Hello, Anybody know why they disallowed this? My horse will be very happy to not be clipped. He prefers his natural look.
Because, when competing, horses have to be examined for limb sensitivity. This can be effected by leg clipping.
From the wording, it looks like the proposed change is only to disallow clipping while at events.
Can y’all tell me why people clip horses’ legs? I’m genuinely curious. And bewildered by people who clip horses’ legs when those horses live in the Midwest and spend time in mud pastures half the year, and then the same people ask me what I use for my horses’ scratches and whatnot because their horses legs are blown up and clearly painful and look like crap and I honestly answer nothing, because my horses don’t get it, and I assume it’s because mine are hairy and I subscribe to the belief that mother nature put feathers etc. on horses’ legs for a reason, and if you can’t stand hair on horses’ legs play with Breyers, in my more impatient moments, but then again I don’t know, I may be missing something?
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Well when you go from -35C to 30C your horse appreciates the thick hair on the legs to be taken off! We’ve already takent the body hair off because sweating in those temps is bad, so we leave the legs on as we can’t blanket legs…but if we head South to Palm Springs to show, those thick hairy legs now start to sweat and that heat isn’t good, so we clip the thick hair off before we go! And, for the rest of the year I just neaten the legs for shows, no you don’t have too but long feathers aren’t necessary and they do hide any infections like scratches etc! Actually I’ve seen more infected legs that have hair than those that are clipped…it’s probab just a factor of how well the people groom and care for their horses not just that they are clipped or not!
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Most FEI horses are not turned out in the mud. They are examined carefully every day for injuries and skin problems. Long hair makes these more difficult to see, especially little nicks or cuts.
I agree with eclipse, it is more of an issue of proper management than clipped vs unclipped.
The rule does read that the horse can’t be clipped at the competition.
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Asked a steward friend of mine, and she said it’s only at the show that they cannot clip!
FEI horses do not get turned out in mud. Two reasons they get clipped. 1 - it makes it much much easier to keep white legs white. And 2 - competition horses get bathed/rinsed quite often and it would take a while for their legs to dry if they weren’t clipped. Keeping that moisture close to the skin so often can cause it’s own issues, including scratches, plus the poor horse (and groom!) would spend half of their day waiting for the horses’ legs to dry so he can go in his stall.
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and I believe it’s only for FEI classes…
I don’t know if it’s the climate here in VA, or the fact that it’s rained so much over the past 18 months that seeing Noah sailing past wouldn’t surprise me at all. But it’s a constant battle against scratches & cellulitis with the big, feather-footed guys.
So, to answer the last five words of that incredibly long sentence? Yes, you are “missing something”. 
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To answer the upthread “why clip legs” question, because, even as a muddy Midwesterner whose horses have always spent plenty of time out, I find it easier to keep legs free of scratches, fungus, resulting cellulitis and other grossness when they’re clipped. They dry more quickly.
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It is largely about allowing legs to dry faster. Remember that FEI jumpers typically spend little time bare-legged. They wear boots, polos or wraps much of the time. Hairy legs hold onto both heat and moisture, setting up conditions for festering ickiness.
Clipped legs also make therapies like ice boots more effective.
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Oh thanks! The FEI jumper getting hot/wearing boots a lot part makes good sense. Although horses at the track spend most of their lives with legs covered in polos and wraps and in ice boots and their legs aren’t clipped. You just don’t put their standing bandages on when their legs are wet. I’m guessing it easier to manage them because they only go out once a day and for a relatively short period of time. I can see an FEI jumper who spends its time in nice manicured footing and wears boots for hours while in work being clipped, but I guess different strokes for different folks when it comes to horses who don’t.
When we have to clip a leg for the vet to scan a tendon we stop putting product on it (brace, poultice, sweat) until the hair grows back, otherwise it blisters. So I always considered hair as friend, not foe.
Hmm Sounds like if what the @eclipse Steward friend is saying is correct, that they are trying to make sure here are no excuses at leg check… I’m guessing someone called a horse’s legs out for having fresh cuts, and the groom and rider saying it was due to being freshly clipped, not due to something in the boots… I am also wondering if there was a problem of horses showing up ringside with scrapes or cuts in an attempt to make them jump better… like some new type of soring, that can be easily explained away by the lie "oh we just clipped his legs’… cuz I don’t know anyone who would want to be clipping a horse in a show environment, just seems like it would be hard to do a good job.
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I will see her in 2 weeks at a show and am going to ask her opinion to get some insight…fyi, she’s an FEI steward that travels internationally so will have some good information! I’ll report back what I find out (she’s my go to source when I have questions that equine Canada don’t give a straight answer too lol)
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If you are stuck in a show environment for weeks/months on end, like at WEF, you may not have much of a choice.
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Having owned a Clydesdale and draft mules who lived outside 24/7 in Florida, it’s very difficult to keep scratches and heat- and moisture-related crud under control without clipping. In that environment, feathers just make it impossible to keep the pastern area clean and dry.
Ditto this winter now that I live farther north, except here the issue has been the mud, which, thanks to the never ending *&^%$# rain, is deep and persistent.
True, but most horses don’t jump in the FEI classes every week. There’s no issue if they’re showing national. I guess if you have multiple weeks of FEI in a row, you have to clip on a Monday, or Tuesday am before the jog.
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Race horses are absolutely getting their legs clipped, too. Most people aren’t going at their horses with a surgical blade, but they are definitely trimming them for the same reasons jumpers and dressage horses are- they get daily baths and treatments and its a lot easier to dry them off quicker without furry legs. When you have a full barn that needs to be worked and treated daily, you don’t have time to leave everyone sitting out forever on crossties to wait for dry legs.
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