How To Remove Burrs from Your Horse’s Tail (The Only Thing You Need To Know)
Burrs. Sticky, matted, exponentially multiplying, evil burrs. One in my horse’s forelock. An entire bush encrusted in his tail.
I will keep this short and sweet. There is only one trick you need to know when it comes to removing nasty burrs from a horse’s tail. I’m pretty sure it was my mother who shared it with me. And now I’m going to share it with you:
Pull the hair out of the burr, not the burr out of the hair.
Really, that’s all there is to it. Burrs have this amazing ability to tighten their grip if you try to pull them out. However, if you hold the burr in one hand, and gently pull a few hairs at a time away from the burr, it lets right go.
Ignore the pervading Google “wisdom” that says to use baby oil or vaseline or something else slick and messy that requires washing out, especially in this cold fall weather that is less than ideal for soaping up your horse’s hind end. My tack trunk space is limited, and I don’t keep baby oil on hand at the barn. And when Ace comes in from the field in full burr-covered regalia, cleaning out that tail becomes my top priority.
Case in point. This is Ace’s tail today, after I had already removed half of the gigantic burr mess.
Here’s his lovely, flowing tail after removing the burrs by gently pulling the hairs out of the burrs (and a careful brushing with liberal spray detangler).
Here’s a tip of my helmet to whomever it was who originally taught me this trick; it’s the only one I’ve ever needed for keep Ace’s mane and tail flowing and burr-free.
What tricks have you learned for removing – or preventing – burrs from matting up your horse’s mane and tail?
It’s so true!
I hope you also told Ace NOT to go near the burr patch in his field again! His tail looks lovely in the after photo
I do the same thing but use conditioner on burrs as it softens them but does need to be rinsed out
OMG, MANE-LY LONG HAIR POLISHER!!!!!! Prevents it number 1 and number 2 takes them out in seconds without ruining the hair! On line at, thetrophyline.com
That’s some good advice. I have used this trick a lot. Here in Mongolia where our 17 horses run free most of the time (no fences here), they do get their manes and tails in a bit of a mess. In the winter with temperatures down to -35c and below, it’s difficult to fully clean them off without frostbite. My horses have never seen the inside of a barn and spend their nights in an open corral and their days roaming the surrounding open pastures digging through the snow for freeze dried grass. Tough mountain horses we use on extended trips in the backcountry. Cleaning their manes and tails is a constant.
I am truly lucky. I live on the coast of NC and before our horse came to the property they live on it was treated for weeds and we have never had to do that again. Our horses are in the pastures in the day time and in the barn at night. The major items I have to brush out of my horses tail are shavings, which he just wallers in and pieces of dead grass. I sometimes use a few spritzes of leave in detangler and a “for people” hair brush, starting at the ends and holding the hair above it. In just a few minutes the job is done. We do travel with our horse so it could be nice to know how to remove burrs when the time comes. I will remember this advice. Thanks
Linda