Showing + Clipping

[ashlingm]

Just bringing my horse back into work and he sweats up ALOT!

Ive seen many show horses kept clipped throughout the showing season and im planning to do this with him (its going to be a very busy summer with showing and jumping!)

what do you recommend. it will be a coarse clip so not too short. just to keep on top of his sweating, fitness and so hes easier to keep clean.

he will have a rain sheet on him during the night!

[vikkig]

where does he swet? if it is under the saddle area your only option is full but you do have the option of legs on or off, it the summer i normally take the legs off then you dont notice that they are clipped.

[ashlingm]

so glad i got someone pro clipping.
he sweats on his neck, his girth area (even when he isnt wearing a girth) in between his legs. and sometimes on his back if its warm and hes working hard (ie few laps of canter...or long hack)
hes just coming into work after nearly 2 months off...and hes full of beans and sweating up very quick

[Daffy Dilly]

It needs to be a full clip from head to hoof for the show ring really.

[ashlingm]

can i leave his head half done like the horse in the blanket clip but with the rest of the body hair gone??
(http://www.newrider.com/Library/Horse_Care/clipping_how_much.html)

would not be noticeable with bridle on or should i get a trimmer and take the whole lot off???

[Pink's lady]

Has he still got his winter coat in? Pink still does as she's only just started moulting. The rest still have half their winter coats.

If so clipping him now is a bad idea as you'll damage his new coat coming through. You'll just have to live with him sweating until he looses his coat.

If he's got his full summer coat in, and still sweating I would still think twice about it. Sweating in those areas is perfectly normal for an unfit horse. It won't hard him at all and you can just sponge him down after work. As he gets fitter he'll sweat a lot less. Very few horses I know need clipped out during the summer, unless they are in really hard work.

[S_F_S]

I clipped my TB through last season, as I was still clipping late to hunt in February and it was starting to interfere with the summer coat. It has to be a full clip, all off and no lines, and quite a close one to get it to lie flat and smooth and shiny like a summer coat.

[ashlingm]

arnt many top show horses clipped during the summer?

im not doing for this purpose but surely there workload isnt that intense that a clip is justified?
and if a horse have enough protection (rug) and are most comfortable this way surely its a good thing there owner is concerned about there welfare and comfort over ruining a summer coat?

[ashlingm]

bump?!

[shanzee]

I clip my show cob throughout the year. Yes, it is partly to keep her looking smart for the shows, but the main reason is that she gets very hot and uncomfortable, and also has very sensitive skin. Even with a normal summer coat, as soon as she gets warm she is ferociously itchy. it doesn't seem to bother her as much if she is clipped.

[xloopylozzax]

a show cob is supposed to be shown clipped though i thought anyway.

its just the natives, traditionals and other 'working' breeds (hunters etc) that wouldnt be clipped.

if they get very hot and uncomfortable they arent fit enough.
if it is just what they look like then sponge them down after they are ridden.

i would avoid a clip at all costs, especially if you are going to do it now when they (probably i know ours still have) still have their winter coats, because you cant tell properly anyway.
wait until they have stopped maulting and are fit, then decide but it wont really be necessary.

[rtk]

We can clip our show cob all year but I dont think many other people do.

The only other one I know of that is clipped in summer is a working hunter pony on a nearby yard, it has cushings (they dont admit it) and has to be clipped. He ends up with a rather rough looking summer coat, but he still wins so who knows.

If your going to clip it needs to be the whole lot, face and everything, within 2 weeks of clipping our cob you cant tell its been done, well apart from the mane and feathers :D

[mogadoga]

I clip all year. Alex sweats like a pig during summer, and he is fit.
He gets sweet itch so i hog him, and mud fever so i take feathers off. Soo i decided to show him afterwards lol. I hate clipping, but hes happier that way, hes so itchy with a proper coat!

[Cochise]

Need to get them before they start moulting and the summer coat starts growing through, or the summer coat will be ruined. We usually clip our show horses fully out by mid-August at the latest, absolutely no idea what that would mean to you in the UK, mid-April? mid-May?
We clipped this fellow in mid August. This is him on a dull day in October:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f33/cheeksndebs/The%20Irish%20Redhead/Temporarypicturefiles002.jpg
But the coat really came through beautifully for November:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f33/cheeksndebs/The%20Irish%20Redhead/November06007sml.jpg

[sharpsky]

ive always been told not to clip horses once they start moulting as it ruins their summer coat, we clip a few of ours through the summer but i dont show so it doesnt really matter to me

[ashlingm]

do you use a normal set of blades or a medium length ones??