To clip or not cliip? Winter and Cushings horse

[luvmyottb]

Just clipped my Cushings mare yesterday. She is on Prascend, but still puts on a heavy duty coat. I keep her comfortable in the spring, summer and fall by clipping, but debating if I should continue to clip for the winter. She is out 24/7, except in cold rainy weather.

Last winter she would splash herself in the water trough to cool off in 40 degree temps. She was not clipped.

Of course if I clip, I need to blanket. I have a medium turnout, most likely would need a sheet for her also. I can’t see her needing a heavy blanket in NC unless it gets really frigid. My horses are at home so changing blankets is a pain, but doable.

Going to have vet check to ACTH levels again later this fall. What will make the old girl more comfortable? Anyone have experience with the winter Cushings horse? Do you clip or not?

[tpup]

I’m in the same boat. Mine wouldn’t get that hot, so I kept him unclipped and blanketed him one level less than my other horses. It seemed un-natural to me to clip him in winter. But we are in VA and a little colder here than in NC.

BTW - my vet won’t test for Cushing’s until late Dec or Jan. - Fall can give a false result. Just an FYI.

[Doctracy]

I’m new to Cushings, have owned my TB for less than 2 months. I’m in NC and he will be getting clipped, turned out most of the time with whichever sheet or blanket he seems to need.
My vet also recommends waiting until Jan-March to test rather than fall. She’s Board Certified Internal Medicine.

[luvmyottb]

tpup and doctracy,

How hairy do your Cushing horses get? My appy mare looks like a mammoth! It is super thick. Thanks for the recommendation to wait until Jan. I remember now that fall is a bad time to retest blood levels.

I am so conflicted!

[pony_baloney]

You should test in the fall. The ACTH levels must be under control or you may increase your chances of laminitis, if your horse is IR as well. The levels do increase at this time, but much more than with a horse without Cushings. By Dec./Jan. the seasonal rise in ending and the levels start to decrease. Some horses need a higher dose from Aug.- Nov. to keep it all under control.

[Laurierace]

I did a trace clip in the winter otherwise my guy got too sweaty. Full body clip the rest of the time.

[Victorious]

I typically don’t clip my cushings horse, but last year his coat got so out of control that I am reconsidering! It truly looks like a nasty old buffalo pelt. He is on prascend with levels checked and doing quite well…but he won’t shed.at all. He has been clipped 3 times this summer. My plan is to continue clipping him through fall ( so maybe one more full clip) then let the buffalo loose in the winter while still clipping his belly and up forward to his chest and maybe lower neck. I guess that’s a trace clip of sorts, but I wasn’t planning on going very far up his sides. He us fully retired,23, and lives out most of the time. Basically, I will leave fur exactly where a blanket would be on him if he were fully clipped. He had so many mats last year under his belly that I had to use scissors to cut them out. It was awful for both of us, compounded by his sweating. Such a mess.

[ReSomething]

[
This is what Snort looked like as I was halfway through clipping him this spring. He really suffered when we had a warm spell, colicked two times and the hair was so thick and filthy that I went through an astounding number of clipper blades.
This is the hairiest he has ever been, he’s 29 and it’s really catching up to him now. I clipped him two weeks ago as he was getting what would be a respectable winter coat for a normal horse already.
He did keep his weight on well with all the hair and a blanket during our sub zero temperatures, January and February. Remember you can always blanket to make up for what you take off but if you aren’t there and they over heat it can be difficult to get them cooled off.

[luvmyottb]

ReSomething,

Oh my, Snort’s coat looks thicker and curlier than Hope, my Appy mare. Leaning towards a trace clip. Take the hair off chest and belly and see how she does through the winter. She won’t need a blanket, yet won’t be quite as warm on 40 and 50 degree days.

Yesterday I full bodied clipped her. Last year, her last full body clip was August and we had a really warm October and she was so uncomfortable.

So hard to decide what is best for the elderly horses. Thanks for all the responses.

[Mango20]

I didn’t clip my Cushings pony in the winter. As he got older, he had trouble staying warm, despite all the hair.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=tpup;8325644]
BTW - my vet won’t test for Cushing’s until late Dec or Jan. - Fall can give a false result. Just an FYI.[/QUOTE]

But by then the days are getting longer; so if the ACTH was too high during the fall, you may have missed it.

In general, I test in the early spring to check my pony’s ACTH, but it has been well in the normal range for several years (even though I think that doesn’t necessarily mean it is under control). He does not grow a crazy winter coat, and his symptoms in the fall are not really any different than the rest of the year.

But - if I wasn’t sure things were ok I would test in the fall and then again in the spring. (And the first year he was on Prascend - we tested 3 times).

As for clipping, I’d say clip and blanket rather than let him get sweaty. This is a tough time of year for all the horses - it was 48F this morning, and now it’s 75 and sunny…horses are in their stalls in front of fans.

[Chocoholic]

Perhaps clip again in late October or early November? Then the horse won’t be too hairy while it’s still mild in the fall, but will have grown a bit of hair back by the coldest part of winter. Then a trace clip if needed in January, but wait 'til March to do another full body clip.