Cob hates having his legs clipped

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KateRF

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Hi all,

My coblet is an absolute nightmare having his legs clipped. He's an angel for his body, he goes to sleep and we can do all over and his face without a headcollar - but as soon as the clippers pass his shoulders he goes ballistic. At the minute we have him sedated by the vet every 3 months or so, but his feathers are very thick and it often takes a top-up or two to get him through.

We've tried twitching him, various calmers and someone holding his other leg up - nothing works. He kicks out, jumps around, tries to do a runner and if we keep a hold of him, he just collapses. It's extremely dangerous for everyone involved and we've given up on anything other than the sedation, which stresses him out and he fights it for a good 10 minutes which upsets my parents, who often have to oversee the sedation if I'm at school.

The sedation is rather costly and we were wondering if there were any techniques people have tried that had worked? He won't even let us near his legs with scissors so that's out of the question, and we've tried using quieter, smaller mini-trimmers too that haven't worked either.

Any ideas?

Thank you x
 
Aversion therapy. Someone told me how they very gradually got their horse used to it by placing the clippers near the leg, then turning them on without touching etc. It worked eventually.

Mine has sallenders-looks like mudfever and is obviously sore. I need to sedate for legs too rest is fine bar ears. I only do it if I'm showing. Can't you leave him hairy?
 
Yes, there are options but it would involve someone very calm and experienced to help him.

Has he ever suffered skin issues under his feathers? I find this is the main reason horses object so strongly to having their feathers 'messed' with.
 
We've spoken to one of his previous owners (not the person we bought him off, but one that had him about 6 years ago) and apparently he had feather mites, but she treated them regularly and he was fine to clip back then. The person we bought him off had always had issues with his legs apparently, but we've had the vet out to check and he's all clear now.
 
My maxi cob was exactly the same; fine with his body and his face, terrible with his legs. I used scissors on his legs in the end - it took a while to get him used to them, but he grew to quite enjoy it. I got through an awful lot of scissors though (Fiskars are about the best). He was worse with his back legs than his fronts. My cob had quite scabby legs and I think the clipping actually hurt him, but I found that leaving him feathered made his legs worse and almost impossible to treat.

I spent hours trimming his legs with scissors and it used to blister my fingers, but I'd do it over a few days - it just meant he looked a bit odd for those in between days.

The only thing I can suggest (which is what worked with my boy) is to find a place on your horse's legs that he likes being scratched (inside the heels maybe, or just above the hock) and work on gaining his confidence by scratching those places, gradually introducing a small pair of rounded ended scissors (it doesn't matter if they barely work). Just snip the odd bit of hair and work from there.

My boy ended up loving having his front legs trimmed and I'd sit on a little stool snipping away, whilst he snoozed and nuzzled my hair. His back legs weren't quite so easy to do, but he'd tolerate just a little each day.

Good luck and be careful not to get kicked!
 
I'll have a go at that then - thank you! Billy has an itchy spot inside the top of his back legs that he absolutely loves me clipping as it gives him a good scratch - unfortunately there's barely anything there to clip! If only he was itchy down the rest of his legs haha.
 
Illusion100 said:
Ok, so if I'm getting this right, the Vet has previously fully clipped his legs under I/V seds and has confirmed there are no skin issues?
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That's right - he went to Newmarket for another issue and when we mentioned his previous feather mites, they clipped his legs under sedation and tested to make sure he didn't have them anymore. The first time we clipped him at home after we bought him he had a few scabs, but by the second time they had cleared up and he hasn't shown any signs for over a year.
 
KateRF said:
I'll have a go at that then - thank you! Billy has an itchy spot inside the top of his back legs that he absolutely loves me clipping as it gives him a good scratch - unfortunately there's barely anything there to clip! If only he was itchy down the rest of his legs haha.
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It's worth a try, but it'll take weeks to gain his confidence inching away from the nice scratchy spot. By starting with the rubbish rounded little scissors, you won't jab him if he messes about. I found it's best to actually have the scissors placed sideways on his body and slide them around without doing much cutting, just so he doesn't all of a sudden feel hard, cold metal against his skin.

