies

A few weeks ago, Poor Woman Showing wrote about Braideez braiding wires and then offered to give away a set. I never ever ever win anything, but I entered my name anyway because I really like Carly's blog, and I wanted her to know I had read her post.

Immediately after entering her giveaway, I turned around and ordered myself a set of braiding wires - she made them sound that good. I've shared many times that I am not a lover of grooming and such. I happen to have the two cleanest, shiniest horses on the planet despite my ineptitude and lack of hair care products.

But you know what a sense of humor Fate has - try sending in a show entry early ... HAHAHAH - you're screwed! Pay a late fee and you'll probably win the class. Fate had a good laugh at my literal expense: less than twelve hours after ordering my very own set of Braideez braiding wires, Carly sent me this message:

Very funny, Fate!

So first, many thanks to Carly for the braiding wires. At first, I almost told her to pass them on to another reader, but I am greedy, and I know how hard on stuff Izzy is, so I sent her my address. Before I share my experience with the braiding wires, I have to show the amazing artwork that seems to accompany each shipment. I am keeping these envelopes and getting them framed. It might be worth the order just for the sketches! The one on the right even looks like Izzy.

These are HAND drawn!

You have to sort of squint!

The packaging is really awesome. Not many companies go to so much trouble to encourage you to like their product before you even see it.

The wires are arranged to be the horse's tail - how cute is that?

While the braiding wires are easy to use, especially if you already know how to do button braids, I would still recommend looking at the directions that come in the package (they're made up of a pictorial on the back of the horse) and watching their video.

I followed the directions exactly, and the whole thing took me 40 minutes, including stopping and starting to go get something and cutting the wires to length. I did twelve braids. With practice, I could probably shave off 10 minutes.

I started off by braiding each of the sections and tying them off with a half hitch knot. The wire is coated with a thin plastic and tied without any trouble. To braid the wire in, I folded it in half and put one end in each hand as I grabbed the three strands of hair. The wire stayed put as I braided. After each braid was finished, I gave the wire a tug and straightened out the braids so that they hung straight down.

Wire instead of string.

Then I went back and pulled each strand of wire through the base of teh braid as shown in the directions. I think that pulling the wires through really straight will give a smoother button. I kind of struggled with this part, but again, with practice, I think it will get easier. Once I pulled the wires through and brought them underneath and twisted them, I gave the braid a good "squish" and shaped it into a button.

Sorry for the blur ... I took like 50 photos and none of them were good.

After I had them in a shape that I more or less liked, I cut off the extra wire, but since I have a completely brand new EXTRA set waiting in the wings, I am not too worried if I cut them too short. Here's what the finished braids look like - from a distance ...

Not too shabby.

The true dressage queens out there are probably wrinkling their noses at the idea of using wires, but I simply don't care. I am not good at braiding. With the wires, it almost looks like I know what I am doing. I am sold!

​Oh ... one last thing, I did leave them in over-night to see if that was an option for showing. You can see the results for yourself.

Ummm ... I am thinking no.

Clearly this is not going to work. Some of the wires were just gone - good thing I have more, and in other places, his mane was gone. Literally. It looked like someone had cut the braid off with scissors. Even with them looking like this, the wires were still super easy to take out. I just untwisted and pulled.

Overall? These are a no brainer, especially for the price and the artwork!