Tips to get a HUGE knot out of a horses tail?

Oh, fun. Depending on the size of the knot, it will take you a good amount of time... luckily, knots caused by tail swishing and rolling usually aren't impossible to get out, because the knots are caused by a repetitive motion of the tail. It's hard to explain ;)

I use the Cowboy Magic detangler gel. I swear, it is legitimate magic. It will forever be my favorite thing. Then once you've added liberal amounts to the knot, work the gel in with your fingers, and then start at the bottom of the knot and work your way up, loosening it and pulling the hairs free.

To prevent this from happening again, you can either brush out his tail every day, or braid it and put it up in a tail sock. I am personally a big fan of tail socks and always use them on my horse. They're easy to take on and off and do the job well.

Cowboy Magic or Survivor by Eqyss. I prefer Survivor but it's more expensive, so Cowboy Magic works too. What I do w/my guy (his tail naturally twists and long- drags the ground, so knots happen quite frequently in his tail) is smear the Cowboy Magic or Survivor over the knot, making sure I'm working it into the knot the best I can and then I leave it alone for a little bit- I'll brush out his mane, curry him really well, etc, just so the stuff has some time to kind of settle into the knot a little bit. Then I take a comb and start at the bottom of the tail and work up. You can't get a knot out if below the knot the tail isn't already combed and untangled, so get everything under the knot combed out really well and then I just start working on the knot w/either my fingers or the comb. There's no real science on how to get it out, just patience. Just keep working on the knot and as you get sections free, brush them through all the way to the end, so the area below the knot stays untangled.

I have found that after I get a knot out, if I comb the entire tail out and then add just a touch more Survivor or Cowboy Magic to the tail, it stays relatively knot free from day to day. Survivor lasts longer in a tail - up to 2 weeks - than Cowboy Magic but they both do a pretty good job at keeping the tail untangled. I've owned my guy w/the twisty tail for 12 years and until I discovered Survivor about 2 years ago, brushing his tail was a nightmare, even if I did it daily, it never stayed untangled and I always had to apply show sheen to it before I could start working on it. Now, as long as I brush it daily or every other day, I can get a comb through it no problem and only have to apply the Survivor every 2 weeks or so. With Cowboy Magic as long as I apply it once a week, I can still brush through his tail pretty easily.

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Wash it with shampoo and a heavy conditioner, leave the conditioner in for a few mins before you rinse it out. While the tail is wet spray it with ShowSheen, then use some Cowboy Magic detangler (or any other oily detangler), then just work on getting the knots out with your hands, it may take a long time but you should be able to work out most of the knots. Use a ton of cowboy magic (i've used an entire bottle on one tail before), it works really well, start at the bottem of the tail and work your way up. I had a horse that its entire tail was one big knot. I spent about 3 hours untangleing it all, it was almost to the ground it was so long. I then leased him out to a girl and she cut off his tail so it was only like 4 inches long. I could have strangled her. But anyway, it will just take time, don't cut your horses tail, it can take years to grow back. Also a horse with a short tail will be hard to sell, and will look bad in shows.

I use baby oil, put a bit on the biggest bit of knot and work it around in your hands, then you want to get to the bottom of the knot and gently tease the hair out with your fingers. Some rubber bands are handy, you can put the detangled part in the band and the dont get tangled with the knot again. This can take hours!! After your done, wash the tail and get it as dry as you can, put a little more baby oil on and gently comb it through. When its dry you should be able to run your fingers through it. If you run your fingers through it daily, then comb with a wide toothed comb. If you find any small knots with the comb, use your fingers to untangle them, after your done baby oil on your hands and run through the tail should keep it untangled.

Don't cut it! This can be fixed.

Goop it up with a lot of detangler (my fav is cowboy magic, but whatever you have works) and work it in as much as you can. Then, take a comb (not a brush), and using the very end of it, tease the hairs apart a few at a time. This is a long, boring process, but it works almost every time.

To prevent future tangles, consider leaving the tail in a loose braid.

Edit: @ Josh: Bahahaha! I bet you're about as much as a vet as I am, if not less.

Absorbine Show Sheen. I can't live without it. It's amazing. You can get it at Wal-Mart for about $10 for 32 oz. It'll take that knot right out.

use lots of detangler and if you try to get it out with your hands first then a brush. my horse does this and he also has dreadlocks and he gets them in knots but it takes a while to get it out. dont cut it and just work at it.

Put some kind of oil or detangler on it. It will make the hair smooth and slippery so it will be easier to untangle.

Spray with Show Shine detangler, then comb out carefully. Give it another spray if you hit a hard spot.