Clipping Novice

[Stephelia]

Hi there,

My beloved RD is in desparate need of a clip! He has loooooong whiskers (for lack of a better word), and big tufts of hair behind and around the fetlocks. I have never clipped him before, but I'm not worried about behaviour, since he vacuums and all other nuisances wonderfully.

Some questions

1. What type of clippers should I get; I don't intend to body clip him, just bridle path, whiskers and feet.
2. What size blade?
3. I've heard when doing the feet, you go against the hair growth, i.e., I would go UP from where the hoof meets the leg. Is this true?

Steph

[ros]

You can get clippers in all sorts of different sizes, but just be a bit careful if you have a horse with thick feather, because some smaller clippers won't cope with the coarse hair. You could have a chat with a friendly retailer - they should be able to show you what range is available and which would be suitable for what you want.

As for clipping feet and legs, a lot of people do clip against the lie of the hair as you would do the rest of the body, but be careful because it can sometimes irritate the skin on sensitive horses (and that doesn't necessarily mean TBs ;) ); Frank was a big hefty Clydesdale cross with very heavy, coarse feathers, and I used to have to clip his legs very carefully, and WITH the lie of the coat, otherwise he'd get clipping rash.