am I committing the sin of 'taking too much off'?

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Jericho

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I have a grey horse - yes...... now picture unclipped muddy wet said horse needed to be clean and ready for 9.30am dressage test....... She is rugged lightly in standard neck and lives out 24/7

Everytime I have been taking her out to shows / lessons I have ended up washing her neck and legs and tail which 1) takes a lot of time to do adding to preparation time especially at 6 in the morning 2) isnt very fair on her (or me as I get soaked too!) and 3) takes a long time to dry, going cold first..

She sweats up enough to warrent only an apron clip at the moment as she is only really ridden once or twice a week and I was trying to avoid clipping anymore but this washing all the time is becoming a pain in the butt.

I have tried to do the 'hot' rub wash thing but it didnt work - she still ended up dirty and wet. her tail lives in a tail bag most of the time now that solved that problem.

So I was thinking about giving her a blanket clip? Would this be cruel rather than having to subject her to being washed once or twice a week, bearing in mind she is out 24/7. She would be rugged up appropriately with a snuggy turnout hood etc and she is very good doer (connie x TB)
 
TBH I would say that as long as she is appropriately rugged, this is fine. I had this dilema with my old boy this year - I don't get to ride in the week, but at weekends he is ridden and gets very very sweaty. I decided to blanket clip him (he has been full clipped for the last 10 years!) as IMO if he is rugged well enough, he wont notice the missing hair anyway!
 
If you give her a blanket clip I don't see how that's going to help anything much, except that her neck will take less time to dry. If you use a full neck rug her neck might not need washing. .
 
For a dressage test, yes I can understand the need for the horse to be clean and well presented. But is it so essential to be immaculate for a lesson? Sorry, but I don't think so.

For an early morning dressage test, I would clean the legs and neck the night before. I would invest in a lightweight, waterproof neck cover and have the horses neck covered the night before. I would also invest in something like Equilibrium turnout chaps to cover the legs for the night previous.

Okay, so it's not guaranteed that the horse will stay clean, even with a hood and turnout chaps, but it's got to go a long way to reducing the work/time you spend on the morning of the event.

Personally, I would avoid extra clipping - as you say, she's living out and only does enough work to warrant an apron clip. The only difference that more clipping would make would be if you were to clip the legs out fully, meaning that they would be less hairy and therefore attracting a little less mud. But you're talking about a grey here and we all know what grey horses are like - clip or not clip, you're still going to need to get rid of the stains.
 
Tried this but she is too hot with a full neck rug on and thick fur coat. My reasoning is that the hair is shorter, can be rubbed over to clean if necessary and will dry quicker
 
well yes I dont suppose a lesson really matters that much although she does look pretty awful as she is mostly white and then all of her neck and head is stained and I like to have a well turned out horse (so agree that I am probably being a bit selfish!)
 
If I were you I would take the whole lot off. Washing legs all the time is not good.

I heard from a top SJ'er many moons ago that many grey horses end up with stiffer hocks due to constant leg/ tail washing.

If she is getting hot in rugs with a clip then she is a hot horse and will benefit from a clip. Her hair will be grown back in a month anyway! Just keep her rugged up in the field and I am sure she will be fine!
 
As the owner of 2 grey TB's, who live out,I don't understand this: even if you give her a full clip, you'll STILL have to wash the legs etc off. Mud stains the coat on grey's, it doesn't brush off totally, so to look smart requires washing. Horses' don't get stiff from been washed- they're designed to live outside and get wet all the time, washing is no worse than wet weather r.e stiffness

If she only needs an apron clip, then leave her with an apron; you're going to have to wash her any way most likely. If she's been getting warm under her rugs remember that even though the weather has been horrible, it's actually really, mild ATM.
 
I find it much harder to get mud off the clipped areas of my blanket clipped horse.

It comes off the non clipped much easier
 
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