I did my first bodyclipping last year with the COTH recommended Andis clipper and T-84 blades and truly it is idiot proof! My horse is squirmy on the legs with this clipper and so I used the Andis rechargeable clippers for them. He wasn’t freshly bathed when I clipped him but didn’t have a super thick coat yet either. I’m in Arizona so they don’t get terribly dirty…just very dusty. I spread the job out over a few days working my way up, getting the legs over with first. It’s just easier on me and my horse.
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Jarpur, thanks. I too am using the Premiere Medium blades with my Lister Star clippers. Works beautifully. But when others mentioned the T-84 blades, I began to wonder…
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I think the Lister Medium blades are just perfect. For whatever reason, the clippers come with Fine blades which are too fine for my taste. I think they look a bit scalped. So I did a blade exchange and got Premier Mediums. Premier and Lister blades are interchangeable.
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Everyone covered everything from where I stand.
Remember- the difference between a good clip job and a bad one is about 2 weeks…
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Thank you ALL!!! So much awesome advice! Super appreciated!!
I’ve never used the Lister Fine blades, as the Premier Mediums were highly recommended. I was told they hold an edge longer, can be sharpened more times, and are overall more durable blades, and the sharpening service I use (which sells multiple brands, including both of these) agreed.
I like the Lister fine blades for my hairy cushings beast, I use the Lister Star clipper and Andis AGC II clippers. Awesome combo for me. I alternate clippers, when one gets hot I switch over. I use a ice pack for cooling blades. I don’t find that the fine blades differ much from the 10 blades on my Andis. I do a show quality clip on my horse because I’m freaking anal and very vain about HIS looks, LOL. Great tips, I clip my boy 4 times a year AND pick up a few clipping gigs here and there for fellow boarders and horse friends. It’s an art, lol. I remove my bra and wear a snug tank top with two long sleeve cotton shirts over it. When I"m done, I can peel off one shirt or take all the shirts off and throw on a baggy sweat shirt and make it home before I scratch myself silly. It’s a labor of love and necessity in So Cal and I know my boy appreciates being clipped! <3
Don’t wear a polar fleece jacket, you’ll be covered in horse hair. I did it my first time clipping, what a mistake.
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A headlamp is useful for hard to see areas like under the belly and insides of legs. Picking up front legs to stretch and get girth area better is useful.
I disagree with using long strokes, find it leaves lines. I use shorter strokes and overlap at angles to truly eliminate lines. It’s important if you want to avoid lines to keep the blades evenly along the skin, parallel to their skin if you will. But if you make a mistake it can be remedied somewhat by going back over the line at a 90 degree angle.
I like to keep some rags so i can wipe off excess oil before touching the horse, or to wipe my hands.
Keep your horse warm with a folded blanket over the parts you aren’t clipping. If he gets cold his hair will stand up and that causes unevenness and lines too. Plus it’s unpleasant for him.
Totally agree with the occasional treats. In fact clipping a horse for the first time or a difficult horse can be much easier if the person holding distracts and rewards with food.
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My trick I didn’t see listed here is canned air. It is amazing for cleaning bits of hair out of the blades, and will cool them quickly (be careful or you’ll freeze your fingers, don’t hold the nozzle down for long!). I still have my Oster Clipmasters for serious draft horse bushwhacking, but find that my Andis 2-speed handles 95% of my jobs.
Also, if you use the Andis AG-line clippers and they seem to lose their oomph, you can replace the blade drive assembly and it’s like a new set. I saved someone about $400 on replacing two sets of clippers when they just needed a $8 fix on them!
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