Clipping...

AndiK

AndiK

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Just read a thread where the OP said their horse has just been clipped..... Nothing against this but....

I do not normally clip until the end of September sometimes half way through November :eek: This is because I have a TB who does get woolly but I like to let a winter coat come through first and he does take a while.... I know no two horses are the same so:

Is there any hard and fast rule to clipping or is it as an when you feel its time. I was always told by my dad that traditionally you dont clip after New Years day ( I presume so as not to hinder the summer coat) but is this an old wives tale too??? :)
 
I know some that are clipped all year through, so it depends on the horse, and what you are doing. I tend to leave it as long as pos so all the winter coat is through. Didn't clip til mid nov last year, got away with one clip each all winter :) I just watch what their coats are doing, then don't clip once they start to lose the winter coat on the way into sprng :)
 
Tennessee said:
I know some that are clipped all year through, so it depends on the horse, and what you are doing. I tend to leave it as long as pos so all the winter coat is through. Didn't clip til mid nov last year, got away with one clip each all winter :) I just watch what their coats are doing, then don't clip once they start to lose the winter coat on the way into sprng :)
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Same here last winter.... And was relieved to only have to clip once :eek:

I normally start with a blanket, then on the second clip do a full clip but last year I just fully clipped first time :D
 
I wouldn't normally clip until early October, but, my cob was threatening to turn into a yak very soon! I've just given him a sort of blanket x chaser as he has a full, traditional mane and was sweating underneath it even before working. I'll probably hunter clip him in a few weeks time.
I think, this year, everything, including the seasons, is a month early! Even so, I still wouldn't clip after Jan 1st, although I have no idea if that is from scientific fact or simply tradition.
 
i tend to wait until about November normally, which means she'll only need one clip a year. I'll be getting her clipped out next week this year though in prep for HOYS. I've seen a number of horses this year at shows that have full clips in Summer, so i guess it's personal preference and dependant on how hairy your horse is!
 
See now the last 2 years I've clipped right out form the start, and yep, I was relieved to only do it once last year too!!!!!!!!!!!! But I don't think I'll have time to ride much this winter, so just going to do blanket/chaser type clip this year. I know I'll regret it when it comes to getting the coat out in summer though, hate mouthfuls of hair..... :)
 
misswitch2 said:
i tend to wait until about November normally, which means she'll only need one clip a year. I'll be getting her clipped out next week this year though in prep for HOYS. I've seen a number of horses this year at shows that have full clips in Summer, so i guess it's personal preference and dependant on how hairy your horse is!
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This is what I suspected - I had just never thought about it before :D Obviously a hairy cob will need a shaving before a finer coated TB :D I know which I prefer clipping with regards to the amount of hair! ;)

When I clipped my boy last year I could get most of his coat into two scoops with the poo picker. When I clipped a friends ISH I could have made a pretty substantial king sized duvet with the hair that I took off :eek:
 
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My Warmblood won't need doing for a while but my Section A is so hairy already that he's sweating up a treat so he'll be getting a blanket clip next week
 
Tennessee said:
See now the last 2 years I've clipped right out form the start, and yep, I was relieved to only do it once last year too!!!!!!!!!!!! But I don't think I'll have time to ride much this winter, so just going to do blanket/chaser type clip this year. I know I'll regret it when it comes to getting the coat out in summer though, hate mouthfuls of hair..... :)
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TBH the amount of hair that you get coming out in the spring is one of the reasons I fully clip. ;)
 
we used to clip Nov time if they were going to be working in the winter...

though I noticed yesterday my horse has started to grow her winter fluff. Her coat goes dark bay and she gets floofy bits, soon she'll have a coat to rival a mountain yak that lives in snow!
Going to see if i can get away with not clipping but if she starts to sweat too much (and she does get alot of hair!) i'll do a medium to low trace :)
 
Depends on the horse. I plan on clipping within the next week or 2 as mine is beginning to get pretty furry (Connie, and I dread to think what his full winter coat will be like! :p) and he's really getting sweaty during exercise already, so I think the kindest thing would be to clip him now. He doesn't seem to mind, and he has a salt lick etc to restock on but it can't be pleasant! xx
 
Seems most of ours are getting hairy earlier this year is that because last year was so cold? My Grampy used to say it was because 'a cold winter was coming' but can they really predict the future? Surely they can only go on a past experience like us humble humans???
 
I've not clipped any yet thankfully! I'll do one of my Shetlands at the start of November and that's all she is getting. As for the racehorses - they get clipped as and when needed all winter from October uptil the end of March beginning of April. Some get 2 clips, some get 4 or 5 depending on how quickly they grow back.

Just the thought of doing around 250 full out clips this winter is depressing me already! Lol!
 
I'm going to give my one a mimimal clip this week, he's super hairy already (even though a TB x Luso!) and he still has a BE event on Saturday. He was too hot and sweaty after BSJA today. I've got a friends horse at the mo who's doing BE as well but her coat is so thin so she doesn't need it yet. Depends on the horse, but I clip whenever I feel they need it - couldn't care less what time of year it is! My last horse I had clipped the whole year (even summer) a few times because he was such a hot horse. My shetland gets a hunter clip every spring (she's old and never loses all her winter coat anymore so is very uncomfortable)!
 
nikCscott said:
Seems most of ours are getting hairy earlier this year is that because last year was so cold? My Grampy used to say it was because 'a cold winter was coming' but can they really predict the future? Surely they can only go on a past experience like us humble humans???
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I hope Hugo can predict the weather as he has no sign of his winter woollies yet! We were only saying today that he doesn't think winter is coming at all! Maybe it will be a mild one? Last year he was like a teddy bear, but I wonder if as it was his first winter living out, he grew extra fur?!

