Can an unclipped horse look presentable?

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Mythical

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My horse was clipped in October but now looks like a hairy yak again. She's got a beard and hairy pits, more ear hair than all our Grandads put together and she almost has feathers (she's TBxID; both breeds, of course known for their feathers). To cap it all, where she was clipped, the lady got a bit close to her mane and now my horse has a mullet! (I'll try to get some pictures later)

She's lovely underneath but she looks a mess. I want to go out to do some dressage in a couple of weeks time and it'll be my first outing with my own horse and my first as an adult. I know the basics of getting ready for shows in summer but I've never done a winter show. I don't really want to clip her, but how can I make her look presentable with all that hair? And how does one plait a mullet?
Importantly, any tips for getting her to let me trim her ear hair? Should I trim her ear hair, or leave it alone? She'll be sedated for the dentist in January, would it be safe/fair to trim after the dentist has been?
 
Yes from while she's sedated. Take the ears and fold them closed, comb the inner hair so it sticks out away from the ear then scissor it off. It will look neat without ear hair poking out.

The beard can be trimmed with scissors and a comb. Start at the chin, comb towards the jaw and scissor what pokes out from the comb, then move up to the next bit and repeat, keep going until you reach the neck. You'll do it in three lines, one flat to the jaw, one up each side on an angle. It will end up looking neat and natural and not particularly 'cut'.

Trim feathers by combing upwards, cutting off anything that sticks out from the comb, to prevent a hard 'cut' looking edge. Trim elbows the same way, but only the guard hairs not the base coat.

Trim the tail straight across to a suitable length and plait the top.

Use hairgel to keep the short mane bits under control as you plait.

Good luck with the dressage. :)
 
Clip under her jaw and tidy any other long hairs in the area, tidy her ears while sedated, no reason not to take advantage and she wont care.
Thin her mane if you need to and do small tight plaits to help get the short hair in, sewing will help hold it.

On the day there will probably be others that are not totally smart, do your best, a well brushed out clean tail and oiled feet can make her look smarter.
 
I believe every horse needs to learn to be trimmed without sedation. Using advance and retreat (advancing slowly and retreating for good behaviour accepting little improvements) I have a mens cordless hair trimmer (about $30 here in NZ!) and use this, by spending time getting the horse used to the noise and feel gradually you are making the job easier and easier!! I start with the 'beard', progress to fetlock hair and do the ears last - folding in half and trimming to the edge. Of course a prerequisite is being able to rub and brush each area!! By teaching rather than forcing you are developing a well behaved horse!!! Take the time it takes....good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice. :)

Alyth, she's alright to be trimmed everywhere but she wont let anyone near her ears. I can brush them if she's in a good mood, but can't get near them with scissors. She won't let anyone else touch them. It has taken me six months to get her to trust me this far with her ears, so I guess I just keep going the way I'm going.

Sugar and spice, all great tips, thank you. :) The short hair is still too short to go into plaits. Usually I'm quite good at getting neat plaits even when there are short hairs but these are still around an inch long, they won't even go into the start of the plait. :( I think she'll just have to be a redneck for a while. As for her tail, it's actually written in my loan contract that it must not be cut or pulled, so we're stuck with a really bushy tail that almost touched the floor! Good thing it's only a small show!

be positive, when I read your comment, I looked at the pro pics of the class I'm doing, but last month and there are far scruffier horses and you're right by comparison, mine doesn't look too bad.

I know I said I'd take pics, but any scruffiness is overshadowed by her ewe neck and complete lack of topline so there's not much to see. (and frankly, I'm ashamed to post them. Must learn to ride properly so she develops some muscles.:()
 
Well done on your achievements so far!! One of the first things I do with my ponies is get them to accept me rubbing them all over!!! Advance and retreat up the neck then over the ears and down the face!! Keep on going, it sounds like you are doing a great job!!
 
amage said:
Why not just clip her again?
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She doesn't need it, hairy as she may be. She sweats towards the end of a schooling session but by the time I've walked her off she's pretty much dry anyway. It's a lot of money to spend just for a tidy up, for a tiny local dressage comp, especially when the vet and dentist are due!
 
I was umm-ing and ahhh-ing about taking my horse to a Unaff sj event the other day- I was worried about looking scruffy going un-plaited but he was brushed and pulled, but by gosh I am glad I didn't bother plaiting - noone else had, in fact most others hadn't even scraped the mud off - I was one of 2 people wearing a navy jacket and stock too! I was really surprised.

Dressage tends to be a bit more formal, but Unaff I really don't think anyone will blink an eye.

My horse has aural plaques which has meant me really taking the softly softly approach with his ears - I found that using a tiny pair of nail scissors and being gentle I can trim his ears -I'll never get a pair of trimmers on them but I can get him reasonably smart with the nail scissors.

Where is your dressage comp? You might be pretty local to me!
 
BlairandAzria said:
I was umm-ing and ahhh-ing about taking my horse to a Unaff sj event the other day- I was worried about looking scruffy going un-plaited but he was brushed and pulled, but by gosh I am glad I didn't bother plaiting - noone else had, in fact most others hadn't even scraped the mud off - I was one of 2 people wearing a navy jacket and stock too! I was really surprised.

Dressage tends to be a bit more formal, but Unaff I really don't think anyone will blink an eye.

My horse has aural plaques which has meant me really taking the softly softly approach with his ears - I found that using a tiny pair of nail scissors and being gentle I can trim his ears -I'll never get a pair of trimmers on them but I can get him reasonably smart with the nail scissors.

Where is your dressage comp? You might be pretty local to me!
Click to expand...

It's only Abram Hall and I still might not be going. I used to do the evening jumping there when I was younger and like you, I was the only one who ever bothered to scrape the mud off and stick a jacket on! Didn't care though, I kept wearing my jacket.

I tried to use the tiny pair of scissors on my Swiss army knife to trim her ears once - the blades must be 3/4” long and the whole thing is just over 2 inches. She stuck her head up to the ceiling as soon as she realised and it took me 3 days and lots of treats to get near her ears again!
 
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