Be warned though, it's a labour of love and takes a lot of time... and the hair looks a bit 'sliced' for a few days until it grows a little and evens out.
 
Ah ok, so you are dealing with a learned behaviour rather than a pain issue. Go with Cobbytype's advice. Try to treat your horse as you would any other, don't let emotion become involved and try to end things on a good note no matter how small the achievement.

Best of luck!
 
I forgot to add - my boy wouldn't let me trim his legs if he was tied up. Obviously it depends on the temperament of your horse as to whether this is an option, but my cob was used to being groomed in the stable without being tied up, so was much more relaxed and not suspicious when I used the scissors in the same manner as any other type of grooming. A haylage net also came in useful in the winter - a hungry belly is a great distraction from all the faffing around.
 
The problem with legs is they are good at kicking. The more he moves/kicks, the more you flinch/stop the more you "reward" him for the behaviour so the more he does it.

Really you need a very experienced person who is good at working with horses like this to show you how to start a safe desensitisation programme. It won't be easy and you will need to be very committed.
 
I've worked hard on CF who is a hogged cob with very hairy legs, I let the legs grow through autumn till spring as this gives him plenty of protection, but they DO dry well overnight & no mud fever/mites.
He is ruddy dangerous with clipping, but I can now hog him on my own, can also do a bib clip, but for anything else I have to get vet & professional with clippers. (as is much quicker than me)
I budget for 3 full sedations a year, 2 of which include his legs being clipped out, as much as I have gone to de-sensitise him, I cannot go any further with the legs.

CF was badly burnt with clippers so am told, in a previous home, before last owner got him quite a number of years ago, so he has valid reason.

We go roughly like this: July vet out & egs off, late Sept I spend 2 or 3 days doing bib clip, Dec vet out again so can blanket clip, late march vet again so full clip can be done inc legs off. It works for me as I budget for the visits tho :)

Hope you can get through it tho OP
 
My mare is brilliant to clip everywhere above knee/hock level anything below there she became a gradual night mare!

The first time we did her legs she was fine, the next time a bit fidgety and so on, so then we'd twitch her to do the fiddly bits, then that stopped working so we used sedalin for a while, then that stopped working so we used dermoseadan then that stopped working and then we couldn't even do it with IV - and we tried everything in between. by this point enough was enough - she'd never had a bad experience with the clippers on her legs, never been nicked or burned and she wasnt scared - just being a royal PITA! One late evening i cross tied her when the yard was quiet with no distractions - went armed with a tub of treats and took the tiniest clip of her leg and made a huge fuss and gave her a treat, and continued in that fashion - never treating if she moved with the clippers on her, but treating as soon as she stopped. That time it took 3 hours to clip her legs, the next time two and the time after that even less, still treating every so often but not nearly as much. I also used this method when starting to pull her mane, shes very smart and very food orientated so she figured out pretty quickly that the treats were free flowing if she just stood still!
 
My boy is the same OP. It's getting better but it has taken a long time.

I've had Jack a year and was told he was fine to clip - The first time I tried to clip him he went up and kicked me in the shoulder (obviously not fine with clippers at all!)

I have tried sedalin but it has no effect whatsoever. I purchased a small pair of Wahl clippers which are really quiet, and spend HOURS just having them on around him. He used to run to the back of his stable as soon as I turned them on. I ended up turning them on and leaving them until the battery went while I was doing my jobs.

He eventually let me clip his body however legs were a massive no no. Similar to yours, he would dance about, kick out, try and run off or try to throw himself to the floor to avoid them (which as a stocky Section D cross was very scary!!)

I started on his legs by having the clippers on and lightly touching him with them at the top of his leg, and then removing them, making a big fuss of him. I carried on with this gradually and very very slowly all the way down his leg, keeping the clippers on for slightly longer each time.

I then called it a day, made a huge fuss of him and gave him his tea.

Then another day did the same but began clipping tiny bits of hair, again, removing the clippers after doing a tiny bit, lots of fuss, and trying again.

I concentrated on one leg at a time so he didn't get confused. So far, I have been able to fully clip both front legs and about half of one hind. It's a very long process but he is happy to let me clip his fronts without any hassle really now.

