Clipping for money?

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Baileyhoss

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Hello there - does anybody charge for clipping services? What are the ins and outs, pros & cons?

As I have just purchased a new set of Lister Liberty's (thanks for the discount H&H) I really could do with making them pay for themselves a bit.

I am quite confident in my clipping skills and handling strange/nervous or young horses, (although I would advise owners that fruitloops are not within my remit)

What are the implications here - if I do it for money, do I need insurance?
I believe the standard cost is from £15 for a neck & belly up to £40 for a hunter.

It's not absolutely essential, just though it might be a nice wee sideline.
 
I have just clipped two horses for a friend and she gave me 30 quid for the both of them (although I think I ought to have charged a bit more given the time and petrol it took). I'm not after doing it for people I don't know though, so I guess that price is mate's rates - one horse had a chaser with a half face and the other would have had the same only he freaked out after having his neck done so we left him with a bib!

I'm doing two for another mate next weekend and have told her the same price, but I also made it VERY clear that should there be any naughtiness from the horses I will not put myself in danger!
 
You really do need insurance , it is all fine and well when things go ok but if the horse knocks the clippers out of your hand it is easy to break your blades or worse and if the horse gets injured in any way you could be liable. Make sure you use a circuit breaker because if a horse ever stands on the cable it could be electrocuted.
Also if you are earning money you should declare it to pay tax but again that may be ok unless someone at the stables starts to get jealous of you getting cash in hand and reports it!
Hopefully none of the above happens.lol
 
I do clipping for money and charge £30 for a full clip and £35 if its legs off, never been asked to do blanket or trace clips really but i would charge £20 for those clips. To be honest I have found people only really ask me to do bad ones, I seem to think people who dont have a set of clippers will borrow friends clippers if their horses are good. Also last year I got sick of doing dirty,greasy horses I blunted 2 sets of blades on one! So then I tried to get people to bath them a couple of days before I went and that didnt really work. So all in all not that bothered about doing it, I do say to people now whos horses are real bad that they have to pay for the vet to get them sedated, people seem to think cos you go round doing clipping its ok for us to get kicked or jumped on.
Just a little story here for you, went last year to clip a horse for a lady, she told me it was excellent, real sweetie etc! Got there started the job, it was cow kicking, squashed me up against the wall, knocked me off the stool she wouldnt let me twitch it either, and proceeded to tell me he was normally a pussy cat and must of been out of sorts! Next day talking to a friend of mine and told her my experiences of the beast, she said why didnt you tell me you were going there to clip its a real naughty horse and about 3 or 4 people have been injured clipping it, and she wont pay for doping it, so lesson learned I declined the next time she asked me! So now I will stick to clipping our horses at least these are clean, bathed a day before and wont injure me.Also do get yourself insured in case you accidently injure some ones horse or your clippers get damaged.
 
I used to clip horses for people, but after a few loonies and one that nearly killed me, I decided it wasn't worth £20 or £30 here and there.
Now I only clip my own and a couple of mates horses on the yard, IF they are relatively well-behaved.

It can be a nice wee sideline, but I'm far too long in the tooth now to take risks with other peoples equines.
Besides, I'd rather spend my time riding!
 
I used to clip on a freelance basis and the money came in very useful. I would do discounts if more than one horse at the same place and cheaper for ponies (and nice people!).

People do expect you to clip in the oddest and darkest places (even in the pouring rain). I would advise your own heavy duty extension lead that can survive the wet and being trodden on. A pair of overall is a good idea too.

If the horse was a bit unsure and the owner wanted a full clip including head I would always do the head quite early and not wait until the horse had been standing for a while and was getting a bit bored.

I would be very very cross if the horse was known to be dangerous and I wasn't told beforehand.
I didn't really have any bad horses to clip (lucky) but the clippers did get knocked out of my hands a couple of times.

Think it is a good way to earn extra cash if you don't mind all that hair in your eyes!
 
A friend of mine does it every year and has a large client base now as she does such a great job, esp with nervous horses and youngsters.

Insurance is a MUST though- clipping is potentially very dangerous even for the most seasoned expert, particularly working with unfamiliar horses. My friend got kicked in the head last year, very nasty indeed- she woke up in hospital very lucky to have gotten away with just stitches and bad concussion. It was a quiet horse that got her- you think all is fine and then a tickle in the wrong place at the wrong time and BAM!
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