About clipping/work/sweat!

AngieandBen

AngieandBen

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I've never clipped Ben, although he was clipped in his previous home.

This winter he has been very lazy/lethergic ( he is 20 but fairly fit ) he's only in light work, hacking for 4 times a week for about 2 hours.

He does get quite sweaty. Is it worth clipping him next year, does it help with them being more lively ( I would like this very much! )

He has been in either a light weight rug or a medium one when we had the snow, lives out 24/7 and is the right weight, fed smal amount of fast fibre and pink powder, no hay but lots of grass.

Just pondering really as I can't make up my mind if its worth clipping for just a few hours of sweat?!
 
If you're not going to show him etc you could just take off a line down the neck and under the belly/girth area to create a sort of breathing "hole". I don't think this is going to help with the energy levels though , he's probably been using all the energy in his feed to keep warm as he's not having any hay , there would be little or no goodness in the grass over winter and some long forage would definitely keep the central heating system going. As he's an older boy he may need a bit more energy giving but still low calorie feed.
 
Thanks for reply

I had thought about giving him the new Veteran Vitality or adding some oil?

Reason he doesn't get hay outside is because he is on 4 acres of grazing, some of it up to my knees!

Its hard as he is barefoot too, I don't want to feed him anything with a lot of starch/sugar. He does get hay when he comes in to ride

I might try a small clip next year :)
 
My boy gets such a thick coat and often hates working towards end mid/end October so he gets fully clipped as he does a fair amount of work all year round. If he is getting on and not in hard work I would just take off what you need to keep him cool whilst riding! My horse does pick up a little once clipped but you may find your horse needs a little boost of vits and minerals, I have used red cell and a balancers in the past to give them a boost.
 
My old boy doesn't do much but sweats like mad when he does some work, his whole neck gets sweaty.

he has a high trace so all off his neck, (he is hogged to so it's easy) right to his withers and then a line from there to his stifle. So he has the whole of his back and back legs left on, he has been in a medium weight with neck all winter even in the snow, he is 19 and lives out 24/7.
 
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