Changing the appearance through plaiting.......

We wanted to demonstrate how the appearance of a horse or pony can be changed through clever plaiting. Some animals may be a little long or short in front, so we co-opted the help of super-plaiter, Adam Forster from Jinks Show Team and roped him in to plaiting the same pony three times to help us demonstrate the point!

Our model for the day was the five-year-old 122cm show hunter pony Rushfield Limited Edition. Edward is owned by David Jinks and Adam Forster of the Jinks Show Team and was lightly shown in his novice year but was successful with wins each time out. 

Conformationally, Edward is well put together so plaiting to improve the appearance – or hide inadequacies – is not needed, however plaiting that complements the conformation is what the team strive for. To demonstrate how the appearance can be altered by plaiting, Adam first plaited Edward with a number of very large plaits which he set very high up on the neck with a ‘hooded’ effect with some of the plaits being mis-matched in size. This gave the impression of a considerably shorter neck and frontage with an overly enhanced top line.

Adam then plaited Edward with lots of very small plaits, which he set into small balls further down the neck, which made the neck look much longer.

For the third plaiting session of the day, Adam then plaited Edward as he would for a show. Adam does not have a ‘formula’ or a specific number of plaits, nor does he count out the number of plaits along the neck – some competitors like to have an odd number of plaits on the neck so the total, including the forelock, come to an even number, but he says this is tradition which came from superstition than a specific 'rule' to be followed. He likes to plait to enhance the pony rather than have to stick to 9 or 11 plaits as historically was the tradition.

Supreme Products Easy Plait

Adam used a metal comb to section the mane and always has a hair clip on hand to keep the next section of mane clear of the plaiting area. He used Easy Plait sprayed onto the mane to help get a good grip on the hairs, and then plaited with a slightly ‘hooded’ effect, setting the plaits midway to complement the topline. Finishing touches were to trim any long hairs and apply Highlighter Gel between the plaits to smooth the plaits and any stray hairs.  

The first image shows lots of small plaits set down the neck which gives the impression of lengthening the front / elongating the neck. The second shows large plaits, hooded an set up high which shortens the front and enhances the top line. The third images is how Adam would plait for a show, to complement Edward's conformation.