Clipping as a fashion statement??

I clip according to my horse's needs and what I want. He normally works fairly hard and competes more during the winter than the summer as he's much better indoors. The first winter I had him he had a blanket clip which was fine but as he's grey it was a nightmare in the spring when he was moulting so for the next two winters he had a full clip. He was losing a bit of weight over the winter though, so last year he had a blanket first time round followed by a full clip at the end of February just before he started to change coat. This worked perfectly. This year, he is just coming back to work after 5 months off so isn't clipped at all at the moment. He might have a bib or a low trace if he starts getting sweaty as the work builds up and he's allowed to trot. No matter what though, come Feburary he'll have a full clip so that I don't spend my life covered in white hair all next spring!
 
yes, i used to know people who would do a full clip because it was 'easier' and then barely put a saddle on the horse all winter.
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maybe they could kid themselves and everyone around them that they rode the horse because it looked the part?!
i was the first round my way to just clip a 'bib' on my young horses, as i wanted their backs warm and the only place they sweated was chest and neck. a few people made comments about them looking stupid like that, but i didn't care.
btw, trying to stay on a fully clipped-out young horse who is in light work and is cold and feeling naughty is NOT my idea of fun!
i haven't got the clippers out yet...!
 
I don't think it's necessarily a fashion statement - I find it a lot easier to have all of mine clipped fully even though 2 aren't doing a great deal at the moment. I don't rug them when they aren't clipped so they inevitably come in filthy which takes a good hour to get the shire x even vaguely presentable. I've only got one clipped at the moment but will be doing the other 2 very soon. As someone else said, as long as they're rugged up correctly who cares!
 
I think unless there is a valid reason then a horse shouldn't be clipped. I do agree that a lot are clipped purely for fashion.

I clip my competition horse depending on work load, however I have also given my shetland a trace clip! Nothing to do with fashion (she never gets seen by anyone other than me anyway!), its purely because she grows such a thick coat in winter and is REALLY messy with where she lies so her tummy and under her neck gets so disgusting, permanently wet and matted that its more hygenic to clip it off to begin with. She LOVES being clipped and gallops about for days afterwards as she probably feels so much lighter! She is also fully clipped in the spring as she gets so hot she's dripping in sweat during the summer otherwise (she lives in a yard with permanent access to a stable which she spends 80% of her time in).

I also have given my 21yo native a bib clip in the spring too as he has cushings and doesn't loose all of his winter coat anymore.
 
Prince got a blanket clip this morning purely because he's getting too sweaty when schooling for me to get him dry to put a rug on
 
I have a connie who is in light work in the winter, lunged twice in the week a lesson on Sat and hacked out on Sun. I have to admit he gets a clip to cover the bits that get hot, a sort of blanket clip that finishes at his stiffle, I hope to get some of his head out this year he hates the clippers near his head, so last year looked like he had a head transplant!
 
I am one of those who clips a hairy native - I know plenty think she should be thrown out in a field to be natural all year round. The reality is that if not rugged she will develop rain scald and with a full coat really cannot be ridden at all as she will sweat excessively.
So I will be fashionable and give her one clip this winter and rug to compensate
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I agree that as long as the horse/pony is rugged, fed accordingly then so what if they are clipped. There may be perfectly valid reasons that aren't put on billboards for all to read.

I used to clip my little ponies out fully (legs, the lot, for the first clip, second was a blanket) and they were only ridden at the weekends, but they did the same exercise as my hunter. They looked tidy, they were also a LOT easier to keep clean in our rice paddy fields. Rugged up, fed, warm, happy and I didn't give a stuff what anyone else thought, I still don't. My horses, my business.

I fully intend to clip my mini right out in Spring time because he gets such a massive coat that he is sweating in the field in May. He'll wear a blanket or come in at night. It isn't a fashion statement in his case, it is a kindness.
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I had mine clipped for the first time last week, we were supposed to be moving him to a livery yard where he would be worked but its not worked out yet, hes only had a trace thankfully so in all fairness doesnt really need it, but we didnt know that at the time, I have to say its growing out flippin quick, should have waited another month
 
I think its common, people like their horses to look nice and when clipped they do look nice not saying hairys dont look nice! as long as they're kept warm enough its fine but it is an unneccesary cost if the horse is not in work in my opinion.
last year I didn't clip my mare as we were'nt doing much, this year I need to clip her and unfortunately she needs to be sedated so it does cost a fortune, I would'nt clip her if I didn't have too.
 
as said if animal is rugged and fed accordingly its ok.

i know loads of animals full clipped and hardly worked and not normally enough to produce a sweat !!
but the owners do it because the dont like hairyness.

my pony is full clipped as she is a right sweaty betty, and i dont have time at 9pm to wait for her to cool down... i normally full clip because i am pants at getting straight even lines although i have sometimes made up my own clips in accordance to getting the sweaty areas off and leaving the rest on - that is prob v unfashionable!
 
To be honest I think that it doesn't matter if it is for fashion or not, as long as the horse is cared for accordingly.

People do all sorts of things for fashion, clipping is not the only thing, if they can only clip according to the horse's exact workload, surely you should only clothe yourself in "the most practical" outfit, regardless of wether it suits you or comfort etc?
What about dying your hair?

Besides, as long as people don't clip/ tell you how to clip your horse, what does it matter how they clip theirs?

(by the way... I have never had a clipped horse, I don't feel the need as they basically only hack and do light work)
 
When someone asked me once why you clip horses - an ex of mine butted in and said "it's so they can spend a f'ing fortune on buying pretty coats for them" - hence why he is now an ex !!

I'm resisting the routine of clipping this year and turning a blind eye to the bearded lady that now lives in out field
 
I do have my semi retired pony fully cliped, he suffers from cushings so needs it :S Actually having said that his riders wants to leave lightning bolts on his bum this year!!
 
Would you class me as wanting a fashion statement? I have an old girl 23 years - coat as long as a yettie - gets a full clip apart from legs and half a head in the winter at least 3 times a year. She is free schooled - walk and trot for 2 sessisons of 20 mins a week - more if she has gone into hamster mode ! and goes for a plod round the block once a week.

Why do i do it a) she is almost impossible to groom b) she hates the rain but over heats with the thinnest rug on c)in the summer she is walking around with a massive winter wooley coat on.

So sometimes there are reasons
 
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