What type of clip for native pony?

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Laura2408

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Hi everyone,

I have an overweight pony who looks like a wooly mammoth at the moment!

My vet has told me to clip and work him hard over winter to prepare for summer as I need him to loose a lot of weight before the spring grass comes in.

What sort of clips do you all do on your native?
I was thinking of a full body except legs as he gets very sweaty everywhere when ridden (even under saddle patches and neck is terrible!)

Would I still get away with minimal rugging with this though? He normally just needs a LW to keep the rain off but will I also need heavier rugs? He has plenty of fat to keep him warm and is very hot. :)

If anyone has hairy native pony photos I would love to see them!
 
I would get the lot off now, it will grow back very quickly and as the winter kicks in I would then chaser clip him and put a lightweight rug on him.

He will be far more comfortable and easier to manage with the coat gone.
 
All off but he will need protection. Think carefully, a pony losing weight is different to a wet, cold pony who winds up ill. Your LW need full necks etc, I would also have 100g filling and a medium when needed. Work and less food is the best way and clipping allows you to do this.
 
Get the lot off now, make sure he has access to shelter should he feel the need, chaser clip as it grows back and then a lightweight as it gets chilly.
 
I'm interested in the answers to this as I think I am constantly fighting with myself to stop over-rugging my two. They always get very hairy. I have mediums (200g) and heavyweights (350g) which I am starting to feel ashamed to say they have worn with a full, thick winter coat. I am determined not to be so soft with them this year and I think they'd be grateful.
I've never clipped them but have considered it to increase the possibility of working them more in winter so the answers you guys have given/will give might help me out too :)
13yo 14.1hh Welsh cross mare and 6yo 17hh ID x TB mare.
Awaiting further interesting comments :) x
 
I always clip every winter and I really like my newforest X to live out as much as possible and not have a heap of rugs on. But she is very stressy and sweats heavily (entire body soaked and I can literally scrape the sweat off! looks like she's had a bath) I chaser clip her once I feel it is cold enough that she would shiver in the field with wet fur, but leave half her face. I recon a full clip is overkill when she's only ridden 4/5 times a week. (When she was younger I did a trace clip which is the best, but she's no spring chicken now and I don't want her to have a cold arse!) She lives out clipped still, at the moment she has a thin wooly rug on , with a lightweight sheet over the top to keep it dry. If it doesn't snow again this year, I probably wont get to the point of usuing the heavyweight w/neck. (never got it out last year!), I only get her in at night if its going to be windy, rainy and you can see your breath in the air. I actually find she gets colder in her stable then she does in the field. Only thing I will say is make sure you have some hench clppers, mine are being killed off by the thick fur lol
 
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Is your pony going to be living out or in?

I have a forester he lives out and although he is very prone to getting fat he is not fat due to careful management over the summer, he has been muzzled when on good grazing or has been on a bare paddock and has been ridden or lunged every day.

He does not get so much exercise during the winter as it is too dark after work, he grows a thick coat and I give him a bib and belly clip and he is not rugged unless it is very cold or wet but we do have good grazing even in the winter and he will get hay in the field.

I do have LW, MW and HW rugs for him. If there is snow he wears his HW and if it starts getting cold but no snow then he has his MW and if it is very wet for long periods of time he has his LW. Once I do start rugging through I continue until the end of the winter as when he is rugged he seems to loose some of his natural grease and his coat gets less waterproof. Last winter he was not rugged until January but it was mild.
 
Pasture Mix said:
I'm interested in the answers to this as I think I am constantly fighting with myself to stop over-rugging my two. They always get very hairy. I have mediums (200g) and heavyweights (350g) which I am starting to feel ashamed to say they have worn with a full, thick winter coat. I am determined not to be so soft with them this year and I think they'd be grateful.
I've never clipped them but have considered it to increase the possibility of working
them more in winter so the answers you guys have given/will give might help me out too :)
13yo 14.1hh Welsh cross mare and 6yo 17hh ID x TB mare.
Awaiting further interesting comments :) x
Click to expand...

My clipped out highland had a 200g on winters day last year never got heavy ones out. Our oldie had LW or a Rambo duo outer on and my youngster a med/ lite combo. Only because it was so wet.
 
To be honest I've never found that cold makes fat ponies lose weight, and I've had a fat welsh a for years! What works best in my experience is clipping off as much as is needed and then working them hard. My Connemara gets a hunter clip and is in work 5 days a week with 2 proper hacks and 3 fairly intense schooling sessions (when he's not lame....) and that works better for keeping his weight down than leaving him with his nice furry coat and little work as he gets too sweaty...
 
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