To add a false tail to your horse, you will first need to make sure you've got the right match. Read these slides from Horseland.com.au to find out how to properly select a false tail and how to put it in.

1. How to Add a False Tail
to Your Horse

2. The first thing which is important when
using false tails is to find the correct match
for your horse. Champion Tails has
produced a selector chart which is great. If
the pony is only a small pony and has a
great tail but it has a lot of colors in it, a
false tail may be the answer.

3. When I select a tail, I hold the bottom of her
tail out and go right to the center piece. Pull
a chunk of center piece out and go back to
your selector to find what matches. It may
be a reasonable match but you could ask
Champion Tails to incorporate a little bit
more white in for your horse for example.

5. When you contact your local company, they
will ask you what number it is and you can
say, a little bit more white, a little bit more
red. That’s how you use your selector.
Always go to the centre of the tail.
To put it in, comb your tail out thoroughly so
there are no knots. Then you divide your

6. tail back again and go right at the center
and collect a reasonable amount of hair, not
a huge amount but enough hair that if she
flicks her tail, she’s not going to flick it out.
You divide it into three and you plait it
down. The plait must be tight. You cannot
have a loose plait because if you have a

7. loose plait, your false tail will drop and you
don’t want that. We’ve all seen those
disasters in the arena: tails dropping out
and stewards coming across, everyone
seeing it on the ring and not owning the tail.
It hasn’t happened to me but I've seen it
happen to plenty.

8. Once you've plaited your tail down about
four inches, get two rubber bands and band
that plait together, so you have a free-falling
plait. Make sure your rubber bands are
done on tight. Don’t do two or three laps
and think that is enough because the plaits
can come undone. I always use two
because I am a bit scared that it will come

9. undone. I always use two because I am a
bit scared that it will come undone.
You pick up your tail which has been
colour-coordinated to match this pony’s tail.
It may be a tiny bit different to the selector,
perhaps it has more gray in it. I have a latch
hook that you can get from any hardware

10. store that I use. It has a latch hook at the
end of it and a wooden handle. I have my
things on strings because I’m inclined to
lose them. Even my combs have a hole
bored in them so I don’t lose them. You
hang them around your neck. Your combs
and scissors all go round your neck.

11. Then I hold up a loop of the tail up to get
the correct length and you run it down.
Then I push my latch hook under the
bottom of the plait and come out through
the top. I put the loop of the tail in it, drop
the latch down and pull it back through.
Then, the easy bit really is doing like a half
hitch with her own tail through the loop. You

12. push it through and pull it up and pull it
down tight and that's your tail in.
To finish it off, you comb it out again. Check
your length. Then I’ll get a pair of scissors
and cut it off squarely. Then when you finish
the top of the tail, which you have already
pulled and made nice and neat. When you

13. are pulling the tail, it makes a nice even
line.
Then you spray it with a bit of a hair spray.
Rub it down with your hand and put a
bandage.
A tip to keep your tail bandage up, do it firm

15. at the bottom. So many people only do the
bandage up at the top. Do it firmly at the
bottom and go down first and you will find
your tail bandage won't come off nearly as
easily. We go down towards the end of the
dock, and then we start coming up.
Always use a cotton bandage, don’t use a

16. nylon bandage because when it is a hot
day, it pulls tight, a nylon pulls tight and
your horse has a very, very sore tail. You
will see so many horses swishing and
jamming their tails because it’s hurting
them.
Always use a good quality cotton bandage.

17. For a small pony you're going to go around
a few times. Then you go all the way down
to the bottom. Always make sure your
Velcro, which most bandages today have, is
at the bottom, not up underneath them,
rubbing them and hurting them. You must
always think of your horse’s comfort. When
you go to ride them, it’s very important that

18. they've been comfortable.
You leave it until just before you go to class,
brush the tail out and make sure it’s
hanging straight. If there’s a little bit of a
wind, you have to take care. Hold your tail
very straight and when you cut it off, make
sure your hand is running down the outside

19. of the tail. When you cut it, you cut it on a
slight angle to the bottom inside of the tail.
Just cut it a little bit more inside and the
edges because when a horse’s tail falls, the
inside falls shorter than the outside, so you
want inside just minimal. Make sure you cut
off with a very good sharp pair of scissors.
A little brush out and it is ready.

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