ORIGINAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN HORSEWYSE MAGAZINE 2021
THE ROYAL MANE
HOW TO GROW BACK A ROYAL MANE!
Hello beautiful Horsewyse readers!
This is Laura, I’m a Hairdresser, Skin Esthetician and Horse Owner. I also own the grooming range The Royal Mane which is one of it’s kind, first on the market, Human Grade, Vegan, Australian Made, Luxury range of Salon Quality Products for horses that produce incredible results!
I’m pleased to meet all of you and to help you with all of your horse Mane and Tail concerns. I originally created this range as “Haircare for horses” and I would love you to think of me as your personal horse hairdresser!
Each issue we will be exploring ways to help with various conditions of the Mane and Tail. In this issue we are focusing on “How to re-grow a specific section of Mane that is missing’. The advice below can all be used in general, to help your horses regrow their manes.
The client that we are focusing on today is the beautiful Horse “Mistie” who has had a consistent problem with one part of her mane not being able to grow. I think many of our riders share a similar problem so let’s look at the best ways to fix this and get those manes glowing with health from within!
We will be using products from the grooming range The Royal Mane. All the products in this range contain the wonder ingredient “Cold Pressed Certified Organic Argan Oil” which is a miracle oil and helps with many conditions of the mane and tail. Read on to find out why it is so helpful and why I decided to include this ingredient in particular throughout the whole range.
Horse hair and Human hair are made from the same protein - “keratin”, which is why we are able to successfully treat a horse mane and tail with human grade products. At The Royal Mane we approach horse grooming as we would approach human clients in a salon. It takes patience and care to achieve incredible results however with a few simple changes in your grooming routine you can make a major difference. Using these products we can repair the damage and set our horses up for success!
REASONS WE LOSE A PATCH OF HAIR:
Many elements of the Australian climate make for a corrosive environment for hair.
Even with the best of intentions our horses can end up with a dry mane and tail.
Constant winds along with harsh sun bleaching, cause dryness which leads to brittle hair cuticles and split ends. Braiding that is too tight and over zealous brushing can cause damage. Washing with overly harsh chemicals can strip the delicate pH level of the cuticle leaving it irritated. Heavy oils that do not allow the hair to breathe can cause irritation and dandruff that, if goes untreated will cause more rubbing and splitting. Many horses just love to roll, rub and scratch out their mane and tail. Dirt and sand can lodge in between the cuticle and the skin so it causes the hair to itch! Is it any wonder they love to find their favourite tree?!
It’s important to note that Nutritional deficiencies, allergies to certain products or new medications for horses can also cause patches of hair loss. So, firstly make sure you diagnose if the problem is not coming from within before you go to the outside. Once you know that it is a purely outer condition then you can treat as such.
So what can we do?
When there is a specific section of Mane that you want to treat you need to be very gentle with this section of hair. This poor section of hair has repeatedly been damaged and needs to have a lot of restoration and protection for it to regrow itself to its former glory!
Products we are using:
The Sovereign Shampoo
The Royal Treatment
The Supreme Serum
The Regal Detangler
The Grand grooming brush
There are two main factors when you want to re-grow a section of hair:
The first is to repair and reconstruct the damage and secondly to protect the delicate hair cuticle from further damage.
First: You need to begin with a clean canvas. This means looking closely at the roots of the mane and making sure that there is no dirt or dandruff. This is so important because for the hair to grow it needs to have an environment where it can breathe. Heavy buildup of product, dust and dirt will block the hair follicle from being able to grow through, further to this irritate and cause a horse to keep scratching the same section, meaning that it will never grow!
Be sure to look for signs of Dandruff: There are two types of dandruff: Dry (caused by a dry skin or allergies) and Oily (caused by excess oil and product build up) When you brush through, dry dandruff is flaky and falls out, oily dandruff stays in the hair and sticks to the cuticle. If you horse has dandruff, it’s imperative that you remove it.
To create a clean canvas we are going to use The Sovereign Shampoo. This is a shampoo that you need to use every time you wash your horses mane and tail.
