Advice please...going to clip for the first time!

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Marley&Me

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I am going to start trimming up my own hairy and having been watching and having a little go when others clip their horses, but I am a little unsure as to how good at it I will be.

My horse should stand like a rock, and I only want to trim the feathers right now but may at a later stage move on to face, neck/belly etc. once I am confident.

Any tips for a clipping newbie? Anything that is a real no-no, or anything that makes it easier?

I am really hoping for some advice. Also when, how and why did you take the plunge and clip your own horses?
 
Long steady lines, overlap each bit so you don't end up with tram lines. I wouldn't do legs just yet as they are fiddly, belly and neck is probably a better place to start, if you stuff up then someone else can always tidy it up later. Clip against the hair.
And unless you're taking feathers OFF they should be left alone!
 
Make sure your clippers are tensioned correctly and the blades are sharp.

Have your horse as clean as possible.

Use a circuit breaker and make sure he cannot stand on the clipper cable.

Clip in good light in a place that is not windy.

User approved clipper oil and wipe the blades after oiling them as some horses have a bad reaction to clipper oil.

Do not let the blades get too hot.

Don't wear anything fleecy as you will be removing horse hair for the rest of your life!
 
That is helpful advice. I was going to have a try today but the excessive wind today where I live put me off the idea.

I think I might start with the cat hairs! He has them everywhere, and then try the neck and belly. It would be going over the top of a previous clip, which has now grown out virtually and he gets very hot in that area. I have my friend on stand by to supervise and step in if needed.
 
dont be tempted to use WD40 - it will ruin your clippers! Dont expect perfection - folks good at clipping, get good by practice - I gave up years ago:D Its worth every penny of £40 for a full for someone else to do it and he doesnt look like a mutant at the end off it:D
 
if you have experienced pal on standby then dont worry!!!! i have run a clipping business for years and clipped 8 hunters in a day and can still get nervy~~~what if the clippers breakdown (although i have 4 sets) , blades go blunt (have box full spares) all totally unreasonable worries!! my children (11 and 12) both clip their own ponies and i have always managed to put right any wobbles!! also have a pal up the road who calls on me to put right. he looks like the cartoon in the thellwell book~~~~never clip unless you know what you are doing~~or something like that when i get there ,always ends up looking great. so off you go and good luck~~~quite agree not nice when windy but tomorrow will be better!
 
If he's really hairy and ur doing more than feathers put elastoplast over ur nipples. I've seen the outcome of hair stuck there and it's not nice! Alternatively workmans overalls are great.
 
I second the thing about not wearing anything fleecey. But my biggest piece of advice is WEAR GLOVES. Strong leather ones. My YO sliced her hand open whilst clipping the other day and had to get stitches. :eek:
 
you can get clipping overalls they are for dog groomers they are hair resistant best buy ever and just do bit at a time you can take more off but cant stick it back on
 
What great posts! lol!

Well I (and my horse) survived our first clipping session. I have only had him 2 weeks as well. But he was a star. Being a hairy cob, a haynet was more than enough to have him stand stil for an hour whilst I faffed about his feathers.

I bought the Liveryman Element trimmers. They were fab! soooo easy to use. I also had a plan, go downward with the hair to the bottom of the fetlock and then upwards against the hair around the pasterns and heels. It worked a treat! I used the combs that came with them I didnt want a bald horse so the 6mm (sounds a lot but trust me still v. short) worked perfect.

I got a bit carried away after doing the legs and did bum bloomers, cat hairs and went over his neck and belly clip. He looks so smart! He didnt mind one bit.

My friends were so impressed one of them went out and bought her own set that same day. Today I went up the yard to see her "work" OMG! her poor horse has had his legs attacked by the trimmers! She has super short bits in one place, and long in another and bald in others! She was gutted. But it will grow I suppose.

I am definitely going to continue trimming up my boy and may well have a go at a chaser clip next year.

Thanks for all the advice. The nipples thing made me laugh. I certainly had plenty of the prickly stuff in my bra yesterday...and the shower was bliss!
 
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