Need clippers help....smallest and quietest that actually cut hair

[IPEsq]

My horse is a sensitive flower. He really doesn’t have many vices…he will even let you shockwave his poll without sedation. But, he is dangerous to clip/trim.

I’m not going to try showing this year, so I have a lot of time to work with him on clipping. He has been clipped in the past at least once–he arrived to me fully body clipped and show trimmed. It has clearly not been a good experience for him.

Even with sedation, he will strike you if you try to get near his face with clippers. He will allow fetlock area trimming while sedated with the average, corded clippers. I don’t know how they were able to have him still standing and body clip him, though.

My main clippers are corded and loud. I bought some $12 mini clippers to work on desensitization. We have made progress. I typically work with them on weekends when I’m out there during his post lunch nap time. Now I can touch him anywhere with the clippers turned off. He doesn’t freak at the mere smell of blade oil. I can touch his face briefly with them turned on, but with the butt of the clippers. He may even try to eat them. If he is relatively relaxed, I can trim his fetlock area with the mini clippers with no sedation…except for the fact that they don’t actually do anything on that hair because they are too small. I do not trust the safety of using the corded clippers on his legs without sedation. Just turning those on still puts him into full flight or fight mode.

I would like to continue working with his legs as part of desensitization to the noise (as the touch does not seem to bother his lower legs) while still taking things very slow with his face.

I need suggestions for some battery powered, quiet, clippers that can handle trimming leg hair for the next step in this process.

Any other suggestions welcome, including any devices I haven’t thought of. I haven’t tried twitching because he may need a twitch holder as he has wriggly lips, and I don’t want to put someone in the danger strike zone to hold a twitch.

[2miniB]

Have you tried Double K clippers? The motor is in a separate unit connected to the clippers. So the main sound and vibration isn’t touching the horse. The clipper part is fairly small and light. Plus you have a tremendous range of clipper speeds to play with, from very, very slow to very fast.

My pony won’t let me anywhere near her head with regular clippers. But she’ll tolerate the Double K’s as long as I have them going slow.

Another idea would be to work with your vet to find a sedation that’ll work for him, since there are different options.

Is he ok with having his face and legs touched with your hands? If he’s sensitive about these areas, clicker training could be valuable. One of mine was very halter-phobic, and clicker training helped get her over that. Its not something I do all the time, but it can be very useful to help a horse get over something they don’t like. Especially when they have to get over a bad experience.

[IPEsq]

I’ve never heard of Double K…that sounds like it might work. Are they cordless? (except for the part attaching the motor?)

He was fairly head shy when I got him, but he has improved a lot there. He is very mouthy like a lot of young geldings, and I can touch his muzzle with just about anything except the clippers. A little sensitive about one ear still but overall I would not call him head shy if I didn’t know he used to be like that a few months ago. We are still working on wet things on the face, but within range of normal behavior-wise there. He is not at all sensitive to touch on his legs. He has body sensitivities to touch, though, and he will throw some threatening kicks if you try to clean his sheath without sedation.

He was on detomidine/butophanol combo, administered by my vet when I first tried to clip his face. In the past, detomidine alone has been more than enough for a scared young horse for clipping. I tried trimming him after he’d been sedated for neck x-rays and had a lot of stuff going on up by his head. He wasn’t quite as out as he had been for his teeth float, but he still couldn’t hold his head up while I trimmed his ankles. Had no trouble waking up and striking out at me when I got close to a chin hair, though! I will note he has quite a few white hairs by his jugular, which alarmed one of my vets at first. I said I could only think it had to be from some clipping related sedation, such as mid-body clip, because he has been great for shots since I’ve had him.

[Mosey_2003]

Is there an area where you could turn the clippers on away from him while he’s in his stall and leave them hanging and running while he eats? Like, far enough down the aisle that he can hear them but is not fully distressed? Then gradually move them closer. Given that you have a lot of time, you might be able to convince him that the sound is actually a good thing (ie the sound happens when he gets to eat).

[IPEsq]

I do run them in the aisle when he is hanging out in his stall. Haven’t tried it at grain time because he will occasionally paw and kick if he thinks you are threatening his grain, and I don’t want to encourage that behavior. I have tried it when it is yummy alfalfa time, and he will ignore the food to give full attention to the clippers.

I will clip other horses cross tied near-ish his stall with the loud ones. He stands there and snorts for a while but eventually goes about his business, with an eyeball on me the entire time, I’m sure.

[alibi_18]

I have the cordless Heiniger Saphir and loves it. It comes with 2 batteries and they TRULY only need 45min to be fully charged while they least each at least a good hour.

My mare is really noise sensitive and is scared of cords!!! She doesn’t mind the vibration, she actually likes it. But the cord… :eek:

[IPEsq]

[QUOTE=alibi_18;8144650]
I have the cordless Heiniger Saphir and loves it. It comes with 2 batteries and they TRULY only need 45min to be fully charged while they least each at least a good hour.

