Why they shaved the mane and tail of the spanish horses in the expo?

I went to a horse show and is pretty weird that they shaved the mane and tail of many of the spanish (andalucian) horses in the expo.

The horse where compleatly bald on the mane and tail! But some horses had the hair compleatle, and in past fair none of the horses where bald until this one, it looks like is a new "trend" here

I took some videos, you can see it here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke2A9xtAY64

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXyyTQhWHQA

It's hard to tell in the video if the manes are just extremely roached or not. I've seen a lot of horses with roached manes but the tail really gets me... I guess my question is why? What's the purpose of shaving it bald...

Now you state that the necks were bald too right? It's hard to tell in the video though. I get roaching... but I don't get bald... that's another why question...

Did they mention anything at the expo about it and what the purpose is for... or do you think they're just trying to make a fashion statement? Personally I prefer the natural look... long mane, long tail.... I do like pulled manes as well as long as it's not wayyyyy too short unless you're showing.

Well in they show they didn't mention anyting about that.

But I think is a a ner "trend" they whant to do some breeders, because I remember another year all the horses tails where shave to look like a lion tail.

They cut the hair in the base of the tail and the half was left with hairs.

I prefer a long mane and tail, but I know some people like the look of shorth like polo horses, but I don't like when the hair is shaved bald.

I undested that for some breeds like clydesdale our shires they cut the tail short, so is not goin to get stuck in the carrage, but at least they leave some hair.

Here are some pics so you can see the mane is shaved compleatly.

persoanlly i think its strange, dont know much about horses in general but i thought andulusions were known for not only their movement but their "furnishings" (mane and tail)

i prefer the look of a natural mane

i have no issues when for function (liek the clydes and shires short tails, but otherwise..why?)

Wow... ya the tail is what gets me the most honestly... I love Andalusians, but one of the things I love most about them is the elegance... without the long flowy mane and tail they sort of lose that elegance. And another thing... look at the fetlocks in that one picture... did they shave the feathering? I've seem some Andalusians without feathering... but more often then not there's at least some light feathering.

odd. That is not the way Andalusian are shown in spain. Some lovely horses there. I personally love a nice pulled mane and a full tail. Spanish Horses are usually shown with natural mane, and when showing often its put up in a running braid.



Here is an example of a running braid on an Andalusian stallion. (Invasor..got bronze at the olympics in dressage in athens I believe)

I used to work with a girl who had spent time on a Lusitano farm in...Mexico, I think. It was tradition that the mares were roached and had the tails shaved as well. No idea what the meaning behind it is. Perhaps it originally started as a way to not have to deal with matted manes and tails in a large herd of broodmares?

Edit - I couldn't get the info to copy/paste, but if you look up the Andalusian rules on the USEF website, it says that horses can either be shown with full mane/tail, or according to Spanish tradition, which is then a very long paragraph on shaving tails, manes, and forelocks, based upon gender/age.

So, the short answer to your question is - it is tradition.

seems kinda cruel, they need those tails to swat stinging biting flies.

agree dekka specially in spain, moszuitoes and horseflies the size of chihuahuas...

We kept our Hunters with manes right for braiding and natural tails . I didn't care for braided tails . One of the gals " under our wings " hated to braid so I usually did her horse's and charged her for it . Her Mom thought that she should do her own ( Joanie liked to sleep in ..... sigh ! ) so Joanie had her horse's mane shaved ! Believe me it was interesting to take 4 or 5 teenagers to horseshows !!! But, they were our " meal tickets " towards our showing expenses , so it was worth it . Tom charged for the schooling and I for " stable work " . Worked out well . They paid for their share of trailoring , rooms and meals . I wish the parents had been more involved .... especially for the 4 day horse shows !

hmm looked it up, seems traditional to do this to youngstock. But my horsie friends in spain who ride iberian type horses, all have babies with normal hair.

Yeah, poor horses mostly because this is a tropical contry




Yeah many foals and younglings had it, but some adults had the cut too.

For mares thy did a diferent cut. here's a scan from the newspaper
This is a shorther vertion of the "lions cut" I talked earlier

Agree, poor horses they don't look so magestic whitout the hair, looks like they shaved the feathers too.

I don't think I've ever seen one of the Iberian horses with "feathers". Maybe some long hair off the fetlock, but that is normally shaved for showing in all breeds. They don't have actual feathers like a Friesan or Clyde.

The "lion cut" looks like one of the traditional cuts listed on the USEF site - shaped mane, and a shaved tail with some long hairs banged at a couple of inches.

I've never seena shaved tail before and have no idea why.

My old loan horse had his mane hogged/roached as it was much easier to treat his sweet itch that way.