Clipping 1.01

Jane&Ziggy

Jane&Sid these days!
Apr 30, 2010
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Surrey Hills
Sid is hairy. Very hairy. He's getting his summer coat, but he still has long hair coming under his chin and all over his legs, of course.

I have got a set of Lister Star clippers off eBay, newly serviced and with sharpened blades. But honestly, I never clipped Ziggy and I just haven't got a clue WHAT to do!

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Any advice or somewhere I should go for easy-to-follow instructions?
 
If you don’t want to take the hair off his legs entirely then run the clippers down the leg rather than up. I used to have to do a cob at work. It was easier to clip her legs out every 3 weeks at most. Once the hair is gone it is easier to keep on top of and much quicker. Also don’t worry if you make a mistake and think it looks bad as it will be hidden again in a couple of days.
 
There is a video of Michael Peace clipping a horse I think. I own it but it may well be on line or on You tube. I watched him clipo a Police Horse at a demo at Merrist Wood, a horse which hated its face being clipped.

 
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I’d say get someone to show you first, like anything it’s easy when you know how but having the confidence to just do it was hard for me, got my friend to give me a demo and was fine with it then 😊
 
A friend said to me "do you know the difference between a bad clip and a good clip? Two weeks!" 😂 I clip Gracie terribly.... the only way to learn and get better is to practise. Just remember that it will always regrow.
 
Do you know if hes even been clipped before?

I would stay well clear of the back legs until you know if he can tolerate clipping. Start with the neck. Attempt a bib clip then if hes not happy with clipping you havent done too much.
I just start at the neck to get him use to noise and feel, then work in long glides from the top of the leg up the shoulder along neck towards the head. Working my way from the belly up diagonally to his withers.
I tend to leave the head till ive done the rest of the body.

In between clips i will often just get the scissors out and tidy up under the chin if it gets a bit hairy.
 
I have always done minor clipping with small clippers but now that one horse is Cushings, I bought a set of Lister clippers.

When the chiropractor came to work on him, she asked what happened to him ——😳

I snt back to using the small clippers and running new scissors down the backs of the leg. His “leg seam” hair grows really thick and holds a of yuck. It needs shaved down several times a year, where I live.

I love the new Lister clippers. They are lightweight and pretty quiet. It’s a shame their only fault is purely operator error🤯
 
Due to health and safety Jane I was never allowed to try Michael Peace's way with my old share. She was considered dangerous and needed sedation to be clipped. So RI would not put me at risk. This was reasonable I suppose, as old share had put staff in hospital. And I have one souvenir, a hole she tore in the sleeve of my Musto jacket.
 
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Do you know if hes even been clipped before?

I would stay well clear of the back legs until you know if he can tolerate clipping. Start with the neck. Attempt a bib clip then if hes not happy with clipping you havent done too much.
I just start at the neck to get him use to noise and feel, then work in long glides from the top of the leg up the shoulder along neck towards the head. Working my way from the belly up diagonally to his withers.
I tend to leave the head till ive done the rest of the body.

In between clips i will often just get the scissors out and tidy up under the chin if it gets a bit hairy.
Oh yes, he was clipped out when I got him with ugly regrowth on his legs. I had a pro lassie come to take his legs off again after a few weeks as I needed to get in with the Heal to Hoof. He is very very good, no issues.
 
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Just give it a go, it’s really is easy.

Tensioning your blades is the most complicated bit, the screw on top won’t be done tight, it’s hard to describe as I do it by feel, just tight enough nothing rattles but loose enough that they can still move. Clip against the coat, in long slow sweeps and I like to only take half the blades width with each sweep, the other half going back over the bit you just did which helps clean it up. Oil your blades well and stop and re oil and check their temperature every few minutes, if they are hot to touch you need to stop and wait for them to cool. Arm pits are fiddly, it’s easiest to have a second person to hold the leg up (to stretch out the wrinkles) while you clip it. If you’re taking full face off have a look at how others blend the eyes and muzzle, I cup my hand over the eye and whip round and go down to just above nostrils and lips then blend as needed, or just leave half face on 😋

My top tip is to work evenly on both sides from the front, as opposed to taking one side off then the other, only because if something goes wrong and you have to stop before you’re finished at least they don’t look quite as silly! Yep I did one side of a full clip on my liver chestnut haffie X and he had to look a tit for 10 days while the clippers were sent out for repair 🤦‍♀️
 
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I have Lister Stars and while I'm not giving clipping tips because I'm not good at it I can tell you that to tension the blades you do the tensioning screw up fully and then release it by one and a half turns. And keep an eye on the temperature of the blades and oil them frequently.
 
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I have Lister Stars and while I'm not giving clipping tips because I'm not good at it I can tell you that to tension the blades you do the tensioning screw up fully and then release it by one and a half turns. And keep an eye on the temperature of the blades and oil them frequently.
Yep thats what it says on my instructions for lister star too.

What blades have you got with your new clippers jane. Cant remember whats on the nomal set without looking, but i think the fine blade has an f2 on the big section when you take them apart.
I always start with normal blades so dont worry if it looks streaky or you miss bits. Once the worst of the coat is all off. Change to fine blades and go over the whole body again thats when you can really get the nice finish. Then give the horse a lovely shampoo or hot cloth to help get rid of remaining clip lines.
Ive never clipped down below the knees but again id just do normal blade and then fine blade.
 
These are the two sets of blades it came with:

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The one on the bottom says "A2F' when I take them apart so I think they are Fine. I assume the others are Normal.

This is an old set of clippers - the original invoice is there and they are 10 years old! - but they seem in good nick and have ust been serviced. The blades have been done too and they are effing sharp.
 
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I have Lister Stars too and agree with the tensioning tip. My advice would be not to clip with A2F's but just get some A2's. The fine blades will take off a little extra hair which will blatantly show every error you make! I learned this the hard way and now have A2 mediums. I always bath Gracie first.... the cleaner the horse the better the clip. And long, sweeping strokes are also key. And don't press too hard!
 
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Yep a2f thats the fine set.

I agree with pre washing tip too. I always shampoo and wash the horse the day before I clip, even in the winter. So rug up well after you wash. Cobs with muddy and dusty coats equals blunt clippers. Clippers will just the snag the coat with the dirt in it. I was lazy one year and didnt bother to wash, it made for harder clipping and really did blunt the clippers. lesson learnt.

Also the horse must be bone dry to clip, never wet. Also snags the clippers.
 
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