Horse hates the vibration of clippers!

[HJW]

Hi guys

We have a new 14H cob who has been been left in a field for years and never been clipped. She is good as gold in every other way but when we tried to clip her it was not happening! We had the vet out and they prescribed us a sedative gel (UK) which was supposed to be a good one, after an hour and a half she was still wide awake and the drug didn’t even touch her! I could jump on her back, scratch her belly, walk underneath her and she wouldn’t bat an eyelid, even with the clippers on and standing right next to her she is fine. As soon as you put the clippers on her, she hates the vibration and totally freaks. She spins round, rears up or pins herself against the wall.

We left her to calm again for 10 mins then tried to twitch her, she seemed calm but again, as soon as those clippers touched her she freaked and actually managed to get herself out of the twitch!

Does anyone have any other suggestions? It’s not the noise she is afraid of, it’s the vibration…

Thanks!!

[eclipse]

We have a horse like this and we had to have the vet come and give a stronger tranq and still the clipping had to be completed in less than 1.5 hours. The tranq takes effect in about 20 mins and we have to be quick…one min he’s “good to go” and the next wide awake and look out! If your not comfortable clipping fast or being around horses that absolutely aren’t good, get someone to clip that is! It’s worth the $$$$

[joiedevie99]

Start with one of those pocket sized clippers like the Wahl Pocket Pro that runs on a battery. It hardly vibrates relative to some full size body clippers. Work your way up to something more useful.

[soloudinhere]

I have double K clippers that are almost silent because the motor is on the detached piece carried on the hip, and not in the handpiece. I’ve been able to clip even some bad clippers with these because they can barely feel them.

What clippers are you using. If you’re using something like Clipmasters or Lister Stars that vibrate a lot, you’ll need to start with something smaller.

[Color_of_Light]

Even though it’s not the noise, the sound is associated with vibration. If I had a horse that reacted like yours does, I’d record the sound of clippers at different speeds and angles, and play it in the horse’s stall. I also might try introducing other things that vibrate but differently than horse clippers or give off some sort of sensation. A cordless power drill. The vibration setting of a cell phone. A vacuum.

[Sansena]

Is she food motivated? Put the small, battery operated clippers in her feed bin along with her favorite treats. Then leave her alone for a half hour. If she eats the treats, you have hope.

It will take patience and desensitizing to get her to accept them near her ears. You cannot simply go straight for the ear in cases like yours. You have to start at their crest with the clippers laying flat against her neck. slowly move up. Lots of praise, some treats (not too many!), and several breaks. Make sure you stop moving forward BEFORE she begins to panic. The important part is to reward her while she’s still, not if she’s freaking out.

Clip her bridle path the same way. Finally when you approach her ears, do not wrangle her. Gently cup the ear. Don’t go rappelling off it. Don’t crank the ear. Start on the backside of the ear at the base and move toward the tip. The most sensitive part is at the base on the inside where the two edges of the ear meet in the center at her head. Don’t do it all in one day. Take a few swipes over several days and by the end of 2 weeks you should see some improvement. Of course, each day, do not directly approach the ear… always start at her crest and slowly move up. And when you do get to her ear, don’t put the blade on the hair initially… always start by just resting the body of the clipper against the back of her ear.

Patience. Compassion. Remove drama. You’ll get there. You can also stuff her ears with cotton balls or rubber horse ear plugs.

[fanfayre]

What @Sansena said ^, with one exception: don’t clip the ears, leave them natural for fly and dirt protection. Oh, and don’t clip whiskers either

[Hayburner]

Like soloudinhere I have double k clippers. My horse was totally against being clipped, rearing, etc But, with patience, treats, rubbing the clippers against him when they were not on then slowly bringing them against the skin, he’s now fine with it. He does have a few spots that he just won’t tolerate being clipped in and I just don’t do that part. Ears and upper neck are a no-no.

[Hayburner]

Also, if you do get him semi ok with it, don’t try and do his whole body at one time and give him breaks so he can re-group.

[Lord_Helpus]

Take a horse who is bomb proof for clippers and stand him next to/in front of the cob. Either clip or pretend to clip the good horse. Move the clippers (low vibration, mini clippers) around; from time to time, moving them toward the cob, then back to the good horse.

Most the time, I have gotten over the hump by letting the horse see that his friend doesn’t mind. But it takes time — if you go too fast you will have to start at the beginning again.

PS: This is how I first introduce a baby to clippers. Babies love to do what a big horse does — and if the big horse is getting clippers on his skin and getting praised for it, then the baby wants to be praised, too.

[OneTwoMany]

Good advice above. Another “trick” is to place your “non clipper hand” on the horse and run the clippers up and down your arm. Moving the clippers further down your arm until the clippers are on the back of your hand. The horse will hear the sound of the clippers and will feel a muffled vibration. Eventually you will start to slide a bit of the clipper over your hand and onto the horse so your hand is partly absorbing the vibration and the horse is partly absorbing the vibration. The longer term goal is to have the body of the clippers against the horse so they are feeling the full vibration. Once that is accomplished, you can begin to “tip” the clippers up into the clipping position and try clipping. This must be done slowly in many small steps over many days. The goal is a tiny bit of progress each day. Lavish praise and provide plenty of reassurance.