I cant clip... Should I rug?

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FrankieBoy

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Starla is a nightmare to clip. Well. She was... But when i clipped her the first time round, she was in foal and ofc I didnt know, She could have been trying to tell me that I was being a numpty as she was about to have a baby...
I'm trying to get her fit again now, so she wont be in loads of work this winter and I'd rather not battle it out with her and try to clip unless i really have to.
My question is this...
She'll be living out this winter, so should i be rugging her up early on so she doesnt get too fluffy, or will that mean she wont grow enough coat to keep herself warm when it starts to get really cold? Or should I leave her to grow a nice thick coat and try to clip? She'd only need a bib or something to that effect...
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I'm having same problem, and decided to rug early to try and prevent her coat growing too long, I only started rugging yesterday and she's only wearing a cooler at night and a lightweight turn out in the day if it's forecast rain.
 
Let her grow a good coat and sedate her if necessary for clipping, the more you practice the clipping the better she'll get. Try without sedation as the circumstances are different this time, but if she still reacts get some Sedalin. A bib would be plenty and the less time you spend clipping the less chance you have of her losing it.
 
If she is a nightmare to clip I would start getting her used to them now. Take them in with you each time you groom her for a weeksand don't switch them on, then start switching them on for a week or two each time you do stuff with her to get used to the noise. Depending on how that goes then start running them near to her body, without actually clipping her to see the reaction.

I think the problem with sedating is that if they are still panicky they start sweating, which makes clipping very hard. Much better to get them used to them imho.

And accept that there may be areas where your horse doesn't like being clipped. My horse is great to clip, and when grooming will let you brush anywhere around his head and neck, but he doesnt particularly like his ears being clipped.
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Donkey was a nightmare, she would actually attack me and the clippers so I invested in the Whal Avalon cordless ones - first time I used them we gave her sedalin and used a twitch, next time just sedalin and last year I was able to tie her up and fully clip her out with just a hay net - three times - so don't give up just be patient.
 
Can you let her grow her coat, not clip her, and not rug her? If her work over the winter isn't heavy, she may be fine unclipped. I was fittening my pony over the winter last year, and the only time he got seriously sweaty was when we went hunting.
 
My boy hasn't been too keen on clippers. I started off last year clipping him with normal barbers clippers - I was amazed at how much hair they got through too :-). Once he was happy with these, I turned the big clippers on while the little ones were still running and then turned the little ones off and he was fine.

This worked for me tho appreciate it may not work for everyone.
 
My mare is horrid to clip - she tries to squish you against the nearest wall
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I've got away with it so far but she is going to be clipped this winter. I plan to start with a bib and work my way out weekly - we're not competing so I don't care how wonky it looks
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