The standing mane is a mane variant for your Hobby Horse, which is particularly suitable for horse breeds with short manes such as a Fjord horse. Or how about a Hobby Donkey? The short, protruding mane is also typical for a donkey! But of course every horse can have a standing mane 🙂 On a real life horse it would enough to simply cut the long mane short. Unfortunately, with the Hobby Horse standing mane, it is not that simply. But it’s not magic either! And you can even create the multi colored Fjord horse mane (dark in the middle and light on the sides) with this method!
Standing mane video tutorial
In this video we show you step by step how our little Fjordi got his pretty standing mane:
Tip: You can find more Hobby Horse DIY videos in this Youtube playlist!
Material needed for the Hobby Horse standing mane
You need yarn in the color (or – in the case of a Fjord horse – the colors) of your choice for the standing mane. It is best to use a thick, but lightweight yarn such as a chunky merino wool, because that will give it good stability and it still has enough volume. If the yarn is heavy, there is a risk that your standing mane will end up being more of a short hanging mane.
We offer a material bundle for sewing a Fjord Hobby Horse, and also our favorite chunky merino yarn as single products:
You’ll also need a hand sewing needle and some STURDY thread. We strongly recommend using a tear-resistant thread, like denim or jeans thread. Trust us, there’s nothing more frustrating than sewing half of the Hobby Horse mane only to have your thread snap – been there, done that! After that experience, I never use regular sewing thread for projects like this again.
Here are the products we love to work with and feature in our videos. A little note: We’re part of the Amazon Associates program. By shopping through our Amazon links, you help us earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The white craft glue we use in the video is a liquid crafting glue that applies white and dries transparent, making it easy to see where you’ve already applied it. We chose this glue because it leaves no hard spots after drying and is completely solvent-free, making it a safe choice for crafting toys like a Hobby Horse. I really enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing there are no harmful fumes or substances involved, especially when little hands will be playing with the horse! (affiliate link; see our full disclosure above)
Note: while it’s tempting, you’d better leave the hot glue gun in the closet for this project! Because a) the hot glue dries too quickly and b) it leaves noticeable hard spots in the mane.
Here are also some chunky yarn alternatives (affiliate links; see our full disclosure above). Please note that they contain a higher acrylic content, which may make them less soft to the touch compared to the katia yarn we sell with a higher percentage of merino wool.
Do you have any fjord hobby horses for sale?
Hi Claire!
Unfortunately not, we don’t sell hobby horses, we only sell the instructions and the material for making them..
Juliane