Another clipping Q but please advise

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kal40

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I know clipping has been done to death each year but I am hoping someone on here can come up with something constructive to my problem.

I have a 15.2 hairy mammoth who is getting hairier each day.

He needs clipped but I cannot get near him with the clippers.

Last year we clipped him under sedation but I don't want to do it this year. It took the maximum dose before we could get near last year. Clipping lady is coming on Sunday and vet can't come. Prior to sedation last year we twitched him and he tried to lie down just to get away.

For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to get him used to hand trimmers and electric toothbrush. He has even let me touch him with the big clippers but when they are switched on he is gibbering wreck in the corner.

I have spoken to the lady who had him as a yearling until he was 3 and she used to trim, hog and clip all year round. I have emailed the previous owners and after 2 messages they are not replying.

Does anyone have a horse like this? Anyone got any tips to help? Any advise gratefully received.

I am getting on so well with him and have just started hunting again but I can't really do much with him whe he is this sweaty.

Thank you in advance for any ideas
 
Oh B**ger for you how inconvienient.
I have nothing apart from buying little battery powered clippers and gently incorporating them into life...turn them on in next stable, turn them on at stable door, so on and so forth until you can touch him with them...during dinner time is good :) but no help for Sunday! Took all summer with one pony.
Known a horse who had to be sedated so we did teeth, mane pulling and clipping all at the same time! Cunning!
 
Yep - definately inconvenient. I have been doing that with the trimmers but batteries don't last long.

Thing is - he is genuinely afraid and not just being naughty. I wish he would trust me and life would be so much easier.
 
As previous poster suggested, try turning clippers on in stable next door and gradually build up to bringing them closer and closer to him whilst switched on. Sunday is a pretty tall order but if you were able to devote a couple of hours (a few mins here and there) over the next couple of days you might be able to desensatise (sp) enough to maybe be able to tackle him after a few ACP tablets. My lad is no where near as bad as yours but he can be difficult to handle where strangers are concerned. Adapting a kick or bite first attitude. Today we managed to get even more hair off than last year without any sedation but the cunning use of a horsliyx menthol tub which my horsey absolutely loves!! He's a typical man in that you can distract him with very yummy treats!! Good luck, I hope you get on ok!
 
When I got my first youngster I read up on clipping. It sugested turning them on and NOT turning them off until the horse had relaxed and maybe had taken a treat or a mouthful of hay. At no point should you hold them near him... Just have them on.... You should do this until he stops reacting. Keep doing this until there is no reaction with them being switched on. Once this is achieved you turn them on whilst holding the clippers against him (not the blade though) and do the same, ie not turning them off until you get a sign of relaxation. With my first youngster this process took a little of 1/2hr and with me new youngster it took me 20 mins. It may be longer with an older horse as he may well of had a frightening experience with is last owners. Patience is the key so take all day if necessary. It is worth doing right as it "should" mean it will never be horrid for either of you again.

Whenever they showed a sign of relaxing I would turn them off and make a fuss, let them start at their haynet again before switching back on.

I hope that makes sense.

Good Luck!
 
Oh for a horse like Mary's HelsBels. The horse went to sleep while Mary clipped her head. I'm so jealous.

I'm off to have a look for Michael Peace Horsegirl. Did he do something in one of the horsey mags recently?

Nickles1973: I have been doing this with the clippers but I don't seem to make much headway. He still won't let me anywhere near.

Part of me thinks I should just give up and go down the sedation route but I'm not really addressing the problem then.

If the clippers are on he won't come anywhere near me even when I have food. I bought some mints to try tonight as he loves them.

He is usually such an obliging little horse who totally trusts me. This is so not him.
 
When i first turn the clippers on my horse is terrified, but once he actually lets me put them on him, he isn't as bad. I hold him and someone will pass me the clippers until i get them on his shoulder, it might take him about 2 mins to relax till i can hand him over to someone else to hold and i can clip. The reason i do both is i don't want anyone to get hurt.

He has been difficult in other years but this was by far the best. What worked for me was every day for over a week leading up to clipping i had trimmers on in the stable and on his body where he would let me. When we did the clip on Sat i got some of his neck and the rest of his body apart from the belly done. Then for the belly and the neck i used some mix to distract him and then twitched for the head.

If the twitch helps i would use it at the start to get him going?

Good luck!
 
Oh really loads of luck! I literally just did my first ever clip myself this afternoon, which was a bit nerve racking but really luckily my horse also pretty much goes to sleep. Some great tips from Madison Belle there, I will be committing them to memory for if I need them in future!
 
MadisonBelle said:
When I got my first youngster I read up on clipping. It sugested turning them on and NOT turning them off until the horse had relaxed and maybe had taken a treat or a mouthful of hay. At no point should you hold them near him... Just have them on.... You should do this until he stops reacting.
Click to expand...

