To clip or not to clip

[Caol Ila]

I don't expect answers. I'm just dithering.

As anyone who lives in Scotland knows, we are having a bit of a heatwave this week. Poor little Fin jumped the gun with growing his winter coat so he is a bit hot and lethargic. I went on a very short, slow hack with him yesterday and will give him today and possibly tomorrow off, when it's meant to be even hotter. Blah.

Hermosa, on the other hand, is Spanish. She's fine. And she approaches every day like a woman who is chilling on the beach with a pitcher of sangria.

I have not clipped Fin for the last two winters, and he has been okay. No issues with him getting too sweaty or having to appreciably decrease workload. I don't rug him in the winter and don't plan on starting because he doesn't like rugs. However, 25C in early September is ridiculous.

The issue with clipping is that it's an expensive, time consuming project. He's never been clipped in his life, he's an ex-feral pony, and I don't fancy wrapping cords around him. That means clipping = buying cordless clippers (expensive!!), then investing time/money into Domosedan/training. If this is simply a Now Problem, then it's not worth it to me. A few days of no or light work won't make a difference. But if weirdly warm spells are to become a regular occurrence, then I might have to reconsider. My crystal ball isn't telling me what the weather will do in the future.

 

[meleeka]

I was about to suggest a bib clip until I read the last bit. Going forward, it would be a good opportunity to get him used to clippers. If you start now, you’ll be ready by the time the heatwave comes in Spring!

 

[eggs]

It's meant to be significantly cooler from next Tuesday.

If you had clippers and Fin was used to being clipped then I would be tempted to give something like a low trace clip however given that neither of these are true I would tend to leave alone. However I would look at buying clippers and getting him used to them for the future.

 

[SEL]

My Dales pony took herself into the shelter at 9am and gave me a dirty look (I don't want 30 degrees either!). I won't clip just for the next few days and I wouldn't in your position either

If your workload picks up over winter and he's grown a coat a polar bear would be proud of then time to reconsider. My last set of clippers turned up in 48 hours along with the happy drugs from the vets so dithering can turn into action fairly quickly if you need to.

 

[Caol Ila]

I just don't really have £400 to burn if I don't have to. There's nothing I can borrow at the yard. People tend to have corded ones, and they are pretty funny about lending them out anyway, because they are such expensive wee things.

I looked at used ones on FB marketplace. A decent used set seems to be around £150-200-ish. Still expensive.

 

[maya2008]

I also have a hairy one (Shetland). She’s powering through and just getting really sweaty, but she was dripping after our 8am hack today. I don’t clip mine and only rug with LW rugs in the winter, so clipping early isn’t an option. We are just riding at silly o’clock (did the first lot at first light today) and waiting for the heat to go. It will, it’s September, the hours of daylight are already reducing at speed.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Clipping wise he may surprise you.
I have a really old pony, he was never ridden so I assume never clipped.
He’s a rescue, long before I had him. He’s terrified of life. Yet the other day I clipped his head and legs with corded clippers.
He very very weirdly calm. I’d say it’s often horses who have already had a bad or rushed experience that are difficult.

 

[splashgirl45]

If you’ve got a battery toothbrush or shaver might be worth getting him used to the sound so if you do need to clip you have already desensitised him

 

[EventingMum]

It would be a good thing for him to get used to but with the Scottish weather if you order them it may well have cooled down before they arrive!

 

[NinjaPony]

I wouldn’t worry for just this week, my Welsh is hairy and I’ve just been washing off twice a day and making sure he has his fly rug on to reflect the sun (he is black).

Don’t assume the worst re clipping, my Welsh had never been clipped before and had his first clip aged 12, having been very difficult about all kinds of things like baths and needles, fly spray etc…

Because he’d never had a bad experience, he was actually completely fine about it. We went nice and slowly, made sure the blades were cool and didn’t worry too much about lines. He’s been brilliant to clip ever since; I do it myself at least twice a year with cordless clippers and the vets are always amazed that he will let them clip his neck quite happily given the rest of his behaviour!

