When did people start clipping horses??? What year?

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jen1

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Was watching something on TV tonight with my kids which was supposed to be set in 1850s England, a horse walked by with a lovely trace clip!! Got me thinking when did people start clipping horses? Did they do it initially for hunting or horses that were working hard in carriages etc?

Also have looked in some old books with very old photos and a lot of horses certainly for riding seemed to be hogged, now it's normally just cobs or polo ponies or if the horse has a medical condition.

Got any ideas then??
 
Was that Doctor Who on Children In Need? I saw that and thought 'That horse has a blanket clip!!!! It shouldn't be clipped should it?!'

No idea when we started clipping though!
 
I though about this too, there is an advert (think it may only be in scotland) where there is a medevil knight galloping through a valley on a horse who has a full body clip- very amusing!
 
I have a really old horse book, I'd check it to see if there was anything in there but the cat is asleep on my lap
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I'll look when she gets up
 
Certainly clipped in WW1, so very early 20C.
Ealry clippers also powered by second groom turning a handle device, not electric power,
 
My book is 'Riding and Hunting' by M Horace Hayes. There's no mention of clipping in it. The hunters are definately trimmed and hogged, but don't *look* clipped, but I can't be sure.

Off topic but
It's a really interesting book, printed in 1910. The pics of the old style seats, equipment, old fashioned instructions are great and there's an inscription inside the front cover that says 'Margaret Crosskey from her father, carried by him through the War 1914-1918.
 
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<snipped>
Off topic but
It's a really interesting book, printed in 1910. The pics of the old style seats, equipment, old fashioned instructions are great and there's an inscription inside the front cover that says 'Margaret Crosskey from her father, carried by him through the War 1914-1918.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, don't mean to hijack;, but that is a lovely quote. Brings so many thoughts to mind
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Lol I saw that horse on children in need too! Didnt they used to clip with manual clippers or something? They hunted a few 100 years ago, I wonder if they clipped then?
 
clipping was done by hand, not sure of the earliest date. Captain M Horace Hayes brilliant horseman, i have "Veterinary Notes for Horse Owners" by him, it is my bible!
grin.gif
 
i used to have some antique horse clippers, unfortunatley I have no idea where they are or how old they were, but the clip part of it resembled modern day clippers, the same sort of blades, but the handles had a scissors like action.
 
I always assumed that 'trace' clips were so called as the line of the clip being the same line as where the 'shafts' of the carrige go and that they probably dated back from the days of when carrige horses were prevalant. I thought 'trace' was something to do with carriges/carts etc but I have no idea where I got it from - probably one of those things you've always thought but is totally wrong!!
 
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