My 21 year old mare - should I put her through it?

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filly190

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My old mare has so far had the winter off, but now I wish to start riding her again at weekends until the nights come in to ride after work again.

When I bought her, 7 years ago the previous owner said, under no circumstances try and clip her, she really does not like it.

My problem is that she is really hairy and by taking her out she will get very sweaty and I dont want her to get a chill. She's 21 and still going very strong.

I am bringing my young horse back into work and each Sat/Sun I plan on taking them both out in the box to the local woods and nice hacking rides.

What do you suggest for my older mare, regarding her sweating/possible chills, or considering trying to clip her when I have been told not to under circumstances.
 
If she is fit and well then I would crack on and ride her!

I should give her a chaser clip with half her face off so she doesn't sweat but stays warm enough.

We have plenty of horses at our yard of that age in full work with no probs.
We even have a 14.2hh pony that was reg with the BSJA in 1976 so he must have been at least 4 then making him over 34 yrs old now-he is still out winning HT, SJ and dressage every other weekend and looks great!

Forgot to add- I am sure you could sedate her to clip her- perhaps sedaline or ask your vet.
grin.gif
 
since you're travelllng her I wouldn't clip and I'd just make sure I walked her off on the way back properly (get off if ness) and that she had a good cooler on if needed or just naked to dry off on the way home and then a good brush once home.
 
You could try a sedation paste/ or get the vet to come out and sedate her. i had to do this for one of mine, its more expensive but worth it because you can get the job done quickly and easily. i couldnt get the clippers near her without a proper sedation.
 
I doubt many horses actually LIKE being clipped, I know mine hate it.

One option you do ahve is to ask your vet for a product called calmivet or equilivant and sedate her. If you just whip off the front hair - trace clip I think its called - it won't take a min and your done.

But from what you say, i think she would be more comfortable and have less chance of getting a chill.
 
I would dearly love to clip her, the girl that did my other mare yesterday said my old mare would need vet sedation and she said due to the mare's age, she disagrees with sedation unless it is for medical emergency with a horse that old.

From reading past posts of sedation I really dont know quite what to think because I would hate to risk her in any way for a clip at this time of year.

What do people think to sedation on an older horse just for clipping? I personally feel against it, and would appreciate informed opinions please
 
Again, we have a number of difficult older horses and ponies to clip here and we have no worries of getting them sedated and the vet has never questioned their age- I am sure he would if it would be a problem.
 
i personally wouldnt sedate an unfit older horse just because id worry too much. I think if she was fit (well for her age) then i would perhaps consider it more, but it would still worry me. I think aslong as you walk her for long enough to cool off at the end of your ride she will be fine.
 
She may well be happy for you to clip her - rather than someone she doesn't know. I wouldn't sedate her either, but would opt to do it myself rather than a stranger.
 
I wouldn't sedate for the sake of it but i don't see any harm in the little calming tablets and the calmivet I use is a mild sedative that wears off quite quick.

Why not see exactly what see is going to do by trying to switch the clippers on near her and see what she does first before thinking about sedation?
 
My old pony was clipped this year, she's 22 and acts like a psychotic 4 year old. She was given some sedaline, and twiched and they managed a trace on her. Was not worried about sedating her as she is healthy in all other aspects. The reason we clipped her is that she sweats up something terrible and would take ages to dry off. This way we can make sure she doesn't get a chill. Good luck with whatever you decide. We only decided to have this mare clipped as she is being exercised 4 times minimum a week, if it were any less than this I would leave her with her full coat on as I don't like to clip just for my convenience.
 
Just be prepared to twitch or sedate her, I think this is more what the old owner meant? - if she meant dont do it as mare doesnt like the style, then you do what you think is best for her, she is your horse.
 
agree with pg on this one. its difficult i have an old mare who had to be sedated to have teeth out last year, she nearly fell over when it was done due to the sedation. i really dont know if i would put her through that again so therefore she has totally soaked feeds 4 times a day at the moment, plus she is a bit stiff on back legs. i would certainly get the vet to check heart lungs etc if you really want to do it. maybe ride in the pm so you can rug up after to stop chills etc.
 
I would give it a go. If she goes absolutely crazy after a bit of desensitization to the clippers, then leave her hairy. I probably wouldn't go down the sedation route, but thats just my opinion.
 
if she trusts you then try,.... the owner of my horse said hes only ever been clipped sedated by the vet, and the vet clipped him.

i was expecting him to hit the roof but i let him watch what i was doing while someone held him and gave him polos and he was 100% perfect.

all you can do is try, if she really doesnt like it then there no harm done.

good luck
 
You could always use scissors if your horse will tolerate that, I had to do a cob this way to trace clip him and you can get quite a tidy result with a little practice (use a comb like barbers used to on men's hair)
 
At 21 she is getting on a bit but not ancient. If she were mine I would try clipping her with no sedation and see what happens. If she really doesn't like it then you haven't lost anything by trying. I prob wouldn't sedate her unless it was really necessary. My mum's 23 year old needs sedation for the dentist which isn't ideal but she needs her teeth checking. If she won't let you clip her without sedation then i would just cope with a fluffy horse rather than risk sedation. The prob with sedation is it reduces the heart rate. If you really want her clipping then i would get the vet to check her heart first.
 
Quite a few of our oldies have had to be sedated aged well over 20 th last few years, either for treatment or teeth. I am afraid there is no reason you can't sedate your mare I can see, what's worse, a simple case of sedation or stressing her out by twitching her, or havng her dripping with sweat and jolly uncomfortable ?
I get so cross with people who come out with statements about things they haven't actually experienced themselves in many cases, well we have, all I will say that out of possibly ten horses I have seen over 20 not one has had any sort of adverse reaction of suffered one little bit!
Make sure your vet is aware of her age and whip her front and belly off, with a good rug she will be perfectly fine..
 
Hmmmmmm... I'm sure either way will be fine but I've never clipped (not really a common practice here in the US west) and have never had a horse suffer a chill after a ride. (Alway have a nice slow walk @ the end of use so they are not sweaty when I brush em out afterwards.
 
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