The only thing I would add to this good advice is do NOT tie horse up or hold him. IF horses can move away from something frightening, it is automatically LESS frightening! They KNOW they can escape if the noisy beast attacks them!

This applies even more to an older horse whose fear is based on bad experiences.

Of course,with some horses it's primarily the noise - and a battery pack clipper such as the Moser Avalonis a good investment for such horses.
 
I had a horse that was petrified of the noise of clippers i could only do him under vet sedation, I got everybody to clip outside his stable, as we were at a big yard the clippers were going outside his stable all the time and it really helped, we then moved onto acp tablets for a few clips and eventually without anything. It really helped him as the noise became the norm rather than a shock. :)
 
For my horse we get sedalin from the vets, its an oral sedative (like a wormer) that you can administer yourself which just takes the edge off him.
Others have given good advice about the actual clipping process, I would second whoever said do it outside, with someone holding him, not tied up as they feel less claustrophobic.
 
I would also agree with the outside bit. Our lovely boy T was a nightmare to clip when we got him. Had obviously been twitched to the extreme in the past and IF you managed to get it on would throw himself on the floor just about. After 4 years we can now do him quite easily. We always do him outside whatever the weather and give him some acp and clip him very quickly and he is fine. Can even do his head by just holding, not twitching, an ear. However, we don't faf about just get it off quick and tidy up lines etc at end. We never do him if we are in a hurry.

However there are some horses that are just impossible and for everyones safety it is best to have them sedated. I often find feisty cobs are the worse. I know it is expensive but sometimes you just have to put safety first. Maybe summer is best time to play with him with clippers etc.
 
Lots of patience. One of my horses worried about clippers and each year he gets better and better from only managing to do him whilst sedated. I have one of the battery pack one that you clip to your belt.

What worked for me was clipping another horse (who was completely relaxed by the whole thing outside his box or in the neighbouring box where he could see and hear the whole process. Gradually each time I clipped the other horse he got less concerned and stopped reacting at all. next stage was then run the clippers in front of his box and not switch off until he relaxed again and stopped worrying. Eventually worked up to being in box with him with clippers running, then putting my hand on his shoulder and then resting clippers on my hand so he could feel the vibrations etc..

Alternatively, sedate him this time and get him clipped but work on the whole thing over the winter.

best of luck
 
My cob is terrified too. Three years of trying to get him used to clippers and I still couldnt do him without some form of medical help. For safetys sake - mine and his, I use Sedalyn. Over the three years I have been able to substantially reduce the dose needed from half a tube to a couple of notches.
It would be impossible to do him outside as he would try to run away.

I agree with others, the route of his problem is the noise. I tried trimming clippers and he wouldnt trust them due to the previous association also they are so slow with his thick cobby coat it was prolonging the agony. I find getting someone to hold his ears closed really helps.

I would think Sunday would be optimistic to try without some medicinal help given what you say. Good luck with what ever you decide.
 
Yep, I too think this winter should be done with sedation. If the vet can't come sunday, cancel the clipping lady and rebook when they can come together.

Then, work on him getting used to the clippers every day from now until next winter. My mare isn't too good, and I'm trying sedalin next week, but I WILL be working on her, with the noise of the clippers, stepping up to the feel etc etc every day from the following week until clipping time next year if I have to. Hopefully that way I will have a happy compliant mare next year.

Bit of a bind when everything has to run off a generator, but hey ho, got to do it for the sake of the horse :)
 
I'm over the moon with all your reponses, thank you - you are helping to keep me sane.

I have tried a fair few of these things but he is really scared. He is a big lad and not averse to knocking me over if he is scared.

Our stables are the next best thing to being outside. They are chest high walls built under a roof. Horses can see for about 10 miles in every direction. Great for air circulation and they always stay amused if they are in for the day.

Last night we tried the usual things and as usual didn't make any progress. While I was stroking his neck I found a little lump, I tried to have a closer look but he wouldn't let me anywhere near him. He is now scared of me in case I switch something on. I had to get the lass in the cottage to come and have a look at his neck and just stay out of the way.

So for safety's sake I have decided to re-arrange the session and get the vet to sedate him. He is such a lovely beast and we have a great relationship and I don't want to spoil it in any way. We have a lot of work before us this winter and summer and hopefully by next year we can do it without the stress.

I'm also going to get the Michael Peace article.

Thanks again for your advice. This is why HHO is so great!
 
You are better off sticking with sedation...its safer all round. My mare is a nightmare to clip and dangerous but she also grows hair like crazy! I clip professionally and am very competant and with her i simply sedate. Its safer for me and for her...she goes asleep and wakes up naked and there is no stress! Be VERY careful clipping with Sedalin! They can snap out of it way to easily and are twice as dangerous when awake enough to react but doped enough to be unbalanced!! Best of luck with him
 
We tried giving him sedalin last year but it didn't touch the sides. In the end the vet came and injected him. Vet said he had given him the maximum and if that didn't work I would have a half clipped horse!
 
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