clipping..

[caitlin95uk]

<font color="red">I have got a welsh cob mare 5 yrs old and we attempted clipping yesterday and lets just say it didnt go well.. at all.. she now has one bald shoulder.. today we are goin to try sedatvies.. but is there any way i can make it more comfy for her. we tried fly masks with cotton wool.. we tried the forceful way .. we tried with her controller and her bridle but she almost kicked the person clipping her in the head what shall i do? or is sedatives the only way...?

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[palomino_pony]

Get the vet to sedate her. Much safer esp for the person clipping

 

[Dutch]

You could try NAF Magic syringes, give her two an hour before you clip her. That should calm her down. Also cotton wool in the ears with a fly mask over the top will help. It just takes horses time to get used to it

 

[kerilli]

you could try a pair of the small quiet clippers, the blade is only about an inch and a half across so they take a long time to do a full clip BUT they are very quiet with hardly any vibration, i've used them this morning to do necks and chests of my two 4 yr olds (first time either has been clipped and they were good as gold, at least 1 of them would have freaked at big clippers, as she's a right wuss.) i've clipped lots of horses with these that couldn't tolerate big noisy clippers that vibrate a lot.
i've got these ones
http://www.clippersharp.com/equine/horse_clippers/trimmers/moser_rex
they are about 18 years old and still going strong! amazing value considering they are so reasonably priced.
much cheaper than getting the vet out every time to sedate imho...!
i've had quite a few horses i did the first few times with these, and then went on to big clippers, just using these for head, and they've been fine about it.
hope that helps.

 

[competitiondiva]

The only problem with a vet sedating, is that the horse usually sweats and then makes clipping a nightmare!! I know it's contraversial (sp?!) but have you tried a twitch? I used to use one on my mare just for her ears, years ago, now don't need anything. similarly at the event yard I worked at we used the twitch, not for long periods but just to get a certain area done. Try putting it on properly, starting off clipping and as she relaxes, start to release slowly the pressure on the twitch, hopefully as the endorphines stop being released (through lack of pressure) she'll have gained confidence in the proximity of the clippers, also only do a small clip for her first one, so as not to pro-long the ordeal!!