Am I the only one who does a french braid (hair over ears, of course) and tucks the "tail" part of braid under the braid? It alleviates the whole pony tail ouchies, in my opinion. it also makes a cleaner back, again, in my opinion. But then again, I haven't shown A since the late 90s ... so that may be way out of style (if it was ever in style since I rode jumpers, not hunters, with few exceptions). Also, for those of you with layers and short hair, say hello to ultra gel! No pins to make ouchies. Slather it on, pull your hair back and put your hairnet on, and you're good (unless you are riding in the summer, in which case you'll be good until your afternoon classes).