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All respondants have put a lot of thought into their particular
situation, rather than depending on trend to dictate their decision on
whether to clip or not. For that reason the comments section is the most
useful and coincidentally the most entertaining part of this report. The
pros, cons and comments sections were edited to eliminate duplication
provided it didn't reduce the information.
Many folk had more than one horse and treated different horses
differently. Some respondants who clipped, did not blanket and some that
did not clip, did blanket. Some would use a different clip on the same
horse depending on time of year. So if something looks skewed here (i.e.
percentages that add up to more than 100), it's because humans are
involved.
A comment on the claisfications for clip type. I put the clips roughly
into three categories and even if the type of clip didn't exactly match
I placed the result in the one that was closest. Also simplified the
time of clipping to spring and fall since this is when most folk did
their clips, though some did it all year around at refular intervals,
for these I put them in both catergories.
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Number of respondants.................15
Regions...............................Desert Pacific
Central
W, NE & NW
Percentage clipped....................80%
Percentage used front clips...........60%
Percentage used trace clips...........40%
Percentage used full clips............33%
Percentage clipped in Spring..........73%
Percentage clipped in Fall............40%
Percentage used blanketed.............53%
Percentage used fly sheets............13%
Percentage turned out 24 hours........67%
Percentage turned out day only........73%
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PROS
Easier to keep clean AND to cool out after winter workouts.
Easier to prevent skin "crud" suring the winter with the workouts.
Coat stays nicer - we blanket our stallion since people seems to think a
hairy stallion is sub-standard quality breeding or somedumb thing.
HRM is more effective than with the winter coat.
Benefit from the hair removal when evaporating which is the most
efficient way to cool.
Just clipping the underside of the neck can be a BIG help for cooling.
Full body clip all summer to help him disapate heat.
Easier to keep them clean.
Makes a huge difference in recovery and performance if you get a really
hot day.
The best benefit of clipping them is that I don't have to eat horse hair
for weeks!!!
Elimination of the sweat problem.
Avoids chilling due to wetness caused by sweat after ride on cold
nights.
Leg clipping helps with mud removal there.
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CONS
Lotsa work, sweat and hair down your shirt to accomplish it!
Hate doing it.
Hate to blanket.
Blanketing becomes a MUST.
Have to go back out to the barn an hour after feeding to blanket -
during the winter it is cold out there!
Ruins the coat (you mess up the natural coat development and shedding
patterns). Takes a year to 3 years for the coat to recover.
Too time consuming before ride.
If weather turns really bad at the ride, it can be a disadvantage.
Visual appearence (dull coat)
_________________________________________________________________
COMMENTS
Horses live outside and it is best to let them grow what they need. I
get a short coat on my horses with a rubber curry and a lot of elbow
grease rather than a pair of clippers. Stallion blanketed to keep nice
showy coat to attract breeding prospects. As an aside, if you have
access to a garden hose. Hose your horse off after (or before it it is
really hot) working him. Also, if you want to get your horse to shed
out faster, you may want to consider blanketing him for about a week.
..watch the hair fall out. I have heard that applying baby oil and then
currying it off a day or two later is supposed to shed the coat quickly
(I don't know if this is true, and it makes a mess).
I bathe my horses ALL winter to keep the dander to a minimum. Clean
horses dry faster, that simple. I can ride, throw a cooler on then
blanket at night even in the worst weather. I hate to clip over the
hindquarters, back or legs because the hair is so protective again wet
and wind.
Where I live (Northern Nevada, elevation 4500'), my horses get heavy
duty winter coats. When we start going to rides in the spring, they are
competing against horses from the lowlands that have no winter coats. I
find that even if I just shave their necks it makes a big difference in
how they recover. This year, in fact, I shaved them from the neck up
first, then about a week later finished up with the full body clip.
With two horses it's easier to do it in stages.
Competed since early 80s, never bothered (to clip) before - lived in
arid west and concerned about drops in temps. Live in warmer/humid
climate now Loved how quickly my arab mare cooled out, improved her
recoveries, but was concerned about the looks of her summer coat which
is actually very pretty now - so my "clipper guy" did a fantastic job.
I don't normally clip. The only thing I do on two of them is to roach
the mane and forelock because they get in such a mess with cockleburs. I
dont feel that my horses need clipping. they normally shed out as the
weather turns. I wouldn't clip any of them without having a barn for
them to stay in.
Mathew MacKay-Smith once said that a horse cools when the sweat
evporates and carries heat out of the blood and there isn't any blood in
hair so get rid of it.
We have quite a flutuating temp 20's at night 40's during the day until
spring where it is 20's at night 60's to late spring 40's @ night 80's
during day (where we are now) to summer 40's-60's @ night to 90-110+
day. Yet as you said sweat was a problem. When it got warmer I used a
clipper guide (a old hairdressing trick) and just shortened the hair
around his entire neck, chest, belly area. If you clip too late in the
year often you can dull the summer coat hairs by blunting the ends of
the hair that is just growing in.
My horse's coat was so heavy when I clipped him last year that I think
his summer coat was barely started. It looked like the dickens when I
was done! A quality pair of BIG clippers made the clip job look OK, but
the horse just looked silly. It DID, however, make a big difference in
his workouts...he sweats profusely anyway, and clipping helped him stay
cool & dry out faster after the workout. I always have trouble keeping
weight on this horse, and I feel that clipping him helped him maintain
body condition, too.I chose not to clip him again this year for two
reasons: 1) I hated the way it looked, and cringe at the thought of my
neighbors comments......again....! ( ie, " Is that a poodle, or a
horse?!!"
40 degrees is comfort for a horse/cow, so I would not worry unless it is
damp, wet, or below 40. More important is dry or damp, I think. I never
body clip my stallion. He never needs it! I body clip greys
because they are so *ugly* with that long hair! I did not do my 19 yo
horse, he needs his energy and his rider weighs with tack, at 90 pounds!
Nicco
-- Open the bay door please, Hal.
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