How to Make a Forelock Extension for Your Horse

Some horses have long, luscious locks and others don’t. If you want your horse to have some extra fringe for show day, here is an easy and affordable way to make your own forelock extension. Make this ahead of time, band in on show day, and use it again and again!

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My daughter’s gelding, Ranger, just doesn’t grow very much hair between his ears. Even with foregoing clipping his bridle path and adding coat supplements to his daily feed, his forelock remains sparse.

For show day, we decided he might look good with a little extra fringe, so we purchased a professionally made sorrel forelock extension at a tack sale. It was used for one show, left in when he was turned out, and subsequently lost in the pasture. My daughter searched for it, but I think it might be a nice addition to a bird nest somewhere.

Instead of buying a new one, we decided to try and make our own and it worked! Here’s how we did it:

Materials Needed for Making a Forelock Extension for Your Horse

• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Horse hair
• String
• Permanent marker
• Epoxy
• Clothes pin
• Horse hair bands (braiding bands)

You don’t need a lot of hair to make a forelock extension. You can make a forelock extension from hair cut from your horse’s own tail or a tail extension, if you have one. Use hair from the middle of the tail or tail extension so it’s not obvious that there is some missing! Make sure the hair matches the color of your horse’s forelock so that it looks natural when it’s banded in.

Any type of string will work to secure the loop of hair for the forelock extension. We used butcher’s twine for ours. Since the butcher’s twine is white, we colored it with a permanent marker to make it less noticeable. If you use darker string, or string that matches the color of the hair you are using, you can skip this step.

To keep the extension intact, we dipped the loop of tied hair in clear epoxy. Once it dries and cures, JB Weld epoxy is virtually unbreakable. You won’t have to worry about your extension coming apart. We used a clothes pin to hold the extension while it was drying.

You will need braiding bands so that your horse can wear their forelock extension. Use at least one for the crown of their head (on their natural forelock) and one, or more, to secure the extension.

Directions for Making a Forelock Extension for Your Horse

1. 1. Measure and cut a 14-inch section of hair from the inside of your horse’s tail or a tail extension.
2. 2. Fold the hair in half. Now you should have a 7-inch piece of hair that is twice as thick, with a loop at the top.
3. 3. Tightly wrap string around the folded hair several times and secure with a few knots (a second set of hands is very helpful here). The string should cover about an inch of the hair up by the loop where it was folded.
4. 4. Color the string with a permanent marker if you used white string and are not making a white forelock.
5. 5. Mix up a small amount of clear JB Weld epoxy, according to the package instructions.
6. 6. Roll the string-covered section of the extension in the epoxy so that it is completely covered and smooth. Don’t get it on your fingers.
7. 7. Use a clothes pin to hold the extension while it dries (don’t put it on the epoxy covered part).
8. 8. Leave it undisturbed for at least an hour while it cures completely.
9. 9. Now your forelock extension is ready to use!

Directions for Banding in a Forelock Extension

1. 1. To use your extension, first band the crown of your horse’s natural forelock with one or more braiding bands.
2. 2. Next, take the extension, and hide it inside the natural forelock, placing a braiding band under the epoxy portion so that it doesn’t show.
3. 3. It might take some arranging to blend your horse’s forelock and the forelock extension together for a natural look.
4. 4. Trim the extension if you need to with scissors.
5. 5. Go show your beautiful horse!

For more information on how to band the hair of your western show horse, I recommend this article by Horse Illustrated. There are a lot of great videos on YouTube too!

Sam

Mother, farmer, author, and teacher by trade… She loves tending to things and watching them grow!