The Braid Worked!

Last week, I shared a video with a braiding technique for long manes. To my surprise, it worked pretty well. Let's be honest; nothing is ever going to look as nice as braids sewn in by someone with some skill. I hate to sew, and I am sorely lacking in the "skillz" department. Girlfriend ain't got none. I may be short on skills (and patience and actually caring), but what I do have is a very patient pony who has perfectly long mane.

Not bad for not following the directions!

If you want to try this at home, you should probably watch the video and actually follow the advice given. Even though I didn't, it still turned out pretty well, which tells me it's a pretty idiot proof braid.

1. I did not wet the mane. I simply combed it free of tangles.
2. I made no effort to be neat or tidy.
3. I combined the tail of each looped braid with one of the three sections needed for the next braid rather than using it alone for a section.
4. I played around with how far down to braid.
5. I played around with how big of a chunk to braid.
6. My last braid was a disaster. A new ending strategy must be employed before using these braids for show.

Much better than the running French braid.

What I discovered was that this braiding technique is better the longer the mane is. I also think it would look better with a thick mane. Speedy's mane is fairly long, but of only medium thickness. Even so, it worked quite well.

With thinner manes, braid less than the finger length shown on the video. If the braided part is too long, the rubber band shows when you loop the braid though. You will have to adjust the length of the braided part depending on the thickness of the braid. Thick, fat braids will need to be longer while thin, small braids will need to be shorter.

I love the variated colors this braid created.

Everything about this braid was very straightforward to do, except that very last part. I was surprised at how easy it was to twist the unbraided part and slide it through the base of the loop. It didn't seem to matter if I got it through the center or not. I also discovered that you can make the braid taller and poofier by not pulling the braided end through as far. Conversely, pulling the braid through tightly will make smaller, tighter braids.

Um. No. Just no.

The true test for me was how long it would actually stay braided without the regular droop I get with the French braid. To put it to the test, I braided Speedy's mane and then groomed Izzy. I saddled Izzy and then took both horses to the arena. I rode Izzy for 40 minutes while Speedy stood tied at the fence. I untacked the big brown horses, put him away, and then saddled Speedy. I schooled him for the better part of 30 minutes and then checked the braid.

It's still in!

Considering that I made no effort to get it neat or tight, it looked pretty good after nearly two hours. The French braid never lasts that long. I need a bit more practice and some fine tuning, but this is going to be my new braid for shows. 

As long as there is candy involved, Speedy approves.

Did anyone else try it?