We’re just going to cover how to braid for 3 different mane styles in this guide, the Dutch plait, the button plait, and the hunter plait (plait = braid). The same lovely model is being used to demonstrate how each braid portrays the neck differently.
First things first, gather the materials for plaiting the mane
The basics we need for braiding (or plaiting) is:
Your standard braiding kit- braiding pull/hook, braiding comb, and seam ripper (present in the above photo in my handy pouch!)
About 40 strands of crochet thread, yarn, or embrodiery thread which matches the color of you horse’s mane at about 14″ in length (35cm)
Rubber bands for braiding ( I suggest purchasing them at the grocery store in the natural hair section, inexpensive and strong as hell!).
Scissors for trimming hair/thread/anything that needs trimming
OPTIONAL: Hair spray or Quic Braid to help hold the braid together. Highly suggested if you are not used to braiding or struggle with braiding tightly.
Second, make sure the mane is appropriately thinned and the correct length you need.
The blue line shows the minimum length for Dutch or button braids. 3in or 7.5cm is the shortest you can go before running into issues. The mane can be longer, as our model demonstrates without ruining the integrity of the braid, The red line shows the ideal length for hunter braids, 4in or approx. 10cm. Any shorter will be too hard to fold and any longer the braids will not have the proper look to them.
For the record, hunter braids need to have a ideally thinned mane, and a long enough mane. Anything not close to perfect for the braid and you’ll have a wonky looking braid.
Then finally, choose your style!
Hunter braids
Button braids
Dutch braids
Picked one? Good! Now you’re ready to braid, so follow the steps below for the braid you’re interested in.
Hunter Braids
Step one- Section off the mane in about 30-40 1in or 2.5cm segments. Use rubber bands to hold the mane loosely to make sure you’re not pulling too much hair into your braid.
Step two- Tightly and as close to the crest as possible, braid each segment (one at a time). Keep your hands less than a finger’s width from the neck and braid downward, do not pull the braid out toward yourself. It is imperative that you braid downward! The braids MUST lay flat when you’ve finished. Ideally you will have been using a braiding comb to make parts between the sections so that your braids look extra sharp when finished!
Step three- About 1/2 to 3/4 way down the braid start to incorporate a strand of thread into the braid. Braid as far down as possible and tie off the braid using the thread with a square knot.
At the end of completing step three your braids should look like this!
Notice how flat they lay?
Step four- Use a braid pull to fold the braids in half, if your mane is too long you’ll need to “fold them” one again using the pull. Which is a silly way of saying grab the rest of the braid with the hook (see picture below of what I mean by rest of the braid) and bring it through the same hole one more time! You’ll end up with a “loop” of braid that is actually “two braids thick” if that makes any sense at all!
(This braid requires one more fold as you can see by all the extra braid coming out of the crest! You will need to use the pull through one more time to pull the excess braid through the same hole as the rest of the braid!)
Step five- Take the thread coming from the braid and bring the thread in a not at the bottom of the braid, squishing it upwards, you will need to use your finger to make sure the thread is tied off at a nice point. You want the thread to tie 1/4 down from the top, producing a nice small little bulb. I suggest a square knot in front of the bulb,then behind, then front, and finally behind. That way it’s super secure and you know it’s tight! Continue all the way through the mane!
Step six- cut any excess hair poking out and the strands of thread to make them as “invisible” as possible. Check that all your braids are as uniform as possible. Re-do any that look particularly bad.
Final product-
Forgive me father for I have sinned and not actually competed in hunters for 6 years and not had to braid hunters for 5
Our model is doing a lovely job of demonstrating how bad badly done hunters look! Here we have 20 braids where we should’ve had closer 30 to 40 braids. That massive amount of braids ensures the braids all touch each other and are small, giving a lovely uniformed look. Hunter braids are meant to elongate the neck and give a more “flattened” look to the neck as if the horse is stretching and reaching forward.
Button Braids
Step one-Follow the same first step as we do for hunter braids, this time band off 20-30 sections of mane instead of 30-40 sections. The sections can be between 1-2in or 2.5-5cm in width.
Step two-Braid the same exact way as you did for step two of the hunter braids, tight and close to the horse’s body.
Step three-Here’s a step where we can make a variation: for sewn in buttons- complete the same step three from the hunter braids tutorial. for banded buttons-simply use a rubber band to finish the braid off.
Step four- for sewn in buttons-use the braid pull to bring the braid in half twice. Similarly to the way we did for the hunter braids! for banded buttons- fold the braid in half twice and then secure with a rubber band.
(half folded for sewn)
(completely folded for sewn)
Step five- For sewn in braids, tie them above, below, and above in a square knot. For banded, secure with a rubber band. When finished trim thread, hairs, and anything sticking up and out. Make sure all braids are even and redo any particularly wonky ones!
(sewn in)
(banded)
Final product-
(sewn in)
(banded)
To be perfectly honest, those banded braids look pretty terrible because I did these right after I did the hunters so the braids were kinked and you are going to have a tough time folding braids well if you don’t have straight braids!
Button braids are a great mult-discipline braid in my opinion. When done nicely they are neat and clean looking. The are not so tied to a single discipline as hunter braids are and are far easier to do well. They do give a slight elongating effect to the neck, but not so much so as to look utterly out of place for dressage. They are not a bad choice for a horse with an underdeveloped neck as they will not overwhelm a thinner neck. On a horse with a shorter or thicker neck, they can appear a little hilarious looking due to how small they are. These would certainly be a go to if you don’t have a lot of time for braiding, are doing a schooling show, are doing a horse trail, or at a multi-discipline show. They transition very easily from the jump course to the dressage ring.
Dutch Braids
Step one- Take a roughly 4in or 10cm section of hair. Use a hair clip to hold the rest of the mane away from that section.
Step two- braid the section as tightly as possible, braiding in thread about 1/2 to 3/4 down the braid. Tie off at the bottom. Just like in the hunter braids and button braids!
repeat steps 1& 2 until the whole mane is completed
Step three- use the braid pull to pull the braid up through itself until it makes a small rounded shape.
Step four- tie of the excess thread going over then under then over in a square knot. Once all braids are tied, cut excess thread and redo any wonky looking braids. Also trim up any hair that is sticking out.
Final product-
Dutch braids are more traditionally associated with dressage and look best in that discipline, in my opinion! They offer great balance to short or thick necks and give a more rounded appearance to the neck. Though they a bit of a fad right now for the Grand Prix jumpers!
On this particular model you can see how each braid gives a slightly different effect to her neck. On this particular horse, Dutch braids give the greatest balance to her neck for dressage. While for jumping, and those hunter braids really aren’t doing a nice job of anything, correctly & neatly done hunter braids would be the most ideal to give her the appearance of a longer neck without losing balance between neck and braids.
While it is always the discretion of the rider as what braids to use, don’t be that person who does hunter braids for a dressage show. It doesn’t look “right” as hunter braids are ideally “in a straight line” the entire time they’re in the mane, the curved neck of a horse competing above extremely low level dressage ruins the intended effect of the hunter braid (to elongate) and makes the braids look wonky after five or so minutes of riding.
These are just three very common braids for the mane, but not the only ones out there. There are several variations on these that exist as well as a few completely different kinds! Look into what looks best on your horse for whatever discipline and practice, practice, practice!