I would advise not trying to hold one leg up to get him to stand still, it's likely to cause panic!!

No quick fix I'm afraid unless you are looking to sedate every time!

Good luck, I know how frustrating it can be!!
 
Thank you! We had a similar experience in that we were told he was perfect to clip, so I posted on Facebook (I was friends with the old owner) that i needed someone to clip his legs and did anyone know someone that could do it. She then sent me a message saying it 'might not be a good idea' and decided then to explain that he wasn't exactly a fan and we might not want to do it. Some people eh.
 
KateRF said:
Thank you! We had a similar experience in that we were told he was perfect to clip, so I posted on Facebook (I was friends with the old owner) that i needed someone to clip his legs and did anyone know someone that could do it. She then sent me a message saying it 'might not be a good idea' and decided then to explain that he wasn't exactly a fan and we might not want to do it. Some people eh.
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I feel your pain - I contacted Jack's seller (who was a dealer, ho hum) who said, oh yeah, he is fine to clip if you twitch him.

I had tried to twitch him and couldn't get near his mouth, he obviously knew what was coming - I told her this and she said, no, EAR TWITCH him.

Honestly, some people.

It makes me cross as it wouldn't have been a deal breaker, I would have bought him anyway. I would however have been a bit more cautious and not ended up with a hoof in my shoulder!!
 
Lauren_abigail said:
I feel your pain - I contacted Jack's seller (who was a dealer, ho hum) who said, oh yeah, he is fine to clip if you twitch him.

I had tried to twitch him and couldn't get near his mouth, he obviously knew what was coming - I told her this and she said, no, EAR TWITCH him.

Honestly, some people.

It makes me cross as it wouldn't have been a deal breaker, I would have bought him anyway. I would however have been a bit more cautious and not ended up with a hoof in my shoulder!!
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Ditto - I'm just glad I put it on facebook, or I'd probably just have merrily done it myself and ended up with a broken arm or worse. I would have bought him anyway as he's perfect in every other way, but it would have been nice to know!
 
It's ridiculous really. I'm sure most people in the horsey world have read the story about that poor woman who died while trying to clip her horse, you would think sellers would have more sense!

Consequently from being ear twitched, Jack is horrendously head shy which is another problem to work on as well as the flipping clipping.
 
Have you tried horse razors such as Equishave? My boy hated to be clipped anywhere he used to be petrified of clippers, he only has a thin coat so I only use the razors on his occasional feathers or to tidy him up a bit. I think you can get them online for about £1.40 :)
 
JTK16 said:
Have you tried horse razors such as Equishave? My boy hated to be clipped anywhere he used to be petrified of clippers, he only has a thin coat so I only use the razors on his occasional feathers or to tidy him up a bit. I think you can get them online for about £1.40 :)
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I haven't - I might try that! Thank you :)
 
Lauren_abigail said:
I've never heard of Equishave - would it be any good for fairly thick / coarse hair?
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As far as i know they would, go blunt quicker though on thicker hair, worth a try. You could always search them up on google, all videos of them are being used on horses whiskers but i used them on the feathers etc. better for spooky horses.
 
JTK16 said:
As far as i know they would, go blunt quicker though on thicker hair, worth a try. You could always search them up on google, all videos of them are being used on horses whiskers but i used them on the feathers etc. better for spooky horses.
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Fab thanks, I'll have a look into them :)
 
Mine didn't have a big problem with clipping legs, although it did take a bit of work when I got him. He would constantly lift his legs and just make things awkward. What worked with him was actually holding the leg we were clipping up and just carrying on. If he put it back on the floor we carried on for a second and then stopped, gradually increasing the time. Soon he realised putting his foot down meant the clippers went away much quicker than waving his legs round. I realise it might be difficult if it's more than that and it's impossible / dangerous to keep hold of a leg.

When I got him he had ridiculously thick feathers - too much for my trimmers. I used a rake to thin them out a bit first. That might work as a starter as there's no noise or grabbing of the hair involved, you just use it in a brushing motion. It won't get them short but will thin them out a bit and might well get him used to having his legs fiddled with?
 
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