Clipping legs for hunting

[[42010]]

I have a criollo x TB whom I clip (all over body) for hunting as she has a thick coat and gets hot easily (this is our first season) but currently I have left her legs on but I am wondering if I am better off removing the hair on these too so (a) I can see more easily if there are any injuries/scrapes at the end of the day (b) make it easier to clean her off at the end of the day (c) make my ice boots more effective when being worn by her on the journey home? Any advice and/or insights on what the general sensible things to do would be gratefully appreciated; also wishing fellow HHO forum users a Happy New Year.

 

[paulineh]

I have always clipped the legs out but usually the first clip and then from there onwards leave them unclipped as this give some protection.

 

[L&M]

I leave them on my tb x for protection as has a finer coat.

For my hairy cob I take them off at his second clip, then leave to grow back until the end of the season, when I clip them off entirely to blend into his summer coat. This is more a vanity thing as avoids 'tree trunk' legs!

I do not like to wear boots for hunting, so keep the hair for warmth and protection, and find when I wash their legs off after hunting can easily check for and nicks or thorns then.

 

[TwoPair]

IF mine are fully clipped, I tend to take legs out as well. I think it makes seeing any knocks etc easier, if they are in at night they will have legs cleaned then bandaged whilst in. I do not 'towel' the legs, simply gently wipe the legs once in the direction of the hair growth, and squeeze gently at the fetlock. This prevents the irritation of the skin / potential damage to the epidermal layer - a damaged epidermal layer is how the mud fever infects the leg. Even the abraision of grit in mud is enough. I am also of the opinion that mud fever occurs in damp warm conditions - remove the hair that the moisture resides in, and you are less likely to end up with a condition that thrives in that environment and IF you do get it, you can see it quicker. If you are worried about the lack of protection to the legs / knees, wear boots and/or knee boots (particularly in stone wall and hedge country). Also, pre hunting slar some udder cream or vaseline/sudocrem from the fetlock, all the way down to the bulbs of the heel. This provides a certain degree of protection from the wet and mud. A local yard does this on all the horses it sends out for hunting.

(I currently have three horses at work that are not in work and still out. Although not clipped I have trimmed their feathers right back.)

 

[[42010]]

What super advice, thank you all ever so much, what it is to have people "in the know", once again thank you, really appreciated!

 

[JenHunt]

I leave Ron's feather on unless he gets mud fever. The only time I've clipped his legs out he got really bad mud fever. The hair helps to protect the skin from the worst of the mud, especially if you can avoid washing their legs off too often. I only brush his socks off before hunting and they come up more or less clean, and they sort of get rinsed when I wash him off afterwards (I wash his body off and the water just takes the worst off his legs as it runs off).
you can just about see in this pic how much feather he's got...