Which cordless clippers? - for thick hairy cob feather

[HappyNeds]

Hi all, I've had my gypsy cobs feather clipped last month by a mobile clipper-lady, she used cordless clippers as no electricity at our yard, and this worked out well and my poor boy was very upset with the clippers and even though he was twitched still dragged my hubby off his feet and around the yard with the clipper-lady in hot pursuit!

Anyway, we are still getting on top of very serious long-standing feather mite condition (currently treating successfully under vet-advise), but need to keep his feather trimmed back for at least another 6 months or maybe longer to get properly on top of the problem.

However, his feather is growing back at a rate of knots, I'm trying to cut it back with scissors but that just doesn't seem to be good enough, and if we get the clipper-lady back he will likely go ape again.

We think the kindest thing for him is to get some cordless ones ourselves then we can take it slowly slowly with him, and do a little bit at a time, and get him used to them.

But...which cordless clippers will be 'man' enough for massively hairy feather? I've been reading up about Liveryman Harmony clippers as some seem to rate them, but has anyone used them for thick hair, are they any good?

Are there any other recommendations for cordless clippers that will cut through thick hair? Sorry for the long pre-ramble, and thank you

 

[JessPickle]

We full clip my hairy clydesdale with Lister cordless ones. Works a treat and he really is a wooly mammoth.

 

[L&M]

Another vote for Lister - I have the Harmony's and as long as the hair is spotlessley clean, they cut fine on my cobs hairy legs!

I had a set of Moser Avalon's prior to this, which were equally good, but somtimes the blades would not attach properly, which was quite frustrating, especially mid clip.

 

[HappyNeds]

Another vote for Lister - I have the Harmony's and as long as the hair is spotlessley clean, they cut fine on my cobs hairy legs!

Thanks Sidney, I'm just googling to try and find the models, I can't seem to find Lister Harmony clippers, do you mean Liveryman Harmony? Or is a different Lister model? Thank you

 

[HappyNeds]

We full clip my hairy clydesdale with Lister cordless ones. Works a treat and he really is a wooly mammoth.

Thanks JessPickle - if you can clip a Clyde, then I'm sure my cob will be fine! There seems to be a few Lister cordless models online

Is it this one, the Lister Liberty? (Eeek! It's quite expensive!)
http://www.farmcareuk.com/shop/product/cordless-clippers/lister-liberty-horse-clipper

The other Lister cordless ones seem to be called timmers and not clippers, which perhaps would suggest they are only for round ears/faces etc, and not feather?

 

[DressageCob]

I completely advise against getting the liveryman maverick clippers- I have them and they are awful. I have a not-particularly-hairy cob and they barely clip him. Plus you have to send the blades away to be sharpended because of their shape. Major faff!

 

[HappyNeds]

I completely advise against getting the liveryman maverick clippers- I have them and they are awful. I have a not-particularly-hairy cob and they barely clip him. Plus you have to send the blades away to be sharpended because of their shape. Major faff!

Thanks for the warning - and I'm sorry, I've just googled this model and they are expensive ones, you must be annoyed. Thanks for letting me know, I will steer clear of these

 

[JessPickle]

Yeah those are the ones. I'm lucky as my housemate has them so can borrow.

 

[HappyNeds]

Yeah those are the ones. I'm lucky as my housemate has them so can borrow.

Thanks JessPickle...I'm just not sure I can convince hubby to part with £300 for these!

 

[KVH]

I haven't been impressed by my Liverman Harmony clippers at all.. even on fine hair.
Wish I could send them back quite frankly!

 

[thatsmygirl]

KVH I'm fighting at the mo for a refund on some harmony clippers. I brought them but all they done was get stuck in the ponies coat as it was thick. Motor died like it wasn't powerfull enough. The company are saying there is nothing wrong with them but I'm fighting the fact they aren't fit for purpose.

 

[smokey]

I completely advise against getting the liveryman maverick clippers- I have them and they are awful. I have a not-particularly-hairy cob and they barely clip him. Plus you have to send the blades away to be sharpended because of their shape. Major faff!

