Mane and Tail Genetics

[Nic0924]

Does anybody know the age at which you can tell if itll be long or short? I thought if it showed a short mane by 9 months itd be long mane full grown but now i have a few i thought were short maned and ended up being long maned.

[KayaineII]

I've noticed the full long tail and mane seem to be visible around just after or at 1 year. The middle length and short ones are harder to tell apart until around 2.5-3yrs. At least, this is what I've seen in my own horses.

[larissar]

There are also genes which determine how fast a horses mane and tail will grow

[Totina]

I have a horse that got full grown long mane and tail as early as 2 years old. If you check the gallery of him you can see him at different ages.

ℬℳ Cactier


I also have a horse that at 4 years old looked like she would get medium mane and tail (her tail was medium and her mane short) but apparantly her mane and tail had not stopped growing and now she has long mane and tail.

ℬℳ Twilight Pearl


I have noticed that the tail often grows faster than the mane, so if a horse has medium/long tail and short mane, the mane will eventually grow longer to be the same as the tail.

[Argent II]

I've had foals with dropped manes as early as 6 months old. Never kept track of when their mane/tails reached the adult length, but I imagine it was by the time they were yearlings.

[Devolare]

Most of my long ones usually don't start till about 2 and finish around 4 years old. There are a few weirdos, tho. Like Mars here whose tail stopped growing at 3, but around 8 years old his full mane came in and was very fluffy.

0.5 years old:


3 years old:


8.97 years old:


I don't have any pictures in between there, but I know that's around when he insta-fluffied because I took the picture soon after (I was very amazed by the floof).