Horses with feather in winter- Clip legs or not?

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poiuytrewq

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Never really had a horse with feather before, new boy has some- not loads, he's not proper cob but more than im used too!
My daughter wants to clip his legs out completely, again not something ive ever done.
Our fields get really quite wet round the gateways etc and I said they would be better unclipped as protection against the mud. She thinks they will be easier to wash off and clean/treat anything hairless.
We turnout as much as possible- Thoughts?
 
Are they not a bit exposed being naked and more likely to get issues!? I would clip his feathers (as they currently are) short and neat but was unsure about the whole lot off his legs!- but then like I say ive never had anything particularly hairy!
 
My cob has feather, but not full on gypsy style knee down feather. He's wintered successfully on heavy clay with least problems when I don't interfere. If legs are clipped, you lose any natural waterproofing and protection due to the way the hair lies. If you leave natural and pig oil but otherwise leave alone, the mud doesn't get to the skin and drops off overnight-and the skin was always dry even if the feathers were disgusting. The more I fiddled, the worse they got! Hosing gave him problems-unless they're fine haired, you have to be so careful about drying off to maintain the skin condition. Natives have feather for a reason-our rain and mud!
 
We never clip feather, pig oil and sulphur pre mixed works the best we find. I personally love feather but understand some people dislike them. If it was me I wouldn't clip them unless the need arose where you were unable to manage them.
 
mine isn't that hairy at all, but i clipped last year and regretted it. he got way more mud fever than normal. this year im keeping his bit of feather and pig oiling it early!
 
poiuytrewq said:
Never really had a horse with feather before, new boy has some- not loads, he's not proper cob but more than im used too!
My daughter wants to clip his legs out completely, again not something ive ever done.
Our fields get really quite wet round the gateways etc and I said they would be better unclipped as protection against the mud. She thinks they will be easier to wash off and clean/treat anything hairless.
We turnout as much as possible- Thoughts?
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I clip full if they are heavy weight cob level hairy, but with Ben who has feather but is really a mw hunter type, I plan to clip only the back of his legs out along with a full clip, I will only take the whole leg off on the last clip
 
I clip feathers not completely but tidy them up. Unfortunately we have a river running through the field so feathers on or off the legs still get wet!!
Her legs dry much quicker when she comes in if they are shorter so I can apply anything that needs applying if her legs get sore.
 
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