So you’ve found a date in your diary where you can book your Pony Portrait equine photo session (psst… half-term or school holidays get booked up quickly!) so you now need to start prepping for the big day.

As a pony-owner your day-to-day grooming routine probably involves a good all-over brush to remove any dust, excess grease or dried-in mud (the joys of winter!) to reveal a shiny coat – this is a good habit to get into ahead of your photo session. Ensuring hooves are clean and have a little hoof oil applied always looks smart too, but the area that may need a little more attention is your pony’s tail… this is understandable as we don’t have to wash them very often and are in fact advised not to due to shampoos removing some of the essential oils. Your equine portrait session is a special occasion so it is worth the effort to wash your pony’s tail to ensure it looks beautiful.

Here are some top tips and a few examples of clean, presentable tails I have photographed so far…

The easiest way to wash a tail is to dissolve a little shampoo (no more than the size of a 10 pence piece) in a bucket of warm water. You can then carefully hold the bucket under the tail and then dunk the tail up to the tail bone (an extra pair of hands is useful and children may need an adult to help lift the bucket). Now the fun part: get your hands into the bucket and start scrubbing the bubbly water into the tail – use a sponge to wash the top part of the tail that isn’t in the bucket but be careful you don’t soak the back of your pony’s legs… he won’t thank you!

Once you have given the tail a good scrub (and warmed your hands up if it’s chilly weather) it’s time to rinse the tail… this is even more important to the previous washing stage as we don’t want to leave any soap suds in the tail that could irritate the skin. The easiest method of rinsing is to start at the top and work your way down using a hose – be sure to spend time rinsing small sections of the tail until all of the water runs completely clear.

If your pony has a white/grey/flaxen tail, try soaking the ends of the tail in a paste of bicarbonate of soda mixed with hot water first to remove excess grease and then, once washed and dried brush talcum powder or chalk into the tail as an inexpensive trick to cover any remaining stubborn yellow stains. 

The ‘Helicopter’ method of drying the tail is, in my opinion, the most effective! You can wring out any excess water before taking the tail just under the tail bone and swinging the tail in a helicopter fashion – go slowly to begin with if you haven’t used this method on your pony before and also ensure you are far enough away from other people, horses, cars etc as they will get wet!

Once the majority of the tail is dry you can then use a towel to dry it a little more. I then like to spray a little conditioner (my favourite is Carr & Day & Martin Canter Man & Tail Conditioner) and brush through with a mane and tail brush. Now you just need to keep the tail clean until your photo session! If you are washing the day before, a well secured tail bandage may help.

Once the tail is fully dry you may wish to use a pair of scissors to neaten it up… again, children please ask an adult to help you with this as it can be tricky.

Another quick tip that can help bring a lovely shine to your pony’s tail is pouring a few small drops of baby oil into the palm of your hand then rubbing both hands together before running your fingers through the tail. Be careful you don’t use too much though as this will look greasy instead of shiny!