Making the Decison to Full Body Clip

[Sloeryder]

So i turns out that I have been consistently working my gelding over the winter, and soon will be hauling twice a month for clinics. Since he is being worked consistenly, I am debating about hitting up a couple of winter series, and think the clip would be better,(question mark). OR is that a terrible idea?

What made you want to clip your horse? How much were you riding? What would be the best clip for a horse that is getting worked about 5 days a week, two clinics a month? I have the ability to blanket up very well, stalled indoors with lamps.

[Simkie]

Holy cow, this is totally not a decision for me. Working the horse through the winter? Full body clip. Done.

I HATE how long it takes to cool out and dry off a hairy, sweaty horse in the winter. No reason to leave the hair if you can blanket appropriately.

[SAB]

I 100% agree.

Admittedly my 17 hand oldenburg grows so much hair that he looks like a pony with cushings, so he gets usually 2 full clips per winter.

now, I had an anglo arab who put just enough hair on to think about it, but not really enough to do it, so I sympathize with that position if it’s the one you’re in. Or if your horse is a chestnut, because they just tend to look horrible clipped.

[kcmel]

I would do a trace clip. Much easier to do, not as much blanketing, and I think it looks cool!

[avesane]

I live in the frozen north of Canada and we don’t think twice. Indoor horses are regularly fully clipped right through the winter. We blanket well for turnout and don’t turn out if the temperature + wind chill exceeds -20C.

The horses that live out are, for the most part, trace clipped, but there are a couple specimens in very regular work who live out with a body clip.

[equiniphile]

I did everything but the legs this year. Can’t imagine trying to keep him in shape for the winter circuit without clipping!

[pegasusmom]

My horses (and ponies) stay in work and get a full body clip. Period. Don’t even think twice about it.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Clip. We start with a modified trace clip to full clip late fall then do a full clip for everyone in work in Jan (leave legs). And hope we don’t have to clip more than twice. Some horses grow hair like yaks. Bonus is not dealing with shedding.

All our horses in work sweat…and work hard…even when temps are quite cold. I don’t work them hard once temps are below 15 degrees (for their lungs) but there are more times it is above that temp. A clipped horse is easier to clean and easier to get dry after the work out.

[AKB]

Don’t clip less you are prepared to blanket correctly. If the barn help will leave him in a wet blanket, don’t do it. If the weather goes from 50 degrees to 20 degrees, will someone bring him in and change his sheet to a heavy weight? Get yourself a collection of good quality, waterproof blankets before you clip. Talk with the barn help and other boarders about the lag time between a weather change and the changing of blankets. It always upsets me to see a clipped horse out in a light sheet after a cold front moves in. My one neighbor is infamous for the opposite. Her horses will be out in heavy weights on a 60 degree, sunny, day.

[Duckz]

My favorite for winter is to clip everything but the legs, and I leave a little patch of hair under the saddle area. Legs are a PITA to clip and it’s not like they get sweaty anyway.

[enjoytheride]

I would trace clip and see if its enough to keep him dry, less work messing with neck rugs and worrying about temperature changes. You can always take off more hair.

[HappyHorselover]

I ride 4-5 days a week, haul out for lessons 2-3x a month. Pony lives in insulated barn and goes out every day, pretty much rain or shine (unless there is ice). I do a trace clip of my own design. I am a blanket whore, so that is not an issue LOL

[Ajierene]

We only have one horse clipped right now. A few are in regular work, but unless the horse sweats a lot, we do not clip. My filly is ready for an arctic adventure and is the only one not blanketed right now, but she doesn’t sweat when I ride her, so no clip for her. The one that is clipped does work up a sweat being ridden. The rest are blanketed and do not generally sweat. So, for me it would depend on the likelihood your horse is going to sweat.

[weixiao]

I would never keep a horse in full work during a VA winter without at least a trace clip. Too hard to keep them clean and dry post workout and in the mud. I have dull clipped every other year. This year I started with a trace clip because I am not riding every day with bar prep and I wasn’t sure if the weather was going to be good enough to be consistent. My goal is SoPines in March and if the footing holds I will do a full clip before that and then will be good to go for spring! As long as you can handle the blanketing I think it is much quicker and easier to cool them out properly with a clip which I think is healthier.

[mkevent]

If you are not sure about whether or not to do a full clip, this website has some great ideas on different types of body clips.

I just did a hunter clip on my guy, but I’m sure he would have been fine with a blanket clip. I don’t have an indoor, so I need to ride with quarter sheets.

A full clip is much easier to keep clean though.

http://www.horse-clipping.co.uk/types-of-horse-clip.php

[JenEM]

[QUOTE=mkevent;7933058]
If you are not sure about whether or not to do a full clip, this website has some great ideas on different types of body clips.

I just did a hunter clip on my guy, but I’m sure he would have been fine with a blanket clip. I don’t have an indoor, so I need to ride with quarter sheets.

A full clip is much easier to keep clean though.

http://www.horse-clipping.co.uk/types-of-horse-clip.php[/QUOTE]

In the past I’ve done hunter clips, but these last two years I’ve done what that site calls an Irish clip, and it’s worked really well, and is quick to do. Neck and girth area don’t get sweaty, but my horse is cold-backed, so she gets to keep all her hair there. And she’s got enough hair removed that she needs blanketed, so she stays clean. If we get in gear and are prepared to do some rated showing by March or so, I may go ahead and do a hunter clip for that.

[asterix]

Meh, except the time I was hunting (totally different story), I find my guys in full work do fine in MD with an Irish or modified bib. But I do self care and they live out 24-7, so it is critical that they can be warm w/o a blanket if I mess up the forecast. They go naked except for super cold or cold rain.

If you are at all uneasy about the blanketing promptness at your barn, I’d try a trace or something less drastic first. I jump and do dressage, clinic and schooling show all winter and am fine with less tha full.

[Simbalism]

When I was showing, we always did a full body clip. Sometimes having to do it twice to keep the horse looking good for the winter shows. I don’t show any more, but do ride around 5 days per week as the weather allows. For my young OTTB mare who sweats quite a bit, I did a modified Irish clip: didn’t clip her head, just up under her jaw and down the sides and bottom of her neck, across her shoulder and to just behind the girth area. This has been working great for her, didn’t take long and is easy to keep up. My older TB mare is more cold natured and doesn’t sweat as much as the young mare does, so I did a modified bib clip on her. Clipped from the bottom of where her neck joins chest, to just between her front legs, but left the girth area because she lays down a lot. Both of them are blanketed and live outside.

[asterix]

That first clip Simbalism described is what I do. No blankets for my pudgy easy keepers.

[Sloeryder]

My horse is home with me so changing blankets is not a problem, even neck rugs. I really like the blanket clip, since he does get some turnout. Doc, does get really fuzzy, but he’s not a huge sweater.