I grew up hunting with Blue Ridge. We are talking 15+ years ago. I had a large pony and then an Oldenburg. Both were easy to turn out. Last year, I was speaking with our Master and it brought feelings up that I really wanted to start hunting again. Mr. LM bought me a Gypsy Cob that is going to be my buddy. He’s young, so we are taking it slow. With him being young, he won’t do more than second field this season. Right now, he’s doing some little local Hunter shows and is getting his hooves wet in Eventing with a teen rider. We’ve pulled his mane, but I could not bring myself to clip his legs. I do not want to show up and be embarrassed.
Not a voice of experience in either fox hunting or GCs, but I’ve seen people french braid feathers.
Why would you clip them tho?? If I rode a feathery draft I wouldn’t.
I don’t know that we have enough to french braid. Here are some pictures. I’ve done some searches, but it seems some people clip them and some don’t.
You don’t have to trim them, but you may find it hard to keep them white.
Plus it can be hard to keep up with scratches and such with feathers.
[QUOTE=jawa;8883887]
You don’t have to trim them, but you may find it hard to keep them white.
Plus it can be hard to keep up with scratches and such with feathers.[/QUOTE]
We can get him pretty clean for shows. The first two pics were taken last weekend. The dirty pic was him a few weeks ago. So far, we haven’t had to deal with scratches. We’ve had him for a year and he gets in our pond on a regular basis. I will keep a close eye on him for scratches though. This year at least, it wasn’t an issue.
Check out the Horse and Hound forums. They hunt cobs over there, apparently either hogged and clipped, braided, or “au naturelle” – this link is from 2010 but there might be newer posts as well
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?356812-Hunting-Heavy-Cobs
I’m not sure why it would matter, as long as you’re willing to do the extra work. The burrs are awful right now.
I think he’s adorable!! I’d leave him au naturelle!!
I always thought that baroque breeds could be left with both feathers and mane–just that the mane needed to have a running braid.
That’s the rule in our hunt, any way.
I do not trim the feathers on my Connemara who has fabulous hair genetics albeit they are not quite as fluffy as your horse. In my hunt breed specific turnout is fine and a long time member hunted a full Clydesdale for years sans any clipping.
I do keep my mares mane short because long mane hair drives me crazy getting tangled up with the reins.
There is a huge difference between a horse with natural feathers and horse with just hairy, unkempt legs.
I haven’t a clue but I just have to say, OP, your boy is ADORABLE!!! 
One of my hunt horses is a half draft with much more hair than your lovely horse. She gets body clipped 3 times a year (all over including legs) spring, summer and fall. Then from November until mid April she goes “natural”. By spring she is sporting full hairy boots from the knee down to the ground. She has amazing hair growing capabilities… Preparing for those March hunts can be brutal, as I have to allow an extra hour to shampoo and dry her feathers. It wouldn’t be worth all the work except she is a fabulous horse to ride! Our hunt does not allow running braids so her mane is kept short year round.
