clipping in the spring/summer?

[Jericho]

I have only really had my horse over the winter months and at the moment he is clipped just with a low chaser as I didnt want to deprive him of winter woolies as he is a poor doer and lives out 24/7, however he seems to be sweating up more than ever at the moment when riding (he is in light work - 2-3 times a week schooling/hacking) particularly under his saddle even if we just go out for half an hour walk and it seems to sucking the weight off him and making him very uncomfortable.

His coat is coming out now but I was wondering if people do clip throughout the summer? If I clip him in a chaser or blanket will this ruin his summer coat coming through? Or should I just clip him out completely? There seems such a trend to give full clips now and I think I am being lulled into the trend by lots of smart shiny horses instead of my fluffy moulting sweating beast of an animal.....

 

[lizzie87]

it depends really on what you want to do with him in the summer? and fancy shows and you may be best to leave unclipped now. however, if you are sj/dr/eventing then ou can clip it off all year round, i know plently of people who do, def a good idea if it will make him more comfortable

 

[KatB]

I clip mine all year round, he will be clipped again over the weekend as he is eventing and likes to be cool

If you are showing him, dont do it though!!

 

[hifly]

hi i run a livery yard with all sorts of horses from the hairies to the shiny warmbloods ,the do gooders and not so goods , in my experiance with all the different types i found that with the ones that grow a big coat and that find it hard to shed when the weather warms up i tend to advise to take the lot off , we have a couple of horses that grow such wooly coats and tend to drop off and no matter how much you feed or hay feed them they just wont put on the weight so just before the last clip usually end of feb i have started to give them a full clip then within a week they have bloomed , my theory in it is that the coat is weighing them down and they spend most of their energies into trying to shed their coat which in turn gets very greasy and clogged with underlying residues of sweat once the coat is off , which you can always rug them up to keep them warm their body can breath and energies go towards other parts of their bodies and they in turn seem a lot more happier and healthier , im not saying that it would work on all horses but 4 of the ones on livery have bloomed since i done them hope this is of help ,