Avrils Mane and Tail Tips and Tricks
You can just use parts of this, or keep going until it looks better, then stop.
So, the first thing is to wash it out (you can use basically anything, I like dish soap (because it gets it cleaner) or shampoo (because it works with hair)). After that, fill it with conditioner, brush it straight/ rinse it (if you brush from the tips up, you should be able to work out all the knots, just like you would with human hair). Rinse with as hot of water as you can, towel dry, add more conditioner, and leave them for a few hours/overnight.
The synthetic hair they used on GCs reacts to conditioner (just whatever thick, cheap conditioner you want) really, really, surprisingly well, and it will help with all the frizz. Brush this through before drying, and while rinsing (again in hot water).
If it is still frizzy at this point, damn. Use a curling/straightening iron on a low-medium heat setting, and use it to de-frizz by running it along the hair or clamping on the end and rolling the rest of the hair around it (it should not melt the hair, and I've used mine on high). If you don't have/use one, you can also use a clothes iron IF you cover the horse's body and hair with dish towels. You would not want to touch the horse directly and should use lots of steam.
At this point, if it's still not good, try repeating the steps, but if the ends stay frizzy, you might want to cut or thin them (point the scissors up parallel to the hairs, not horizontal), but that's up to you.
If the mane or tail is weird and won't hold position (eg if the mane sticks straight up instead of laying on the neck) you can boil perm it. To to this, dip it in boiling water for a few seconds (shouldn't hurt the mane or the horse, 've done it many times with many horses), then quickly wrap it tightly with paper towels (or toilet paper or at worst saran wrap, but the hair takes AGES to dry if you use saran) and tape it or elastic it in place. For the tail, you can do the same thing, but just bind it along one of the back legs with either elastics or a wrap.
You can just use parts of this, or keep going until it looks better, then stop.
So, the first thing is to wash it out (you can use basically anything, I like dish soap (because it gets it cleaner) or shampoo (because it works with hair)). After that, fill it with conditioner, brush it straight/ rinse it (if you brush from the tips up, you should be able to work out all the knots, just like you would with human hair). Rinse with as hot of water as you can, towel dry, add more conditioner, and leave them for a few hours/overnight.
The synthetic hair they used on GCs reacts to conditioner (just whatever thick, cheap conditioner you want) really, really, surprisingly well, and it will help with all the frizz. Brush this through before drying, and while rinsing (again in hot water).
If it is still frizzy at this point, damn. Use a curling/straightening iron on a low-medium heat setting, and use it to de-frizz by running it along the hair or clamping on the end and rolling the rest of the hair around it (it should not melt the hair, and I've used mine on high). If you don't have/use one, you can also use a clothes iron IF you cover the horse's body and hair with dish towels. You would not want to touch the horse directly and should use lots of steam.
At this point, if it's still not good, try repeating the steps, but if the ends stay frizzy, you might want to cut or thin them (point the scissors up parallel to the hairs, not horizontal), but that's up to you.
If the mane or tail is weird and won't hold position (eg if the mane sticks straight up instead of laying on the neck) you can boil perm it. To to this, dip it in boiling water for a few seconds (shouldn't hurt the mane or the horse, 've done it many times with many horses), then quickly wrap it tightly with paper towels (or toilet paper or at worst saran wrap, but the hair takes AGES to dry if you use saran) and tape it or elastic it in place. For the tail, you can do the same thing, but just bind it along one of the back legs with either elastics or a wrap.