Anyone considering clipping yet?

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Spot_On03

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Blades arrived today. Going to do a bib/belly/half face on my mare as doing a sponsored ride Sunday and she's already sweating up just on a walk hack this week! Then next Clip I'll do more of a high chaser, as my rugs are going off for washing.
 
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bonnysmum

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Noob question. I've been told I'll need to get mine clipped but then obviously she needs rugs in the winter. I can understand it if they're being worked really hard, that's not natural behaviour, but the ones who are getting hot with just a walk out - well what would these ponies do "in the wild"? It just seems a bit counter intuitive to me to have to pay for her to be clipped, and then pay for rugs when she would otherwise have a natural fur coat keeping her cosy. Please enlighten me!
 
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Annagain

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bonnysmum said:
Noob question. I've been told I'll need to get mine clipped but then obviously she needs rugs in the winter. I can understand it if they're being worked really hard, that's not natural behaviour, but the ones who are getting hot with just a walk out - well what would these ponies do "in the wild"? It just seems a bit counter intuitive to me to have to pay for her to be clipped, and then pay for rugs when she would otherwise have a natural fur coat keeping her cosy. Please enlighten me!
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You are right to a certain extent but by keeping them and riding them as we do we're already interfering with the natural coat (and have done for so long, many have lost their natural ability to cope with winter weather) and therefore have to mitigate for that. Also, wild is not always good - there are plenty in the wild suffering with weather related conditions, especially elderly ponies - that's nature's way.

If you only plan on working her lightly over the winter you may get away with not clipping (or clipping just a small area of the neck so she can stay unrugged) but there are a few reasons why we need to do it for their benefit.

- they're designed (especially native breeds) to live out in all weathers so if they stay in, even just overnight, they can overheat
- if they get particularly sweaty during exercise they can get soaked through. If they then go straight back to the field they can get a chill from standing still in the cold while wet. This may not be a problem if you can leave them in (with a breathable rug to help them dry off) after you've ridden.
- with some (definitely not all, most of those out naked have very effective coats) if the coat soaks through to the skin which then stays damp, they can get a condition called rain scald (a bit like the trench foot WW1 soldiers suffered with)
- a lot of horses (particularly natives) can get a bit porky over the summer. By clipping them and keeping them in a not so warm rug they will use some calories keeping warm and slim down a bit.

There are also a few reasons we do it for our benefit

- see 2 above - we can turn them out more or less straight away after exercise as they will be dry and warm
- they'll be clean and ready for us to ride when we want (never underestimate the ability of a horse to watch you coming to catch them and then roll in the muddiest part of the field while you watch on helplessly)
- they look smart
- we feel better that they're not getting rained on (I don't suffer too much with this since torrential rain that led to flooding in our area last year. The rugged horses were soaked through in a matter of hours. My retired boy who was out naked was dry as a bone under the top layer of his coat!)
 
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