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A
guide to body clipping your horse.
Buzz Cut
By Lindsey Finn. Illustrations by Jean Abernethy.
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True or
False? A horse's hair coat grows long in winter because the
weather turns cold.
If you answered false, give yourself a pat. Cold weather plays
a part in hair growth, but primarily, the decreasing amount
of daylight in fall and winter months triggers the equine
body to grow a thicker hair coat in preparation for winter.
In the fall, the horse's slick summer coat is replaced with
a thicker, longer, and sometimes duller, winter coat. Horses
living in pastures or not blanketed require this winter coat
for good health.
However, this same shaggy hair can be detrimental to a horse
kept in training during winter. Sweat-drenched hair takes
hours to dry, putting horses at risk of getting chilled and
sick. A long hair coat in a humid climate can lead to fungal
or bacterial skin infections. Plus, a shaggy horse is difficult
to groom thoroughly.
A common solution to this problem is body clipping. Body clipping
removes the long winter coat from some, or all, the horse's
body.
Types of Clips
Before clipping your horse, choose the type of clip "design"
best suited for your environment and training program. Horses
in moderate to hard work will benefit from a clip that exposes
more of the skin, allowing rapid cooling during exercise.
However, these horses must be blanketed during cold weather.
Horses in light work will not require as much of the coat
to be removed and therefore, blanketing the horse might not
be necessary. The full clip, hunter clip, blanket clip and
trace clip are several clip styles that are commonly used
in the Southeast. |
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Full
Clip
The most popular clip for horses in work is the full clip,
also called the show clip. The full clip involves removing
the coat from the entire body and legs. A horse with a thick
coat can be clipped entirely the first time and then in subsequent
clippings have the legs left natural. When done properly,
a full clip will typically look like a normal summer hair
coat, just a few weeks after clipping. |
Full Clip
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Hunter
Clip
The most common clip for horses doing hard work in the field
is the hunter clip, which leaves long hair on the back where
the saddle lies and on the legs. The hair is left on the back
for additional padding under the saddle and the hair on the
legs offers protection while traveling through brush. This
clip is ideal for fox hunters, trail horses or breeds that
have natural feathering on the legs. While the traditional
hunter clip suits a hunt seat saddle, variations of this clip
include the "eventer clip" or the "plantation
clip," where a larger area of hair is left on the back
to accommodate different style saddles. |
Hunter
Clip
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Blanket
Clip
The blanket clip leaves long hair on areas of the horse's
back, loins, quarters and legs. Hair is removed from the neck,
shoulders and belly. This clip offers the horse protection
from the cold while exposing enough of the body to allow more
rapid cooling during work than with the trace clip or a natural
winter coat.
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Blanket
Clip
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Trace
Clip
The trace clip removes hair from the underside of the neck,
between the forelegs, the belly and the upper part of the
hind legs. If the horse is in "medium work," more
hair from these areas can be taken off. This clip is suitable
for horses that are kept out in the pasture or are not in
hard work.
If you choose a hunter, blanket or trace clip, use tape or
marking chalk to help you set the lines of your desired clip.
For the hunter clip, place your saddle on the horse's back
and trace the outline of the saddle for a neat clip. It is
also helpful to mark the area slightly larger than the desired
clip - remember it is easy to take off more hair, but you
cannot add hair back!
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Trace
Clip
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Ready…
Set
First, gather your tools. You will need a good set of heavy
duty clippers for the body, a set of trimmers for the legs
and face, spare blades, a screwdriver to change blades,
an extension cord, clipper oil or a blade coolant spray,
and clipper blade cleaning solution or a small brush to
clean hair out of the blades.
1. Begin by securing your horse in crossties or have a friend
assist you. Turn the clippers on and allow the horse to
get comfortable with the sound. Once you know the horse
will accept the clippers, begin actual clipping.
2. If you start on the left side of the horse, hold the
clippers in your right hand with the flat side of the blades
against the horse. Moving against the grain of the hair,
make a long broad pass from the shoulder, up the neck, towards
the head. Always use long strokes with even pressure, and
keep each pass parallel to, and slightly overlapping of,
the pass before it. Continue this process over the entire
area of the body to be clipped.
