Is it too cold to full clip my cob

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Ados78

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I recently clipped my cob’s legs/feathers off due to him being so itchy and stamping his feet.
would it be ok to give him a full clip now the weather is forecast nice for a few weeks? He’s also destroys his rugs within a few weeks but hoping if he’s clipped he won’t be itching on things and therefore won’t rip his rugs.
do you think he would be too cold to full clip right now or should I wait a few weeks?
he’s also not working much due to the pandemic and is living out but have a stable available of a night.
I’m in north wales. TIA
 
Sorry I didn’t make that clear, he’s not rugged at the min only when it was really cold a few weeks ago. He’s unrugged now and has been itching his legs on anything and everything so I thought either mites or overheating so I’ve clipped his legs and am now treating for mites. I meant if I was to fully clip him I would rug him. Just wondering if he would be ok and not too cold?
 
Mines fully clipped, but it was 8 weeks ago and Ive not redone it. I don't want to be in a situation where she may need rugging and we go into complete lock down and I cant monitor it. I'd bath them with dermoline or similar and leave them unrugged for the time being. Next year clip before the moult starts if things are back to normal.
 
If I had a ridden horse with a thick/course coat then I’d happily clip them to keep them comfortable whatever the time of year.

That said you would need to be mindful of managing them - protection from sunburn or rugging as required.

If he’s just itchy and not sweaty then I’d treat for mites and get grooming to remove coat
 
Amymay said:
It’s not that hot. Just pleasantly warm.
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Unfortunately mine was sweating at 9am this morning.
She's moulting like mad but even her summer coat is thick, so I usually clip all year round. She was done maybe 5 or 6 weeks ago and is well due to being done again. Some horses just really don't tolerate heat (Or even just slightly warm and pleasant!) Well :(

For the OP- how about a compromise and blanket or trace clip?
I don't clip mine out fully as she burns (that was a bad mistake one summer, blanket clipping instead of trace - never again) but might be a half way house. Plus get scrubbing him with the scraper/curry comb and get as much loose hair out as you can.
 
Ados78 said:
He’s a gypsy cob and gets very sweaty. I know it’s not too hot atm but he’s obviously uncomfortable.
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A horses coat acts as an insulator against the heat too. If you clip him he will have the sun shining directly onto his skin. He may get sunburn if he has pink skin. I doubt he is itching because he is too hot, more likely its mites or even lice.
 
Your other option would be to do a chase/trace and leave unrugged.
This is what I’d do to keep my Cushings horse comfortable. Obviously no good if you show, but if you don’t probably a reasonable compromise
 
BTW if lice then he needs to be treated. different thing look at a picture of a lice on google then part his hair in various places (especially mane tail and feathers) see what's crawling around. Might need a magnifier!
 
shortstuff99 said:
The stamping and itchy legs says mites to me rather than being too hot.
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Its 100% mites and/or lice rather than being too warm. I'd be more inclined towards mites.They don't go with just one treatment, and a lot of the recommended treatments are ineffective. You need to hit them hard with everything you can and keep repeating every 2 weeks. The good news is clipping the legs will help hugely. Clipping the body wont at all.
 
To avoid rugging I'd just clip some of him + legs.
I have been the one with a trace clip in July because it was what was best for the welfare of my cob living out.
 
My traditional cob was clipped for comfort all year round. In summer, he'd wear a cotton/mesh sheet for a week or two to protect him from sunburn, aside from not clipping too short along his back, until his coat had grown a little. Even on an overcast spring day, they can burn.
Don't think your horse will get too cold right now, just rug for a few days until he acclimatizes.
 
shortstuff99 said:
The stamping and itchy legs says mites to me rather than being too hot.
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^^^ I'd agree with this. I've got two cobs, one of which is a very itchy girly and what I did was to clip off her feathers when the vet was her to do her teeth and she was under sedation anyway.

What I would do in your situation OP is to just do a bib-clip, i.e. under the neck and back to the girth area; that should help with any overheating problem but would leave enough coat on so your cob doesn't look too odd when summer coat comes through.

The other thing to do would be to get a shedding device and have a jolly good scrape at all the coat........
 
ester said:
To avoid rugging I'd just clip some of him + legs.
I have been the one with a trace clip in July because it was what was best for the welfare of my cob living out.
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Mines fully clipped all year round normally. I've left it now. No one knows whats going to happen and whatever way you look at it a clipped pony takes more maintance than one that isn't.
 
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Frank clipped is lower maintenance than when he is hairy which is why he recently had a full clip.
I certainly didn't treat him any differently with a blanket clip (I remembered wrong!) in the summer than I did without which is why he wasn't fully clipped because then it would have been higher maintenance.
 
I’m clipping tomorrow, full clip, he’s ppid and has been rolling like mad, itching and he is vaguely moulting, i never found it affected his summer coat, he’s very hairy despite rugging accordingly to the weather, he’ll tell me if he’s cold but I’ve done this for several years now with no damage! His legs in your case however I would treat as though he has mites..
 
Why do you feel a need to rug a cob this time of year anyway? It's been 20° outside today and it'll get warmer. My Anglo Arab doesn't even need his rug on now, I wouldn't think a cob would need it.
 
True but my horse seems to be coping and of course Anglos are warmbloods for sure, more so than ya standard Thoroughs or Arabs considering it's crossed between the two. However, mine does have a nice Winter coat atm and yes he was rugged during Winter but frankly he doesn't need it now. Although, I'm having lice problems myself and considering whether to clip.. Either way I wouldn't rug a cob this time of year, frankly I rarely see cobs rugged around here and there are dozens of horses around these parts where I'm from. Personally I'd be wondering whether the cob is being overrugged as this can cause skin irritation and even rain scald, just a thought.
 
Mine has been hot and sweaty just stood in the field. I have had the Furminator on him and worked till my arms hurt to get the excess coat out over the last few days, it's made a huge difference :)
 
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