 

[TreeDog]

If you do want to try clip either now or in the future, I wouldnt fork out for 'proper' clippers. I bought liveryman nova trimmers last year, used to give bib/ very low Irish clips to my mini cob and horse, I didn't want to spend loads on clippers in case the horses hated it and I gave up. They currently retail around £55. They've been great, I never clipped before but found them easy to use and it didn't take long for either horse to get used to (pony never clipped before, horse had a bad experience when I paid someone to come once, he was very stressed about it and we didn't have time to properly desensitise so it wasn't great!)

I used them last weekend to bib clip the mini cob again because it's 30C here this week and cobs are not designed for that! No sign of losing sharpness since the first use.

 

[MuddyMonster]

Just for the next few days, no I wouldn't in the situation described.

I do think I'd start to introduce clipping with a pair of trimmers like @TreeDog has suggested (which would be much cheaper than clippers) so I had more choice in the future.

 

[Boulty]

I’d probs start a bit of desensitisation work at some point with an electric toothbrush/ the clipper app on your phone and see how likely it looks that you’ll ever be able to clip him based on that. If that goes well I’d keep a vague eye out for some appropriate cordless clippers coming up for sale but I wouldn’t be rushing to buy any right now. PS most trimmers will NOT be up to the job of going through his winter coat… my full sized cordless spit their dummy out sometimes! Saying that I’ve just bib clipped today as I’m competing this weekend (if I wasn’t I wouldn’t bother as he’s fine mooching on the track, just want to keep him more comfy whilst I’m on board)

 

[I'm Dun]

Masterclip trimmers are very very quiet and cope with everything apart from heavy feather. I think they are about £55. I'd order a pair of those and see what he thinks. If hes going to be an issue then you have the trimmers to do desensitisation training then.

 

[maya2008]

On the cost front, I need new battery powered clippers (there's always the chance we'll do enough in the winter to need to clip the shetland a bit) - I just looked on Facebook and can pick up second hand ones from £120 upwards. No need to spend £400! Second hand rules!!

 

[criso]

I wouldn't bother for this week though if you had with winter coat coming through, it would have grown out soon

However with one that is tricky and needs domosedan I find using a professional is easier. Not someone who just does a bit of clipping on the side but a professional who is used to handling all sorts of horses and has a few sets of clippers including quieter battery operated trimmers.


I was apologetic about my horse and she said not even remotely the most difficult she deals with.

You could find someone with quiet battery clippers and aim for a bib accepting that you may not achieve it but pay anyway. Round here that wouldn't cost more than £20. Maybe you end up paying that just to run the clippers over but it's still a lot cheaper than buying clippers.

I did borrow clippers and tried desensitizing but he is unpredictable in when he reacts. So the easiest/kindest thing is to use domosedan and hire a professional who can work quickly, quietly and efficiently.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Scrap the idea for this week. This is Scotland, it will probably snow next week. I know he is a hairy Highland but a set of trimmers - dog ones are cheaper and the same thing, human ones are even cheaper - will do you a decent enough bib clip which is probably all he would ever need. I've done a fully winter coated shetland with them. Go with the coat a time or 2 to take the weight and thickness out then finally go through against the hair. It won't be pretty but it is practical.

 

[blitznbobs]

just hosepipe him off for a few days , and by next week it will be seasonally cold again

 

[palo1]

Our neighbour bought one of our hill ponies after our son grew out of her. She (the mare, not the neighbour...) has never been clipped but if I was going to help clip her, I would do a proper desensitisation etc which may or may not be done whilst this heat lasts. I have advised nice cool water and a lighter workload as the pony is growing a coat for winter. In a couple of weeks a clip won't really be helpful unless the horse is in harder work tbh. I do think if you are going to think about clipping you are best to go through the learning stuff with them and then it shouldn't be an issue another time!