From a young age I faff with the horses’ manes and tails, plaiting and pulling them to get them used to being plaited for shows, as you can see, the young foal Boston-Louie is wondering what I’m doing. It is just a case of practice, practice and more practice. It can take a long time to plait at shows so the more used to it the foals become the easier it will be and the less likely they will be to play up when standing to be plaited at shows. I never make a big deal out of practising with the foals and always reward them for their patience. Loose plaits are always a good start and the more often you plait the tighter you can make them so that they do not try and shake free tight (and slightly uncomfortable) plaits at shows.
The mane plaiting is much more complex as ribbon rolls and flights are incorporated and so the plaits need to be really tight to hold all this in! It helps if there is a second person to keep the head still and to pass the flights to the person plaiting.
