Hairy or not and why not ?

[welshcobabe]

I have a shire x cob that I keep fully feathered and have loads of mane and tail my preference, hard work but I love the way he looks, I have a friend who also has a cob and he is clipped and hogged same breeding but she loves that look. Over a wine or two the other night we had a heated debate. My point if you love the hairy cob and unless for medical reasons why clip why not just get an un hairy horse in the first place. Her point that she likes a chunky cob but she likes them looking neat and tide. Suffice to say we had a laugh and decided that each of us were right. So just putting it out there in a very light hearted way for your thoughts as we are due another wine night soon would be good to quote some other members views either way.

 

[nagblagger]

Must admit i'm in the hairy camp - however i did have a new forest which was clipped out and hogged due to medical reasons, and he looked stunning.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I love the look of a fully clipped & hogged, well muscled and slim cob! I also like the look of a hairy cob, some suit clipped and some suit hairy but I could never keep up with the maintenance of hair, same reason my own hair is only ear length!
My personal preference is clipped out, but as I say, it depends on the horse.
Not so keen on a clipped out heavy though.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I would always take feathers off and mane and tail neat and tidy.

 

[Caol Ila]

I love the look of full feathers on a cob, Friesian, or heavy draft -- I wanted a cob, at one point -- but it seems like every cob at the yard has feather mites, mallenders, sallenders, and they will rub their legs raw and be miserable unless their owners diligently clip the feathers and apply creams and whatever. And none of the remedies seem to completely fix it. When I was in the field yesterday, one of the cobs was rubbing his hind legs against the gate, and I know his owner slathers a whole pharmacy-full of stuff to his legs, and he gets injections by the vet as well.

Find me one that doesn't have those conditions, and I would have it.

 

[smolmaus]

I love feathery legs and a full mane.

I wouldn't be able to cope with "full hairy" with mane down to their knees and feathers floating 2 feet behind them but a moderate amount makes my heart happy. I'm struggling with the realisation Sadie is going to need hogging to look in any way presentable, with her sweet itch mane still missing the odd chunk no matter what I throw at it, so I will probably need to clip the feathers too ? its going to be a sad day!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Feathers can be a problem in that you can't see what is underneath them.

Cobs can get feather-mites and also Mallenders & Sallenders. CPL (Chronic Progressive Lymphoedema) can also be a problem, and if you can't see what you are dealing with then diagnosis as well as any treatment, is difficult.

With my old gal we on vet's advice (and sedation was needed) we clipped her feathers off completely as she was very itchy and uncomfortable. Much better!

 

[planete]

My little cob has converted me to hair, lots of it. It takes me half an hour a week to replait his mane and I rub an emollient into the skin behind his knees twice a week to keep the skin supple and the dandruff down. And that is it, but he never sees the inside of a stable and no straw ever gets near him. I think this avoids possible contamination with mites. He arrived with some but Ivermectin pipettes on the skin of his lower legs got rid of them and they have not come back.

 

[SEL]

I've got 3 with feathers and one of them has a stunning amount of hair. All had to be removed for vet scans earlier in the year and the skin underneath was ??. I'd had no indication there was a problem. She's at the growing back stage now and I caught her itching on the gate the other day so I think for her comfort the clippers will be out

Of the other two I have one sedated annually because he has CPL and needs the feather off. The other came to me clipped and hogged and I'm so done with feathers he'll stay like that.

 

[Tarragon]

You might think that because I love my Exmoor ponies that I would be in the hairy camp, but in fact I am not. I am not keen on feathers, moustaches or overly long manes. Exmoor ponies grow winter coats like Yaks, and they might have Thellwell bushy manes and tails, but their legs are clean. What I love about them is that manes and tails are supposed to be kept natural! best of both worlds in my opinion - hairy ponies that aren't hairy and not allowed to touch their manes and tails!

 

[poiuytrewq]

It’s an off from me!
I do keep my tiny ponies who don’t work fairly natural but still trim tails, neaten manes and trim legs in summer.
Retired cob spent last year clipped from top to toe and hogged, he gets itchy and it’s easier to keep his skin healthy. This summer he’s just trimmed and I’ll keep his mane pulled.
Riding horse is kept neat. I like a short mane on him. TB is very dull as he’s a naturaly hairless neat chap and I barely even need to do his mane.
I do appreciate some horses look lovely, I ride a Normandy cob with a full mane and everything, I can see she looks pretty *how ever If she was mine it would be gone ?

 

[PapaverFollis]

A non-hairy horse with substance and a sensible outlook is harder to find than a hairy horse with the same.

Mine are much more comfortable when their hairy bits are clipped off.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Don't do hairy at all!! When I watch them being ridden everything looks hard work for them. I'm not a cob fan but there are some nice sports cobs about.

 

[BBP]

I love my Spanish part bred, no feather, full tail, hardly bothers with a winter coat and I don’t have to faff with his mane (although he doesn’t have the most impressive mane at all).

The youngster is a native but I always figured I would trim and keep him sporty. Trouble is he has decided that his mane is his best feature! It glows like fire when the sun is on it. So no idea what I will do once he is old enough to back!
(Picture is having rubbed half of it out when on box rest this spring, so it’s usually even more than this!)

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

My Welsh D was always kept with a pulled mane and at least scissored legs, when clipped I clipped them out, it made him look so much smarter and sporty.

I don't do hair, especially long manes and getting my reins tangled.

Hogged, no!

Also nicely trimmed tails, tails that dragged on the floor are eeeww.

I no longer have a horse though play a mobile game and you can't yet customise their manes and some have really long unkempt manes and even they are making me twitch ?

 

[HollyWoozle]

I don't have a hairy cob and therefore can't really answer the question, but I do generally prefer to leave things as natural as possible. I can see both sides though and can't deny that a fit, hogged cob looks really smart.