My mare is really noise sensitive and is scared of cords!!! She doesn’t mind the vibration, she actually likes it. But the cord… :eek:[/QUOTE]

Those look great but are they really $400?? :eek:

[Peggy]

My Wahl Chromados are pretty quiet, cordless (which I think helps with horses that see the cord and flip out. While I wouldn’t use them to body clip, they will do basic show clips.

I thing that these are mine, but I’m not sure about the Li battery. http://www.sstack.com/Horse-Care_ClippersAccessories_Clippers/Wahl-Chromado-Lithium-Clipper/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=paid_search_google_pla&scid=scplp6899428&gclid=CPH76IPnusUCFQOUfgodQAYAug

[IPEsq]

My horse doesn’t flip out at the cord. I am just wary of having a corded set with potential for flying legs! Body clip is a very far off goal…would love just a good trim up. I like the variable motor of the Double K but am not sure if position would be an issue. Would need at minimum the extra long cable between motor and clippers

[IPEsq]

Does anyone know of a multi-speed cordless clipper? I like the slow motor idea for the face, but even hanging up the motor of the Double K, I’m worried about being attached to something with a cord.

[Lord_Helpus]

I love my Arco II by Wahl. It is cordless and about as quiet as any I have seen. The only problem is that, because of the variation in cutting height, the clippers are more than just clippers and the blade sharpening man said they could not be sharpened. So I have to buy new blades when these get dull.

[SmartAlex]

I also have the Wahl Arco cordless trimmers. My horse was Anti-Cord, and after years of using these trimmers he is now happy and relaxed with trimming. I’ve had them probably 6-8 years with light use and good care they are like new. They take snap on blades which is convenient. Which the blade man did sharpen. I also use them to trace clip with no problems.

[Arabiandressage]

I own a tack shop and with six personal horses I have tried them ALL. Cordless SUPER AGR’s hands down the best. Quiet, and actually work, run an hour, trim ears, horses don’t mind them, tough enough to do light body clips too.

[Arabiandressage]

http://www.theconnectedrider.com/andis-super-agr-rechargable-horse-clipper-ac63855/

[alibi_18]

[QUOTE=IPEsq;8144766]
Those look great but are they really $400?? :eek:[/QUOTE]

Yes, but the blades that come with it are really good, there are 2 batteries that REALLY can clip for more than an hour and ONLY take 45min to charge. So you can technically clip forever!

[Lysara]

I know you are looking for cordless, but I thought I would share my experience.

My gelding came to me clipped as well, but based on everything I could see about him at first, I knew it must not have been an easy thing. He was wary and spooky about everything. We gave him a light tranq the first time I went to clip him which only seemed to make things worse as he apparently does not like the feeling of losing control. We have since found out that he needs a very heavy dose by the vet and it still doesn’t last that long.

That being said, I have been working on him for about 5 years now to get better at being clipped. I am at the point now where I can do most of a body clip without too much fuss (there is still fuss though).

Some things that I did:

• I kept a toothbrush that vibrated and used that all over so he was used to the noise and vibration (and I didn’t have to dig out the clippers every time)
• I clipped the fleshy parts of his body a little at a time with someone near his face to feed nummy treats and lots of praise.
• We worked towards the bony parts and started further away from the face

Things I still have to do:

• make sure that the blades are not even close to thinking they are warm. (I generally swap between at least 3 sets of blades so that there is always a cool set)
• lots of praise when he is standing nicely
• lots of breaks
• twitch for the ears (we just graduated from twitching for insides of legs as well!! yay!!)

I just finished his latest clip this weekend and I found my current set of Wahl KM-2’s were running pretty hot (which doesnt help the cool blade requirement) and I went out and bought the KM-10’s (200 cdn). WOW! They are much quieter! They have a nice long cord and I usually work on the side of the horse nearest to the outlet, so if I have to get out of the way quickly, the cord is no where near the legs.

In whatever you try, good luck!!

[Mosey_2003]

If you do worry about the cord and end up using corded clippers, what I like to do is give myself the amount of cord I’ll need between the clippers in my right hand and then across my body, maybe two feet. Then I take the cord and put it under my left armpit and clamp down on it with my arm and stand between the outlet and the horse. That way there isn’t any cord hanging between you and the horse, it’s behind you.

[IPEsq]

I like the toothbrush idea! I think I will try that.

[IPEsq]

I think he has just learned somewhere along the way that clippers = death, so every aspect of clippers–the smell, the noise, the heat, the vibration, the sensation of hairs being clipped…all trigger panic. If it was just a noise thing then wouldn’t he have flipped out at shockwave right up by his ear? Not only is that supposed to be pretty painful, but it is way louder than any pair of clippers I’ve ever seen. He looks tense for about 5 seconds and then drops his head and takes a nap for the remainder of 800 pulses. He doesn’t flinch when you bring the device up by his head. He takes one whiff of a turned off and cold pair of clippers and it’s bug eyes, pawing, and snorts. I feel like I’m starting from a place that is worse than from scratch.

[Hermein]

I have some Andis rechargable that are quiet & actually cut. I wouldn’t live long enough to clip a whole horse with them, but they’re good for touch ups. I bought them at Pet Smart for under $50, iirc.