Beauty products that can go straight from shower to stable, Mane ‘N Tail Shampoo and Conditioner are true horse-to-human crossovers. Manufactured by Straight Arrow Products, a family-owned company which originally “honed its roots” on the equine side, a remarkable – and unplanned – shift to the personal-care industry took place thanks to early grassroots buzz.
Company CEO Devon B. Katzev literally grew up in the company. Nearly 50 years ago in rural New Jersey his parents, Bonnie and Phil, Arabian horse breeders and competitors, sought a gentler alternative to the harsh detergents most people used on their horses. They created a conditioner using proteins, coconut and vegetable oils. With interest growing in the formula that made the Katzev horses’ manes and tails long and luxurious, the family began making the Original Mane ‘n Tail Conditioner in their kitchen and selling it from the back of a pickup truck. Soon after came the Original Mane ‘n Tail Shampoo.
Then, in the mid-1980s and 1990s, something interesting happened. Equestrians had started using the shampoo and conditioner on their own hair and when word of this rapidly spread, Straight Arrow entered the personal care market in a big way. Today, its products are sold in more than 175,000 locations in North America and internationally, including select tack stores in Canada.