Horse Show Hairdo/updo

[A_Little_Unique]

I have a delema:

My hair is 27 inches long and VERY thick.
I show horses in nationals so I have to look very neat and tidy.
My hair MUST be put up in a bun that is low and small enough to wear my helmet at the same time.
Normaly, i just put my hair in a pony tail, then roll it up with many bobby pins and put a hair net tightly around it. I also use a lot of hair spray and gel.
Now, I am growing my hair longer and my mom, who is the one who does my hair, says that she won't be able to put it up when it is so long and therefore, I will have to cut it. I really don't want to cut it....

Anyone have any ideas?

[ravenreed]

Can you pull off a gibson tuck? There is also a dropped bun, although I have never been able to get one to work for me. Or maybe very low double buns?

[doodlesmart]

What I do (hair is thinner and longer) is one long braid down the back, then I fold it up towards my forehead, but not centered, and then fold it back towards my neck. So I sort of zig zag it back and forth. Then I scoop my helmet from the back, and voila, all my hair is neatly tucked under my helmet. This assumes that your helmet is sized to have your hair under it.

With shorter thicker hair what you might try is two braids at the back. Like you would make for a braided chinese bun. Then zig zag them going opposite directions. So, both up towards your head, and then if they are long enough to poke out wrap them back towards your neck, closer to your ears. Then I would put a hair net over the whole thing. You'll probably need help to manage two braids. They key to the braids being comfortable and safe under a helmet is to 1) either leave the ends unfastened, or use a very small tie, like a mane band and 2) make sure the hair is evenly distributed around your head, so the helmet still fits correctly.

[Rivanariko]

It really depends on how your helmet fits, and the style depends on your discipline. What kind of riding do you do? A very low small sock bun under a hair net I believe is still an acceptable style in the dressage ring (dang, I haven't shown in way too long...) but in the hunter ring they want your hair under your helmet and invisible (or at least, where I was they did). My hair is thinner and longer than yours (though not longer by a lot). One thing that I found worked pretty well and stay fairly neat was to put it in a low ponytail at the nape of my neck, and the last time you pull it through the hair tie, only pull about an inch of hair through, then flip the loose hair up on top of your head and plop your helmet on. The little "mini-bun" at the base of your neck is small enough to not be too noticeable, but it takes enough of your length away that you don't end up with bangs when you flip your hair up into your helmet. A lot of my friends who had GPA helmets had them fit to accommodate their hair being tucked under them.

It is possible with long thick hair, though. One of the girls on my team when I was in college (who has showed at nationals several times and is now a professional trainer with her eye on an olympic spot someday) has VERY thick, wurly, waist-length hair, which she somehow manages to get up into her helmet every time she rides. Another girl on my team had waist-length thick, straight hair and was the official hair person for our team. She had a braiding method that worked for most people, but my helmet/my head was shaped weird so it didn't work for me. Hair nets were also not my friend, so I gave up on them and hoped for the best.

[Merlin]

Your question seems to be based around the belief that the statement "won't be able to put it up when it is so long" - however as you'll find here that statement is actually false! I suspect that you don't need to cut your hair, you just need to master some different bun techniques :-)

[Angela_Rose]

Okay, so my hair is about 20" longer than yours. I can get it all into a manageable style for showing. My Old Standby has been two buns, set on the nape of my neck. They're right side-by-side and then I wrap hairnets around them to keep them in check. Another style I've done is a crown braid, with the tail spiraling around up under my helmet.

[Anje]

I'm not a rider, but I've found that buns made with several sections instead of one (such as the Vortex bun (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=27288)) end up a lot flatter against the head than normal cinnamon buns. You can probably get a helmet to fit over something like this nicely, even with enormously long, thick hair.

[eadwine]

I know eresh has ridden.. and she has VEEERY long hair. I'll steer her thisaway ;)

[eresh]

LOL thanks for the guidance Eadwine ;)

For normal riding I would wear a low, folded braid.

For formal events I used a hairnet around a sort of hangman's loop knot/chignonbun (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=132).
Longer hair just needs either a double looping or wrapping the ends around the base.
And the rosette bun (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=145) also works for me because the bun against the head is flat and the helmet can be worn over it,
leaving the 4 or 5 braidloops exposed (with or without hairnet)

[Akiko]

Maybe you can ask Darkhorse1. She is an equestrian with beautiful long and thick. I think she has tried different styles with various toys. She should be able to give you very helpful advice.

[GoddesJourney]

Tucked French Braids are good for making your hair disappear.

[A_Little_Unique]

Thank you all for replying!
I do not know if any will work, but I will talk to my mom and we can brainstorm with the ideas that you gave me!
It is comforting to know that there are other equestians that have long hair and still show. My mom kept trying to convince me that everyone who shows, just had to sacrifice their hair. :)

ravenreed – The Gibson tuck is sort of what I already do and my hair is so thick that it just comes out or is just plain too big. The double buns wouldn’t work because I show Arabians and they want everything to be very formal.

doodlesmart – sorry, but I already have a very nice show helmet that my hair won’t fit under. (It fit absolutely perfectly right now…) Otherwise that idea would work very well! I don’t really get what you mean in the second suggestion… Could you possibly post a picture?

Rivanariko – As I said above, in the arab circuit, they want everything VERY formal for every style. They just want one plain bun right below your helmet. I am often taking off my helmet and putting it back on so just flipping my hair under wouldn’t work so well because it would just end up looking messy by the end of the day. (P.S. Say congrats to your friend! it is hard to make it in the horse world!)

eresh – The chignon bun is what I normally use but because my hair is so thick and long it just is uncooperative and falls out in minutes. I think that the rosette bun would still be too thick to fit underneath my helmet.

GoddesJourney – I don’t necessarily want my hair to disappear. Also, I have tried French braids and they just get lumpy under the helmet.

[atlantaz3]

Would Heidi braids or a coronet braid done very flat fit under the helmet? I don't guess you could braid and just tuck down the back of your shirt under your bra?