Hogging help

[J_sarahd]

My pony has been hogged for over a year now. I don’t do him as often as I should as I don’t have my own clippers so I get someone to do him whenever it gets to the stage where it’s irritating me (or we have a show but that’s irrelevant atm).

He has never been great once you get to just behind his ears - probably not helped by me not doing him very often - and he actually ended up fracturing the woman’s thumb on Saturday. I feel awful, please don’t comment on this as he’s never done it before. He’s just been squirmy and needed patience

So, my questions are:

1. any tips for making him used to being hogged there or any products people recommend to get him to just chill out - don’t want to fully sedate him as he’s great for the rest of the mane!

2. what clippers/trimmers do people recommend so I can start just doing it myself? Preferably trimmers as they tend to be quieter but need them strong enough to go through a mane (although if I’m keeping on top of it a bit more it might not be so bad).

I need to sort him out ASAP because he currently has 90% of his mane hogged and then a fluffy forelock and bit behind his ears!!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would buy a small set of trimmers and do some desensitization with them yourself just doing it for short periods, one of my horses would rear if I put clippers near his face or ears.

I used small trimmers on him first and fed him treats and after a while he was fine with them, I can do most of his face with the big clippers now without a problem, I just have to do the jawline near his mouth with the trimmers as he tries to bite the big clippers if I try with those.

 

[BeckyFlowers]

Do you think he will settle with a tasty distraction? When I hog my horse I give him a lick tub (Horslyx or something like that) which keeps his head down to make it easier for me to hog. Maybe try that and use trimmers near his poll. If he still kicks off with the trimmers, how about trying some hand trimmers?

 

[rabatsa]

Heineger Saphir are tough and reasonably quiet. I use them for feathers and manes.

 

[J_sarahd]

We tried him with some feed and a haynet but he didn’t settle at all - but I thought he would as he’s so food orientated and feed normally settles him for other things! I don’t have a lick for him, but I can buy one to try. I’ll look into some trimmers to try and desensitise him.

I know it’s not important in the grand scheme of things, but his little tuft is really embarrassing me. I’ve heard people say they hogged theirs with scissors? Has anyone done that?

 

[cauda equina]

Yes! when my old boy was hogged I used scissors for his forelock as he hated being clipped forward of his ears; it did look ok

 

[seaofdreams]

Masterclip do some trimmers that are fairly quiet, I have also used scissors to hog when I randomly decided my mare needed redoing and my clippers were at home, it turned ok!

 

[J_sarahd]

Sounds like hogging the rest of it off with scissors for now could be viable until I can desensitise him and do it all properly! Anyone who’s done it got any tips?

 

[BeckyFlowers]

Sounds like hogging the rest of it off with scissors for now could be viable until I can desensitise him and do it all properly! Anyone who’s done it got any tips?

I'm fortunate as mine is excellent to hog and clip, but I have seen some really useful desensitising videos from Warwick Schiller and Kelly Marks - have a look on YouTube. Good luck!

 

[Roxylola]

Sharp scissors, small cuts, don't cut too short.

 

[J_sarahd]

I'm fortunate as mine is excellent to hog and clip, but I have seen some really useful desensitising videos from Warwick Schiller and Kelly Marks - have a look on YouTube. Good luck!

Ooh great thank you I’ll have a watch!

 

[conniegirl]

the liveryman harmonys are very very quiet and will tackle a mane ok.

 

[Cortez]

Scissors. I've never hogged a mane with clippers.

 

[Bosworth]

Get cordless clippers, mine are liveryman, and they make a huge difference . When I got my horse he’d just broken someone cheek while being clipped with standard clippers. I clipped him with my cordless clippers and he was absolutely fine. The more times you do it, the easier it should get. At first you could get someone to hold a molasses lick for him while you clip, they seem to completely take the horses mind off everything

 

[cauda equina]

Even with cordless clippers I couldn't do the old boy's forelock unless he was sedated

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Boots or similar, men's rechargeable hair clippers. About 30 to 40 quid. Last about 30 mins before you need to take home to recharge.
When I had my hogged cob, I got a friend to rehog him as was a 4 inch bog brush, then I used the little rechargeable one to tidy once a week.
He started off as a sod to do anywhere forward from 4 inches behind ears and after a few weeks got desensitized to it.
His previous owner had to sedate to get near him with clippers.

 

[Dexter]

Masterclip trimmers. Do manes and feathers easily and last a couple of hours. They cost about £40 and seem to be pretty indestructible!

 

[Pippity]

I take the easy way out and just use scissors between her ears. Weirdly, she's a lot happier if I do it while sat on her.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I wonder if an acoustic ear bonnet of sorts or Poms in his ears would sort of lessen the noise and settle him a bit? I have no idea if that is a good idea, just something that came to mind.

Obviously training through the issue is ideal.

My horses have always just gotten used to it/accepted it after me doing it a few times and rewarding (usually just give a small treat when they're standing quiet and still). Perhaps I've had easy horses though. They don't love it but seem to learn that standing quiet is what I want and if they do that, it is uneventful and over with sooner.

 

[tatty_v]

I don’t hog but have a horse who has taken a long time to be able to clip safely. I definitely second the lick idea - I have a helper who stands with the lick under his nose and he will stand rock solid for me to do all the fiddly bits on his face, jaw, round his ears etc. Food and/or a haynet never had this effect but the lick is apparently worth it!

 

[J_sarahd]

Thanks everyone. I’ll pick up a lick when I next go to the tack shop and I’ll buy some quiet trimmers to desensitise/tidy up the edges once I’ve scissored the fluff off!

 

[BeckyFlowers]

I don’t hog but have a horse who has taken a long time to be able to clip safely. I definitely second the lick idea - I have a helper who stands with the lick under his nose and he will stand rock solid for me to do all the fiddly bits on his face, jaw, round his ears etc. Food and/or a haynet never had this effect but the lick is apparently worth it!

Yeah I found that if I gave my horse feed in a bucket he would take a mouthful and then bring his head back up while he was chewing, whereas with the lick he just goes at it until I have finished hogging!

 

[Annagain]

Archie would never let me near the back of his ears to clip (the front of his ears were fine, I could clip his head with no problems) so I used to cut his bridlepath with scissors. I'd keep them flat on his neck and do lots of little snips rather than trying to cut one big chunk off. It looked surprisingly neat given that I have the eye hand co-ordination of a partially sighted tortoise.

You could also try hand clippers, I've known people do full on clips with them on very sensitive horses. That would be very hard work but for hogging part of his mane they would probably be ok.