Sweaty horse, what to do

picolenicole

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 July 2009
Messages
1,106
Location
Wadshelf, Chesterfield
Visit site
I'm not sure if my pony still has some of his winter coat or not, as it looks quite thick/long. I am in 2 minds of clipping him, he get's really sweaty even from a 15 min walk up the bridle path. I mean he did sweat up last year in the summer when it was really hot, but it's not that hot yet and he's already sweating up badly. I have to hose him off most night's after riding, I don't mind hosing him, but he lives out at night. :confused::confused:

He's good to clip, goes to sleep as you do it. Or do I just leave him and see if his coat thin's out letter in the year?

I've never had a cob type before, I know I've had him 2 years but he has never sweated up this much this early in the year!!

Thanks for any help.
 
I clip my traditional cob all year round as he has such a thick coat, even in the summer. Doesn't seem to affect the shinyness or softness at all.
I'd go for it - it'll grow back!
 
What sort of clip do you do then? And how often do you do it? AND does it go against them in a show?

You can just tell I was one of those kids that all ways asked why? where? and what you doing? all the time. :)
 
I just whip the whole body off!
DSC00137-1.jpg

If you look closely you can just see the lines at the top of his legs and along his mane line - especially at his white fleck on his neck (this was last year - I'm now better at doing straight lines!)
I showed him last year - only in hand and locally, and nobody ever mentioned it. After a couple of weeks you can barely see the lines anyway.
From your sig picture yours looks like he's not got particularly hairy legs, so you could take those off as well if you wanted to avoid the "leg lines" and plait mane and tail for showing?
 
Last edited:
Splish&Masons mum your right he doesn't have much feather on him, I did take them off last year and sort of liked it, but he will not let you pull his mane. Sister in law pulled it when we first got him, he was ok when she did it but after it took me 6 months before he would let me even brush it!! He's a huge wimp. I can plait it but they look like small golf balls on his neck, and if I hog him I would get divoced by OH!!

By the way I love your horse!!! If mine was yours what would you do with him?
 
thank you - very kind!
If yours was mine I'd take the whole lot off and have him as a show cob! but as you want to remain married...
I'd take the body and legs off with the clippers and use a rake to "pull" his mane so it's not so thick to plait. If he doesn't object to combing, he shouldn't object to this!

this is what I mean by a rake: http://www.clippersharp.com/equine/grooming_stuff/smart_manes

Comb the mane onto the "wrong" side with a normal comb, then run the rake through to take out any thickness, make sure you do it from underneath, and when you flip it back onto the right side there shouldn't be any sticky up bits!
Good luck - he's a nice chap!
 
You could just show him as a "native type" see http://www.bspaonline.com/pdf/booklets/Natives_Booklet.pdf. That would save his feather and his mane. The rake is good for thinning a thick mane but can leave a thick base of shorter hair that makes plaiting difficult. My daughters traddy cob is clipped all year round. The clippers stop just above his knee and hocks just before the feather hair (which will never be touched!). Then we use smaller trimmers to graduate the clip into the feather. If you have a show try and clip about three weeks before so any clip lines disappear. Hope that helps.
 
Our native pony is getting on in years and is a bit of a woolbeast these days so we clip her out all summer. It didn't stop her winning her veteran showing second round and qualifying for trailblazers last summer either! ;)
 
Thanks for the answers everyone. I think I will clip him and leave the feather for now, I can always take it of later if I want. Also he has about half his mane missing so can not really thin it out untill it grows. I ordered my snuggy hood just before all the snow then they couldn't deliver because of it and his mane got pulled out on his neck rug clip!!!

So jealous of you people with very hairy type's, sometime wish King was hairy. Altough I did get him becasue of his manors and we just clicked, not due to his hairy-ness :) (or lack of:) )
 
Top