Clip-phobic horse just clipped like a dream!

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itsmyparty

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When we bought our grey 4 years ago we were told he didn't clip without being fully sedated. We took someone else's clippers near him a few times and he was reacted very badly. So we haven't bothered. But now he's doing harder work and was getting so sweaty that we thought we'd give it a go. Bought Michael Peace's DVD and spent a couple of hours over 2 weeks de-sensitizing him. We bought a pair of cordless, very quiet clippers and within about an hour he was happy to have them rubbed all over his body whilst turned on.

Anyway, clipped him at the weekend and he was brilliant. The worst part was drawing the trace line on him as he was quite ticklish and kept pulling faces. The actual clipping part was amazing. He didn't bat an eyelid and just kept eating hay. Even his belly went well. The only part we didn't try as he really wasn't keen was his head. But hey, at least we didn't have to have him sedated. What a good boy. I'm very proud of him.
 
Yay what a good boy...my turn in the next few weeks clipping two that have never been clipped :D
Which clippers did you get?
 
ooh very well done! mine needs sedation but as i only slip once a year i've been a bit lax at trying desensitings methods :o however i've got some cordless trimmers i can try with now - alas too late for this year but i feel a new years resolution may be to get my ass in gear with them - i mayb just get the cd you were talking about too :)
 
Well done especially for having the patience to perserve and the foresight to buy cordless. I had a horse that alledgedly you could not clip, I did exactly what you did with the same results including being able to do his head! Eventually I was even able to use my heavyduty electic clippers. I used to use an orange curly extension cable which I think he thought was poisonous snake, changed that to black ordinary cable and had no problems. Nice to hear someone actually putting the time and effort in instead of just banging the sedative in.
 
I know how you feel - I have had my mare 10 years, and this year clipped her without sedation - just a twitch to do the lines on her head. First time in 10 years without sedation!!
 
Well done most people don't see that the horse needs to learn is okay then it won't be a problem. This can help with other areas and build up more trust in each other. When you can help someone overcome a big problem they become your friend. When they are dopped they don't learn and can still kick. So well done you.:)
 
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