So, I'm growing my hair long (again).  Again, you say?  Why yes.  You can see what my hair looked like in 2002 (there's a pic of my sister and I at my wedding on Rapunzel's customer gallery) and in August of 2004 it was at the small of my back.

In a fit of annoyance after a very bad day with it, I went to the salon and had about 14 inches donated to Locks of Love, and had the rest cut off in a super short 'do.  Out of lazyness, and a couple of moves, I haven't had it cut since.

Now, I'll confess - I've never been a long hair person.  I always had short hair - in fact, I had a CREW CUT at one point.  When my hair was long, I had to learn how to braid, how to put it up in something other than a ponytail, and how to take care of it.

Even now (after 3 years of long hair) anything more advanced than a pony tail, simple braid, french twist or a bun is pretty much beyond me.  Complicating that is the fact that I have A LOT of hair.  When it was at the small of my back, the tip of the braid was almost as thick as my wrist.  Very heavy.

So, not only am I going to grow out the hair, I'm going to learn how to keep it nice, and do nice things with it.   

Glad to see you started a journal.  I think journals help those who are growing out their hair so that they can look back and see the progress they have made over time.

Your trim sounds like a good one - keep up the good work.

I did mention this was going to be about my *trials* as I do this, right?   

I had a horse show this weekend, it was hot, it was humid and it was gritty.  When my hair was long last time, I wasn't riding very much, and I wasn't competing at all, so this is a new wrinkle in the long hair thing.

I now have to deal with hairnets.  They are the devil incarnate, and I hate the tricksy things.     I can't put my hair into my helmet, or it won't protect my head, but I need it up and out of the way.  A braid or low ponytail aren't really options, as my hair is just long enough now that it sticks to my neck and falls into my collar (which was the final straw back in 2004 causing me to cut it all off) and as it gets longer, it wouldn't stick to my neck, but it will obscure my pinny, and that's a no-no.  I fought with my hair (and the hairnets) during the entire show.

So, I now get to try to figure out how to deal with it before the next show, or this'll be one of the shortest journals out here.

This idea may be way off, but what about consulting with a wig place?  I have a lot of hair and needed to wear a wig for a recital I was doing so I wanted help on how to get all of my hair under a wig without it looking silly.  So, the lady was extremely helpful and I was able to wear the flapper wig which may be a bit like your helmet.

Good Luck and let us know how you solve the problem.

Hey!  In digging about looking for those pictures, I found the only picture that exists of my long hair (mostly) down!

This is May of 2004, holding a horse while my sister gets ready off camera.  My hair is in a scrunchied ponytail and through the hole in my baseball cap.  The ends are about chest-length in this picture, so all down it was probably 4 or so inches longer at the time.  Oh, the horse is Artie, my clydesdale cross who I sold to a wonderful family in October of 2005 - my sister was showing him for me.  That's her husband with me - we're watching my sister put on her tall boots.



I almost forgot, showed that day too!  I wore my hair in a snood, but it's really hard to see in this picture.  You can see it hanging past my collar, which is not really 'acceptable' in the horse show world, but it was a last minute decision to compete and I had to do something with my hair!  The horse here is the same one you can barely see in my previous post - Allie, my off the race track thoroughbred mare.



And finally - this is October of 2004, two months after I cut all my hair off, and what I've been growing out ever since.  Oh, and the falcon is Lucky.  He's not mine, but he was fun to work with!  

Thanks for sharing the pictures.  A co-worker of mine went nuts over the horses - she LOVES horses.  Do you work with falcons?   You look very comfortable with him on your hand.  

Your short cut is what I will probably go to when I decide to cut my hair.  No plans for that just now, but I know when I do it , it will be drastic.

But back to your question.  I'd suggest a french braid with the end tucked back under.  You can wear your hair like this for quite a while.  As it gets longer, you can allow a little loop to show.  A nice black bow clipped on to hold the end up always looks nice.  Let me see if I can find a picture - I know I've seen them around..

Here's a hairnet that might work...
Petsmart Hairnet

Here's a hairbowor flat bowthat also has a small snood.

Here's a pic of the tucked french braid.

This is a pic of me with side twists going to the back and looped up and held with a bow.  The same thing can be done with a french braid.

Good luck with figuring out your hair. Allie and Artie are both  beautiful horses!

Braiding, especially french braiding does take practice.  When I was learning, I would french braid my hair every night before going to bed.  Neatness did not count when I was sleeping.     It didn't take too long before I could do it well enough to be worn in public. 

So...... practice, practice, practice!