The sovereign shampoo is a brilliant shampoo to help because it contains Argan Oil, which itself is a pH balancing ingredient so it helps to nourish the roots of the mane and also the skin which helps to create the perfect environment for hair to grow and heal. It will also cleanse and remove any excess dirt or dandruff without stripping the natural oils.
We especially need this softening and gentle formula because of the delicate nature of the broken part of the mane.
Once the canvas is clean we need to apply a reconstructive treatment. We are using The Royal Treatment. The reason that a treatment is so effective and different to conditioner is because this product contains the richest and most intensive and nourishing ingredients that are designed to restore the damage and also reconstruct the cuticle and split ends.
Now you begin the repair and restorative process: Coarse cuticles and split ends occur from loss of moisture so we want to feed the hair with as much nourishment as possible, without restoring this you will continue to struggle with the condition of the hair.
We are going to Repair the damage of Mistie’s section of mane by gently shampooing and then applying the treatment all the way through the delicate area that we want to treat, paying special attention to the split ends. You can keep applying the treatment throughout the entire mane by taking small sections and applying from root to tip, concentrating on areas with the most damage and dryness.
In Mistie’s case this is a treatment that we will leave on for an hour at a time and every second day for the first week. Then once a week for the next month. In general this is something you can leave in for 30mins or longer if you wish but you need to Rinse thoroughly. The royal treatment can be used weekly, fortnightly or monthly as a maintenance treatment however when we are trying to specifically heal an area we should be doing this every few days.
Once Misties’s mane has been rinsed we need to allow to air dry or pat dry. Because of the delicate state of the hair, take specific care not to drag a towel through or hurt with incorrect brushing. A short section of Mane (like Mistie’s) will not need to be untangled and we want to touch it as little as possible. A longer section of mane should be gently combed through with “The Regal Detangler” and “The Grand Grooming Brush” before following on with the next step.
In Mistie’s case (of her very damaged section) we want to apply a formula immediately to protect from further damage. This is why we will apply the product “The Supreme Serum”. This serum contains the highest percentage of the miracle ingredient Argan Oil to condition, shine, heal the hair and will protect the cuticle from root to tip, sealing in the split ends and protecting from the elements. Argan Oil has one of the smallest molecular structures of all the oils on the market so it’s a rapidly absorbing oil that can be used daily on the mane, on dock of the tail and helps heal dry patches of skin.
With Mistie we will apply this product daily to the entire section of mane to repair and protect the new hair that is growing through.
This is the secret to growing a thicker mane and tail: The new hairs that are growing need to be nourished as soon as the appear or they will begin their life cycle damaged and split, making the new growth a lot thinner than if it was nourished and protected from the beginning. Another key to growth and thickness is allowing the cuticle to have elasticity, if the product is too thick or heavy it will not let the hair breathe- Argan Oil will balance the pH and because its a “dry oil” as opposed to a “wet oil” it will not cause any irritation and allow the hair the room it needs to grow thick and strong.
Each day when Mistie’s mane is being brushed we will use “The Grand Grooming Brush” which has been specifically designed to comb through manes and tails with no damage at all. Improper brushing can contribute to splitting the ends as it tears out the hair. It takes patience to brush and comb the hair. Take smaller sections and brush from the bottom to the top. Hacking at the hair will only cause more breakage.
This brush is ergonomically designed and has different lengths of bristles that work in synergy with each other, delicately brushing and smoothing without breakage.
Before we brush we will apply “The Regal Detangler” which is a deeply nourishing product that conditions and detangles at the same time.
On the days that we apply the treatment we will gently wash and apply the treatment and then apply only the serum.
We will continue to repeat this process with Mistie for the next 4 weeks as the first stage of hair growth, called the “Anagen Phase” the new follicle forms and grows about 1cm every 28days.
We can’t wait for you to see how Mistie’s Mane starts to grow and we will update you in the next issue!
Royal Conclusion: At The Royal Mane our tagline is “Changing the way you groom your horse” and our goal is to help you achieve the best results possible.
We believe we have created a range that is worthy or these incredible Equine beings that we love with all our hearts. We hope that with this information we can assist you in creating the Mane of your dreams!
Lots of love and happy grooming from Laura and The Royal Mane xx