Clipping a baby woolly mammoth

[BBP]

Does anyone else have to clip their youngsters? The rising 3yo Connemara has the most ridiculous coat and was perfectly comfy back in the cold snap at -8. But he’s now getting sooo hot and sweaty if he even has a 5 minute playtime. Let alone the other day when he had a mad half hour rampage and was steaming from top to toe. He’s getting super itchy too which I guess is probably the dried sweat deep at the base of his coat. So I think the clippers are coming out this weekend to take a bit off. Going from BBP who has probably broken a sweat twice in his life and doesn’t bother to grow a winter coat, having a woolly sweaty beast is a shock to the system!

 

[GoldenWillow]

When I bought J as a 3 1/2 yr old in Feb years ago he wasn't clipped and come March time as it started to warm up he got hot and itched and itched destroying so much, I think our count was 4 stable walls, two fences and a gate. Since then he has always had some sort of clip from full to varying degrees of chaser and he has never itched since. He'll also itch if it's warm in October and he's not clipped. He has a ridiculously thick and long double coat.

 

[BBP]

When I bought J as a 3 1/2 yr old in Feb years ago he wasn't clipped and come March time as it started to warm up he got hot and itched and itched destroying so much, I think our count was 4 stable walls, two fences and a gate. Since then he has always had some sort of clip from full to varying degrees of chaser and he has never itched since. He'll also itch if it's warm in October and he's not clipped. He has a ridiculously thick and long double coat.

That sounds familiar. It’s the itching that is starting to build up. Last year he came back from vet hospital with lice so I clipped him then, no sign of little pets this year, just a very toasty pony.

 

[gallopingby]

At just 3 he should be being allowed to be just a pony. If he’s hot and the weather stays warm the coat will soon change. Unless there is a very good reason for clipping just let him be.

 

[BBP]

At just 3 he should be being allowed to be just a pony. If he’s hot and the weather stays warm the coat will soon change. Unless there is a very good reason for clipping just let him be.

This is what I always thought, and was definitely what I planned on, but he is driving himself mad itching. And I’m pretty sure it’s excessive heat and sweat build up. It’s hard to groom to the base of such a dense coat. I’m only planning to clip an air hole not the whole beast. He lives out unrugged (as you’d expect) and isn’t faffed with much.

 

[ycbm]

At just 3 he should be being allowed to be just a pony. If he’s hot and the weather stays warm the coat will soon change. Unless there is a very good reason for clipping just let him be.

I would normally agree with this, but not in respect of allowing a pony to overheat so much that they sweat with mild exercise or that they are itchy.

Coat change is affected by light, and the seasons have moved forward. We have almost enough grass growth to warrant getting the lawnmower out and it's not even Valentines yet. The light programming for a coat change is now later than the seasonal temperature change.

 

[Trouper]

Agree completely with @ycbm. The change in light levels affects the animal kingdom far more than we realise and certainly more than temperature. The birdsong in my garden this week has been deafening despite the temperature hardly rising above freezing.

I was once told by an artist that the change in light levels at the New Year enabled her to begin work that would have been impossible in December!!

 

[Abacus]

Is it worth giving him a really good bath, using plenty of hot water and shampoo and lots of elbow grease, to get out all that sweat and old grease? It may be that this makes him a touch more comfortable. Or that he runs around the next day, rolls madly and you’re back to square one. I dunno. Just wondered if part of the problem right now is a winters build up of mud/sweat/grease in a thick coat.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Old Dobbin has started moulting already, but is still rugged at night (well he is 28). The first thing he does on turn out is roll, and have a good scratch. In his younger days I used to clip his neck and chest with the coarse blades, but now he isn't worked I leave it to moult out.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

For his comfort it would clip out the chest and up the gullet to the throat. Leave the head. Follow the line of the jugular so when his coat changes you don't have an obvious line as it sits in the groove between throat and neck muscles. And on the front it follows the edge line through the chest, down the front of the shoulder if that makes sense?

It will take the edge off of him without taking too much off.

 

[BBP]

For his comfort it would clip out the chest and up the gullet to the throat. Leave the head. Follow the line of the jugular so when his coat changes you don't have an obvious line as it sits in the groove between throat and neck muscles. And on the front it follows the edge line through the chest, down the front of the shoulder if that makes sense?

It will take the edge off of him without taking too much off.

That’s basically what I’ve gone for this morning. Just a little ventilation hole. I don’t think I’ll win any prizes for neatness, but he isn’t going anywhere anyway.