3. Be especially careful at the top of the neck, to avoid
accidentally clipping mane hair. Remember, it takes and
average of two years to fully regrow a mane! Watch the horse's
body language when you clip around the stifle area and other
ticklish areas. When you are ready to clip around the elbow,
have someone assist you by stretching the front leg forward
and holding it up. This will make the skin smoother and
easier to clip around.
4. Many owners choose not to clip the horse's face. There
is usually not much fat and hair to help insulate the face
and head. If you must clip the face, you may choose to clip
only the cheeks/jowls and underneath the jaw.
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Clip
Tips
• If it is cold outside when you begin clipping, find
the warmest location possible. Use a blanket or cooler to
cover the clipped areas of the horse as you go.
• Never use dull clipper blades. A horse clipped with
dull blades looks like a cat that lost a fight with a cheetah!
Sharp blades, used on a clean horse, can result in a beautiful
clip job with virtually no hair lines.
• If you have never clipped the horse before, practice
acclimating the horse to the clippers earlier in the week.
Consider inserting small pieces of soft cloth gently into
the horse's ears. This will make clippers sound quieter, and
it will also keep stray hair from flying in to the horse's
ears.
• If you do not clip the legs, you may want to trim the
fetlocks and pasterns to keep the legs looking tidy. Use smaller
trimmers as they are easier to handle and have a smaller blade
width to use around the bones of the lower leg.
• Never clip a dirty or wet horse. If possible, give
your horse a bath the day before it is to be clipped, and
spray coat polish on the horse's coat when you are finished.
If you cannot bathe, groom your horse well and spray with
a coat polish. This keeps blades sliding easily through hair.
Dirty and or wet hair causes blades to dull and the clippers
to quickly overheat.
• As you clip, the housing of the clippers will get warm,
causing hazard to your horse and your clipper motor. When
this happens, turn off the clippers, clean out the blades
with the small brush and spray them with a cooling spray.
This is a good time to check the blades, change them if needed,
and measure your progress.
• Using a soft body brush, wipe away all loose hair on
the horse's body periodically. You may also want to take a
couple of minutes to hand walk your horse and stretch out
a bit while clippers cool down.
• Give yourself plenty of time. Some professional groomers
can completely clip a horse in less than one hour. If you
are clipping for the first time, it may be safer and a good
learning experience for you and your horse if you hire a professional
groomer, especially if you are clipping before an important
competition.
• Clip your horse only after the winter coat has fully
grown in. This usually occurs in mid-fall. Do not clip in
the spring unless it is absolutely necessary, as there is
potential for damaging the summer hair coat.
• If you must clip before an upcoming competition, clip
your horse two to three weeks before the event. This will
give you any extra time for touch-ups and allow the coat to
grow slightly and regain its shine. Some coat colors look
good even after a fresh clipping, while others, like bay,
tend to get a mousy brown-gray color.
• Clip in bright light so that you can see your lines.
If you are outside, start clipping in the morning. If you
clip in a barn, turn on all lights available. " Wear
clothes that can get dirty. A long-sleeved, over-sized button
down shirt that is worn backwards and buttoned up to the neck
will give you plenty of room to move comfortably but will
minimize the amount of hair that will stick to you and get
into your clothing.
• If your horse must be clipped and is fidgety and potentially
dangerous, ask your veterinarian to administer a sedative.
This will help you get a better clip and minimize the risk
of getting hurt.
• Keep an extra set of blades handy and know how to change
them. When blades become too dull, your spare blades will
allow you to keep clipping without running to the local tack
store for new ones. Most tack stores have blade sharpening
available, or can refer you to a specialty store that does.
This is a more efficient way of keeping blades sharp rather
than buying a new set every time you need to clip. |
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Lindsey
Finn recently graduated from the University of Georgia
where she competed for the UGA Varsity Equestrian
team and majored in Animal Science. Lindsey is an
Equine Consultant for Seminole Feed and enjoys riding
Derby, her 12 year old Thoroughbred gelding.
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