This topic has really made me wonder why so many hairy cob types do seem to have skin issues which require the hair removing. Seems odd really when you think about it.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I have a moderately hairy cob. He does get mites from time to time but he has no skin issues. He lives out 24/7 so in the winter I literally do NOTHING with his feather, no brushing/washing/faffing and so far he's not had a problem. I think it depends on the "type" of cob....mine isn't small or hairy enough to be classed as a traditional but could possibly rock the hogged and clipped look. I do get tempted to just take ot all off just to see what he would look like ??

 

[spacefaer]

I have a 17.1 coloured who grows mini feathers - they're the shape of feathers but somehow not as long or thick - he's obviously got some traditional in the mix. He's plaited, trimmed, pulled tail -everything. He hasn't got the neck to hog as a cob and so he's got to rock the hunter look. He shows as a non-native plaited horse.

I couldn't bear the maintenance of all that hair - I once rode an Arab stallion for a woman and hated the mane/rein mess too.

 

[Fransurrey]

I love the look of full feathers on a cob, Friesian, or heavy draft -- I wanted a cob, at one point -- but it seems like every cob at the yard has feather mites, mallenders, sallenders, and they will rub their legs raw and be miserable unless their owners diligently clip the feathers and apply creams and whatever. And none of the remedies seem to completely fix it. When I was in the field yesterday, one of the cobs was rubbing his hind legs against the gate, and I know his owner slathers a whole pharmacy-full of stuff to his legs, and he gets injections by the vet as well.

Find me one that doesn't have those conditions, and I would have it.

Mine doesn't have any of those, but you're not having him!!

He's fully feathered at the moment, but I think I do prefer him without, but for me I like to trim rather than clip. This means a dedicated haircut morning/afternoon, involving scissors, thinning comb and thinning scissors. I'm working up to it, as he is SO much easier to manage with shorter hair on the legs (Welsh style feathers as opposed to gypsy). I do sometimes thin the mane and tail, but keep the length. I have next week off work, so guess that'll be number one job!!

 

[Surbie]

I have a heavy cob, but with silky, fine feathers. He did have them removed once, when he wasn't mine, and he looked awful. It somehow shortened his legs and made him look dumpy. Thankfully he has never had mites and has minimal issues with cobgrease round his ergots, which can be kept in check with regular warm salt water baths.

I do LOATHE beards though, and whip his off as it grows back.

 

[HashRouge]

I would never personally go out and buy a hairy cob, so this is highly unlikely to be a choice I'd face, but I would err towards leaving it au natural. I have a Welsh D gelding (not through choice, I sort of inherited him!) and he's about as hairy/ chunky as I can cope with.

 

[I'm Dun]

If in work mine get hogged and clipped. I like the way it looks, but its mainly just so much more practical for them when working. I always feel sorry for cobs who have reams of hair. They get so hot under it when its warm, and it cant be nice not being able to see properly, or always have your tail dragging on the floor.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I do love the show traditional cobs but most hairy cobs don't look like that when left to just grow so I would rather hog and clip the lot off.

 

[Widgeon]

I have a 17.1 coloured who grows mini feathers

What a lovely horse! I would be jealous if he wasn't so enormously huge. I have a 15.1 Irish coloured (no recorded breeding!) who also has mini feathers - not one thing or another - and I think they look daft so I trim them off with some little rechargeable clippers I bought specially for this job. He was hogged when I bought him and he did look smart, but I rather like the safety handle of a short neat mane, and he gets very distressed if he thinks you're going to hog him. So I decided it was a battle not worth fighting.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Every time I put a bridle on now without having the claw through a thick mop of forelock and mane I feel so happy! ?

Plus I can see MrT's handsome face and The Beast's beautiful one all the time.

 

[PSD]

I’m in the hogged and clipped out camp.

Having owned a part bred shire (whom I jogged and clipped out) I know the issues that come with heavily feathered and hairy horses. He had no end of issues so we decided to clip him out. I love how smart they look and it makes life so much easier.

however I do love a hairy cob, they look beautiful but they can be very high maintenance. I love welshies as they are the perfect balance, mine has a wild mane though so I do have to thin it and pull it as it’s so thick!

 

[Sandstone1]

Im in the middle really. I hate long scraggy manes. Most look nicer mid length. Hogged suits some horses. Fell really sorry for horses with massive manes and tails in the summer. Must be so hot. Just nice tidy manes and tails, dont mind a bit of feather but not keen on really heavy feather.

 

[planete]

I really do not find the hair a problem. I keep the mane loosely plaited and that way I do not get my hands tangled in it and the pony stays cool. His forelock is loose in the field and acts as a fly mask and I put a rubber band on it level with his eyes when riding so it looks neat and stays out of his eyes. He takes less time to get ready to work than my sleek grey arab and arab cross did.

 

[Pippity]

I think the traditionals look stunning when they're clean and brushed out and all the hair's floating - but I would absolutely hate dealing with it on a day-to-day basis, and I feel so sorry for them when the weather's blazing hot and they have all that mane.

My cob doesn't grow enough hair to rock the traditional look, but she looks super smart clipped out, hogged and banged. And I think there's very little that looks smarter than a fit, muscled, hogged cob. They're just absolutely the look I love.

I occasionally wish I had a mane to grab hold of in case of emergency but, after a weekend riding a Shire, I was glad to go back to not getting the reins tangled with the hair.

 

[Celtic Fringe]

My little cob used to be a hairier beast but was (and still is) definitely an anomaly in a yard of warmblood and Spanish horses
He has been smartened up for public occasions - a shorter mane which can be plaited and is also clipped all year as he gets far too hot otherwise. He still has a huge tail - a skinny tail would look odd on his mahoosive backside and my lovely YO plaits it for competitions!