Clipping tips please.

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micramadam

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Will be clipping Breitlingh in the next couple of days. First clip for this year and don't know how she's going to react as we don't know if she has ever been clipped before. She wasn't clipped when we got her (Jan 2011) and didn't need clipping then or last year as she had a very fine coat. This last couple of weeks her coat has come in thick and fast despite being rugged (200gm Premier Equine) with full neck and being in every night.

We have a portable battery operated set of Wahl clippers that are actually very quiet. Ruby didn't mind these ones and she hated being clipped.
Just in case Breitje decides not to cooperate, all tips to help us keep her calm and relaxed are welcome.
 
Firstly don't get uptight with the horse if it starts to play up. If you do get stressed it will transmit to the horse & the horse will get worse. Remain calm throughout.

Ideally for a week or so before you clip you could try & desensitise the horse to the clippers by running them by them & touching them with them but not actually clipping for them to get used to the noise & vibration.

You can distract the horse by having someone holding a likit for them to suck on. It certainly works with one of mine who is scared. Mine, although very stressy does eventually calm down.

If you are managing to clip the body, don't bother with the legs, just clip the leg line in. Legs are time consuming to do & your horse may not have the patience to stand for the time needed. As you work up the neck see how the horse is reacting. If it gets quite bad as you get up near the ears then don't go any further, leave the ears & face & just tidy up the neck. It's not worth stressing the horse to do head & ears. Possibly next time around you will be able to progress further.

For a horse that is scared of clippers we normally have two of us there, one is clipping & the other is holding the lead rope through a tie ring on the wall like a pulley so we can control the horse more calmly than having them tied rigidly. This person also holds the likit.

If the horse won't let you get near them then you can consider sedalin or having a vet out to sedate. The vet is an expensive option & also you need to be able to clip quickly as they come out of sedation after about 40 mins & you don't really want to keep topping up.

I hope some of this is useful to you, just try various things & hopefully one will work for you. Good Luck with the clip. :)
 
Thanks TZ, there's some really good info there. Just in case she does play up and at the risk of sounding stupid, we were thinking of trying stuffing cotton wool in her ears. The thinking behind it being that if she can't hear the clippers she might not react. It's the noise that puts most horses off isn't it? Do you think its worth a try?
Sorry for the questions but all the others we have had to clip have usually fallen asleep while we were clipping. Sedating would be the very last option. I'd rather use patience than sedation. Pays dividends in the long run.
 
Ive never been a fan of putting anything in their ears & although I've used sedalin in the past I don't like it. One of ours that is frightened of clippers we used to use sedalin on but a few years ago we abandoned it & decided to just go for it. It was 'exciting' initially, we were 'lunging' in the stable but he'd gradually calm down & we'd clip some & he'd play up again & we'd stay calm & he'd calm again & we'd clip some more. Eventually he'd stand for longer periods & we'd be able to clip more. He's doesn't grow a coat quick so if we clip in December it will last the winter so he's only clipped once a year.

We've found that sedalin seems to set them dozing but they suddenly realise somethings happening & they snap out of it & they rebel stronger so we don't use it now & things are better. I doubt if he'll ever be an easy clip but we can clip his body & neck,leave the legs & head & he doesn't get so stressed. We can work him & take him jumping & he doesn't get sweaty anymore so it's a bit of a result.

Try the ear plug if you want, you never know what will work, but be careful not to push it in too far as you may have problems removing it.
 
I wouldn't put cotton wool in the ears either.

Just run the clippers for a few days and see how she reacts. Start your clip under the belly or somewhere it won't show if you have to stop.

We use the Lickit bribe trick too, it worked a treat with ours, but they always slobber, so beware if you want to clip around the chin area, you will have a thick treacle beard, so no chance of clipping (I learned that the hard way!).

Please don't think this rude, but you sound a bit like you're going into this with the expectation of her being difficult. Go in with the aim of just getting on with it and I'm sure you will be fine. Keep praising her while she is being clipped, give her a net etc, make it a nice experience, but don't over fuss.
 
Id run the clippers and guage her reaction, see how she is with them over hand and held just against her, before starting the clip id make sure she was happy with them running and sliding over her and under her belly. If shes ok go for it, if not i wouldnt use sedalin, ive seen to many explode out of it, but i think domosedan gel is great for stuff like this
 
Yes, we did expect her to be difficult as she can be a real bitch but as it turns out that only seems to be when being ridden! We went down the calm, slow and steady route and she was amazing. Not at all bothered by the clippers. In fact she went to sleep! We didn't try to do too much. Legs have been left on and half the head. She wasn't at all bothered by the noise or vibrations when clipping her head but we decided not to push it and left her ears alone.
So relieved and delighted. We were worrying over nothing. Thanks for the advice everyone. Have stored it for future use.
 
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