I had these as well, and had endless problems with them. They didn't cut properly, and there was horrendous static build up in them, resulting in several shocks. Sent them backs and got a refund, not before a long 'discussion ' with customer services!

 

[Blitzen]

I'd recommend the Liveryman Harmony a thousand times over! My mare has very thick dense feather and they are brilliant, and only approx £80. Will definitely be getting another set when these eventually conk out (which they're showing no sign of doing, 3 years and still as good as new) x

 

[Blitzen]

*Liveryman Element, sorry!
The little rechargables, they're fab =)

 

[HappyNeds]

*Liveryman Element, sorry!
The little rechargables, they're fab =)

Ohhh thank you Laura-C, these look great, and they are actually affordable!! And we only want them for trimming feather, and maybe only for this year, so it would be great if we don't have to break the bank.

I can't believe how many of the posters on here have had such trouble with very expensive clippers, it's really bad.

 

[jennie1000]

I have the lister star clippers that I use on her body. These are chunky though so use them to get the bulk of the feather off. I use wahl dog clippers to tidy up and get close to the skin. My mare has long term issues with nights also and her feathers are clipped monthly. What treatment regime are you using out of interest? Products etc?

 

[HappyNeds]

My mare has long term issues with nights also and her feathers are clipped monthly. What treatment regime are you using out of interest? Products etc?

Hi Jennie...oohhh where to start! Basically you name it, I've tried it.

Our boy came to us with TERRIBLE feather-mites, really bad, golf ball size scarring and bleeding scabs that had just been left for about 6 years. Problem was he had massive beautiful long thick feather so it was so hard to even see let alone get at it, and we had no idea when we bought him how bad it was (we did get him vetted, and vet mentioned it but we didn't know how hard it would be to try and sort them).

The first year we tried everything - 1/2 dozen Dectomax injections from vet (these only worked for about a week), major pig oil & sulphur regime sent to me by the very helpful Theresa_F (thank you Theresa!) which I ended up buying in bulk in drums!, but the problem was nothing solved it.
I started this thread for suggestions http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=502288 and tried most of the suggestions on here, including things like Nettex feather mite powder.

So finally we clipped his feather out - and then we could see how bad things really were and start to get on top of it. We have been following Vet advice (we have a very helpful vet who used to work at Redwings so had seen her share of feather-mite horses).#

So here goes...

> Clip feather out (it just means you can see everything, and know treatment is really getting where needed).
> Then Wash each week for 4 weeks with Seleen shampoo (quite expensive, need about 100ml which is 2/3 of the bottle per wash - have since discovered that human shampoo Selsun contains the same active ingredient but even stronger and is cheaper!). You need to wet, lather, leave for 10 mins, then rinse properly.
> Towel dry legs until only damp
> Then put gloves on and rub into damp legs about 8 sprays of Frontline per leg. If horse doesn't like being sprayed then spray onto glove and rub into skin, or just spray straight onto leg but make sure you rub it into the skin with your gloved hands. Buy the big bottle (about £38) from your local cat/dog vets, they had to phone my equine vet to confirm it was ok for me to have it as it's prescription only but much cheaper this way, the bottles look like this:
http://www.animeddirect.co.uk/dogs/...le&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=googleshopping
> Then on the actual existing sores/scabs the vet gave me a steroid cream in an E45 base (as soothing as Sudocrem but actually working to clear it up too), this cream is mostly used for mud fever but works well here, cost about £35 for a huge tub. This can be applied daily as needed. Worth it – really clears up the sores.

> Once all exisiting scabs/sores gone, only wash with the Seleen/Selsun shampoo every couple of months or even only a couple of times a year, if needed.

This treatment works in the following ways:
> The Seleen/Selsun shampoo removes the habit (the scurf) where the mites live, and helps with the itchiness
> The Frontline actually kills the mites
> The vet steroid cream clears up any long-standing sores
End result = one very happy horse (no stamping, chewing, itching at all!)

Sorry this has turned out so long, but we’ve really tried it all, and after nearly 18 months this is the closest we are to a very happy horse, and I hope within a few weeks we should really be there.

