Any words of wisdom? Tips or tricks? I always seem to end up with lines!
Freshly scrubbed and completely dry horse. High-quality powerful body clipper with new or freshly resharpened blades that are properly tensioned. Stop to clean/oil/cool the blades frequently (don’t wait for them get hot). Don’t forget to brush hair out of the clipper fan vents. Consider having a second set of blades to switch out in case the first gets dull or hot.
ETA: be careful, they’ll stay slippery after clipping, but I also like spraying the horse all over with show sheen, rubbing it in, and letting it dry before body clipping. Blades glide right through.
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Clip wet.
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Really good lighting. I always think I do a really awesome clip job until I take my horses outside and then I’m horrified at what I’ve done and have to go back and redo.
It also seems like the less I fuss and try to fix little things, the better it turns out. When I start nit picking about my lines (I usually do an Irish clip for my younger horse and am doing a trace this year) the lines end up being crooked and awful.
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Always start with a freshly bathed, dry horse! I always start with the harder areas, legs/face, and do the bigger, easier parts last.
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I agree with PNWjumper clip wet. Did it for the first time this spring and oh my god. No hair flying everywhere and sticking to everything, seems to keep the clippers cooler and makes the whole process (bath, dry clip) faster. New blades help of course. Since I only clip my personal horse now, I’m not as picky. She has a shorter, thicker winter coat and there are some areas that just aren’t long enough to clip but because she’s grey they stand out as “not clipped” (basically they are a different shade than the rest of that area) but I just don’t worry about it. I also clip in sections - for example I did legs and head last night and plan to do neck and butt tomorrow and then her mid section this weekend. Again, we aren’t going to any A shows soon and even if we did we are jumpers so a slight difference in hair length isn’t make or break to me. Clipping in sections helps with both mine and the horse’s patience and keeps me from getting too sore from all the bending over. Show sheen or a baby oil/ water rinse after the bath helps too.
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Start with a plan and stick to it. Buying a super hairy pony that needs clipping 5 times a winter helps too!
Clipping on a slight angle against the hair vs directly against the hair helps. Leaves less lines and puts a bit of a sheen on the coat.
I clip dry with Andis AGC-2s. They aren’t a full size body clipper and choke up on wet hair, but I’ll take dry clipping and save my wrists.
clean horse and sharp blades are a must.
give yourself plenty of time to get it done. Rushing is messy.
keep a semi stiff brush handy to knock the clipped hair out of your way so you can tidy up as you go along.
wear a windbreaker over your clothes to keep them from being full of hair. Don’t rub your hands on your jeans.
plan to take a break in the middle if you can. Its hard on your hands especially when you’re learning or only do one or two a year. When your hands are tired you do a crappy job. Put the horse away to eat and have a drink for 40 minutes.
if you’re doing the face/ears, be prepared to twitch - some horses will let you, but have one handy so if you need it you aren’t stuck with two swipes down the face and then they won’t let you do any more.
(these may not all be news to the OP, but they’re important to know for anyone!)
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Do not wear polar fleece, all the hair will stick to it.
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And definitely don’t wear chapstick.
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Disposable painters suit saves your clothes, just roll it up and toss it in the trash when done.
I agree with the advice to go at a slightly different angle than the hair. I’ve found short strokes better for avoiding lines. I use the smaller Andis clippers with the T84 blade and it works like a champ.
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Thank you everyone - this is really helpful! Santa brought me a new pair of Andis clippers last year and I have yet to use them. And I’m too cheap too pay someone if I have the clippers! Now to improve my skills! 
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Clean horse, showsheened while wet and rubbed with a towel, then wait until completely dry. (This is the step that I dislike. I actually like the clipping part. Am I weird?)
I also have the Andis AGC Super 2 speeds and they don’t do well with clipping wet. Or it may be that I mostly have TBs and when they’re wet the little winter coat they get just isn’t clippable!
New/freshly sharpened blades. Have spray coolant and oil handy, and just pour a bit of blade lube in a shallow container. That way you can throw it away when it’s full of horse hair but your main jar stays clean.
Short strokes, follow (opposite to) the grain of the hair, but don’t try to be too precise about it–some diagonal strokes, as others have mentioned, will help prevent lines. Use your other hand to pull loose skin taut.
I like to start with the front end (head/neck) and then hang a hay net with yummy alfalfa or similar to keep them occupied for the rest (you don’t want them yanking their heads around while clipping it, obviously). Then I take short breaks about every quarter of the horse, for both our sakes and to let the clipper blades cool down, and I brush off the loose hair during this time too.
With a cooperative horse, doing all the above, I can do a hunter clip (no legs and just tidying face) in 45 minutes on a TB. The kids’ pony actually takes longer, despite being significantly smaller, because she has such a thick, fine winter coat. I clipped her once last month already–if I wait til she has her full winter coat, the hunter clip takes me 2 hours. For a 10.2 pony. My back says no bueno to that approach…
Remember it’s an option, if you’re doing legs/head, to do them a day or two later. Just start out with that plan rather than deciding after clipping 1 leg and part of the body that you don’t have the patience or time to finish everything same day… This is especially helpful if you need a helper for legs or head–get bodies clipped yourself, then have helper come and knock out all the extremities…
Oh, and I try to rinse them afterwards with warm water, with a bit of alcohol/liniment and coconut oil splashed in. I’m convinced they feel better, and it helps soothe the skin and avoid the dried-out-coat look.
Then wait 2 days if you do end up with any lines, and they’ll disappear. 
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In order:
Have children. One is fine, but two are better. 3 or more optional.
Bathe horse and SCRUB. Use wash wand. Loin and wither dips are the dirtiest areas.
Clip wet. I use Double Ks while my children (either 9 year old or 12 year old) tackles the other side with Andis ACG2s. Use good blades and have spares.
Double check when done in good lighting and finish.
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Really, the difference between a good clip job and a bad clip job is about 2 weeks of hair growth. If he doesn’t look how you want after you clip him, go back over the lines at an angle (about 35 degrees against the direction of the line) until you are satisfied or until half an hour has passed, whichever happens first. Then bathe your horse to get rid of clipping oils and itchy short hairs that can irritate the skin, and try to ignore what he looks like for two weeks. Two weeks later, you can look at him again, and you won’t be able to tell that he looked less than perfect the first time.
Source: I clip my furry horse every month from April to November in a less-than-perfectly-lit barn. I’ve done some clip jobs that made it look like my horse was done by a blindfolded drunk.
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Yes!
Agreed!!
T-84 blades are the best. Never have lines. Make sure Horse is clean and blades are sharp.
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Was going to recommend this video!
My must have is tons and tons of show sheen. Helps the clippers glide through the hair.