He did get very hot under his winter coat with the smallest amount of work, though so I am expecting to clip him this year. I will hold on until late as possible (on advice of others at the yard - no one has clipped yet, even though there are one or two woolly mammoths!)
 
I clip whenever they look like they need it. My boy hasn't been working during the summer but would have clipped him if he had - he's fully clipped at the mo and he's on box rest but he would be ridiculously hairy otherwise.
 
I clip according to the horse's requirements not according to the calendar! We have always done jumping horses throughout the year if they are going abroad for shows to help them with the heat. One mare gets a ridiculously thick summer coat no matter what we do so she gets clipped all year round. The race horses are done as and when they need to be. One of the tbs got his last clip of the season in April this year and had the most amazing summer coat by june so I don't buy that late clipping ruins their summer coat....i have never seen it be a problem!
 
Did it end of October last year. Don't really want to do it yet- I feel it's too early but will decide when ponyio is sweating when be ridden.
 
amage said:
I clip according to the horse's requirements not according to the calendar! We have always done jumping horses throughout the year if they are going abroad for shows to help them with the heat. One mare gets a ridiculously thick summer coat no matter what we do so she gets clipped all year round. The race horses are done as and when they need to be. One of the tbs got his last clip of the season in April this year and had the most amazing summer coat by june so I don't buy that late clipping ruins their summer coat....i have never seen it be a problem!
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This.

It may have been my post OP was referring to!! I had a few reasons for clipping
A- He is a Dartmoor and in Scotland his coat was very thick already
B- He was sweating ALOT during work, he does carriage driving and we will be competing over the winter, he has his last showing show on Saturday for the year so I didnt want him sweating suds if he gets wound up or it is a warm day-also he looks like a teddy bear with his winter coat which is cute but not for showing!
C- He has sweet itch that has been very well cared for but starting to get a bit lumpy on his neck so it was another reason to clip to let air get to the sores when he is in and it is not too itchy and get lots of creams etc rubbed in.
D- I also like to be able to bath him if he is sweaty to stop the sweat irritating his skin when it dries, and if he is clipped it takes little time for his coat to dry.Then he can be bundled up in rugs again.

He looks great and is very happy. Usually I only have to clip him once for the year as we rug him up well and have a selection of rugs that we use depending on weather and temperature
 
I look at this thread and feel fairly sad that people feel they have to justify how and when they deal with this part of their horses management. If the horse is in work and sweating up badly when being worked, then clip. If it isn't in work, and coping with the summer heat, then don't clip.

Clipping or not clipping on a given date because a great-step-grand-aunt always used to work that way isn't really sensible or fair way of helping a horse manage its body temperature.
 
Ashf said:
I look at this thread and feel fairly sad that people feel they have to justify how and when they deal with this part of their horses management. If the horse is in work and sweating up badly when being worked, then clip. If it isn't in work, and coping with the summer heat, then don't clip.

Clipping or not clipping on a given date because a great-step-grand-aunt always used to work that way isn't really sensible or fair way of helping a horse manage its body temperature.
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OH NO! :( Please dont think I was having a pop at anyone I was just wandering what and when thats all - purely out of interest.... :eek: There is so much legend and stigma surrounding clipping that I genuinely wanted peoples views thats all :D

I agree that it all depends on work/type/breed and even age :D Please do not think I was after justifications - only opinions! :D
 
If my horse is competing hard then I will clip out early (usually mid September) as he is a really woolly beast in the winter. I was always told not to clip after the end of January but clipped mine in mid Feb this year (held off due to the ice age) and his summer coat came through fine.

Sadly he's injured so won't be clipping at all this year :(
 
I clip my cob all year round, mainly as if I didnt id end up with a hairy yeti on my hands! He hates having a long coat so as soon as its long enough I whip it off. Hate having to do it all year round but its easier for him, he looks so handsome afterwards though! :D
 
My Cob gets a full clip, everything bar her tail, all year round summer and winter (every 6-8 wks or so!). She has started to look like a teddy bear very quickly this autumn and is therefore due another clip asap and will continue to get one all winter as and when she needs it. She gets so miserable when she is too hot and really does love looking smart - as Flicker once said on here in response to another persons post re clipping - my mare is the only one she knows that will stand and be fully clipped without a head collar on. You can almost see the pleasure on her face as 'her dad' is clipping her !

The WBx gets 2 clips a year, usually a full clip, excluding legs and half his face around end October time (or when he starts to get sweaty) and then a tidy up between Christmas and New Year. The year he was off work he didnt get clipped.
 
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My Cob gets a full clip, everything bar her tail, all year round summer and winter (every 6-8 wks or so!). She has started to look like a teddy bear very quickly this autumn and is therefore due another clip asap and will continue to get one all winter as and when she needs it. She gets so miserable when she is too hot and really does love looking smart - as Flicker once said on here in response to another persons post re clipping - my mare is the only one she knows that will stand and be fully clipped without a head collar on. You can almost see the pleasure on her face as 'her dad' is clipping her !

Exactly this Teagan!

I dont even tie my boy up, he actually looks relieved when I clip him he loves it!
 
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