The plan is to keep him clipped out for another 6 months or year so we can keep a very close eye on it, and see if we can solve it completely. If we can solve it then we will let his feather grow back (and then we will be applying pig oil and sulphur – as I do believe this will work very well as a prevention, but it just wasn’t enough to solve the existing long standing problem we had). If it doesn’t go away completely but we can keep him as happy as he is now with keeping him clipped and just a wash of this shampoo every few months then that’s fine too.

I hope this is helpful! Sorry it's so long

 

[brucethegypsycob]

ah - now i do have the liveryman maverick clippers and i also have a hairy gypsy cob. they take a bit of getting used to but are actually very useful in that you can turn the blade to get at awkward bits. they run off a battery pack or mains. (me too have no electric on my yard). suffice it to say i now love them and so does cobby

 

[JEZA]

Dear OP
Take the worst of the hair off with scissors over a comb, then use rechargable, quiet dog clippers. Believe me my mare has some hair on her legs, and this works a treat. She also has?? mites and horrific sore legs. She has Detemax(cant spell it) injection from vet, and I use pig oil and sulphur to keep it under control.
I cant remember the name, but there is a scabby condition which these hairy cobs can get on their legs and its not mites, and it appears to be life long. Ive had loads of cobs over the years, and this is our 2nd one with the sore legs.
I cant cure it, just keep it under control!
Best of luck with these clippers.

 

[katherine1975]

I have never needed to clip feathers, just use frontline and mites have gone.

 

[hairycob]

I have the liveryman harmony, but have never used them on feathers. They have coped really well with 2 of my cobs who had nice soft silky type coats & our old pony with cushings who had a coat as thick as sheep skin. My latest cob has a much coarser, more greasy coat & even when he has been washed they are just not man enough for him. It seems to be the coarseness/waxiness of the coat, rather than the thickness, that causes issues.

 

[KVH]

KVH I'm fighting at the mo for a refund on some harmony clippers. I brought them but all they done was get stuck in the ponies coat as it was thick. Motor died like it wasn't powerfull enough. The company are saying there is nothing wrong with them but I'm fighting the fact they aren't fit for purpose.

Let me know how you get on-I could send them off to be repaired but I don't want them repaired, they weren't cheap, I want my money back to buy a decent pair of clippers

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I haven't been impressed by my Liverman Harmony clippers at all.. even on fine hair.
Wish I could send them back quite frankly!

Ditto. Totally agree. An absolute waste of flippin' money. Wouldn't even shave the bum-fluff on a gnat let alone a TB, never mind a cob.

 

[HappyNeds]

Hi,
Just wanted to say thanks for all your comments and recommendations, the posts telling us what not to buy were very useful too!

We bought the Liveryman Element Trimmers, really good price, very lightweight and quiet, we've trimmed our boys feather twice now with them and found these clippers effective on the thick feather.

So thanks everyone for your experiences

 

[BigBearStallion]

Cordless clippers are good because they are quirt, I use to use Lister but now use Sure Clip as the price is excellent and quality good, these are the ones I have http://www.sure-clip.co.uk/kxhr-933.html

They get through my Welsh cobs feathers with no problem.

 

[**Vanner**]

I love my harmony clippers.

 

[Flicker51]

Dear OP
I cant remember the name, but there is a scabby condition which these hairy cobs can get on their legs and its not mites, and it appears to be life long. Ive had loads of cobs over the years, and this is our 2nd one with the sore legs.
I cant cure it, just keep it under control!
Best of luck with these clippers.

This - unless he is stamping it would be worth considering if its salanders/malanders. Not sure of the cause but mine gets them even if clipped /treated. I think its a bit like sweaty excema in humans . The only thing that works short term is hydro-cortisone cream but you cant use it too long. WE put loads of cream on sudocrem/muddy marvel and it helps. Doesnt seem to bother him in any way.....

 

[BigBearStallion]

I use SURE CLIP clippers, they are very cheep but work very well, if you google there site you will see they have a battery powered set that has plenty of power. x