Showmaster Tail and Mane Silk Deluxe: ‘works well but tricky to apply’ 6/10

Welcome to our group test of mane and tail detanglers. All of the sprays in this group test have been thoroughly tested by busy yard owner and hunting enthusiast Harriet Rimmer. Find out what she thought below.

Official description

Showmaster Tail and Mane Silk Deluxe provides luxurious shine and easy combing. Studies show that vegan silk polypeptides offer great protection against irritants and environmental influences, and that argan oil gives the perfect finish. Use sparingly. Thanks to the 360° spray nozzle, it produces a fine cloud that is distributed evenly.

First impressions

This product came in a different style bottle and with slightly complicated instructions. It looks like more of a specialist product to use, but I like the inclusion of argan oil as it may act as a treatment, as well as an instant gloss.

Overview of performance

Having got my head around the unusual bottle and spray method, I loved the instant detangling and silky feeling this product leaves. It is tricky to apply though as you have to keep pulling the trigger for application, you can’t just have a consistent spray. It certainly leaves a very well conditioned and high gloss finish and you can tell that it is more of a premium product, in comparison to some of the others on test. It’s a shame that the bottle lets it down as the product itself is excellent.

Likes and dislikes

I really like the silky, lightweight feeling it leaves in the horses manes and tails – it definitely does its job. But I dislike the spray nozzle as it dictates how long each spray is. When trying to spray into a long tail, you have to keep pulling the trigger on the spray, rather than having a consistent flow. Whether this is to dictate how little or much you should be using, I’m not sure, but I personally prefer being able to judge this myself.