My horse is starting to shed his thick winter coat, but is still very fuzzy and cooling out after our rides is starting to take forever! My biggest reservation is messing with his summer coat, but since our shows are all cancelled for the spring, I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal since I wouldn’t be showing until late May/June. Will clipping within the next week mess up his summer coat?
My trainer clipped my horse last week. He looks great and he is a chestnut. I have had my grey/white pinto clipped pretty late in April and his coat looked fine.
I don’t think I’d put the clippers on the lowest setting, but sure, you could take the coat down some.
I have clipped all colors of horses year round. You condition well afterwards, you never do a black/chestnut in the month, bay a few weeks and you can clip a grey at anytime- before you show if you need to have a perfect coat.
With a normal horse who doesn’t have a metabolic issue, within a few weeks the regular color coat will be ready.
But honestly, it isn’t like any of use are going to be showing right now- so clip to make him more comfortable and your care easier and get it done. He will be fine.
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Clip anytime. Many horses on the A’s get clipped once every month or two year round. A healthy horse will still have a healthy shiny coat after being clipped, the colour may just look different. This comes back within a few weeks.
I typically do a full clip in late May on my bay (red bay) gelding. Sometimes I do a second clip mid summer if it’s really humid, at that point you would never know he’d been clipped in May. Every picture I have from a late August/September show looks the same, can’t tell if he was clipped at all, let alone in May or July.
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I always wondered where this notion came from that you shouldn’t clip while a horse is shedding or that it will affect their summer coat. Can someone tell me the basis behind that? I mean, it’s literally just a haircut, how would it affect anything regarding shedding or hair growth?
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It doesn’t have a true basis, it’s just one of the many horse myths passed down thru time. It really is just a haircut - cutting a hair does not change any properties of said hair, except obviously its length. 
I used to hear this when I showed Appaloosas and AQHA back in the day. The idea comes from the fact that on some horses, depending on the coat color, clipping “ruins” the coat as it changes the color. But what is really happening is that when you trim down the coat, you lose the part of the hair that has what is normally the base color. The hairs are more ombre, so you have one color at the base and the rest of the hair is the color we are used to seeing. So, my smoky black looked black unclipped, but at the base of coat the hair was really more platinum. When he was clipped he was very shiny platinum, but was no longer black.
Buckskins can look really muddy at the base and can look really dull. Some bays can look more buckskin. Some blacks look bay when clipped. Also, some horses just don’t shine as much clipped, while others are fine. It really depends on the horse. It takes about 2-3 weeks for the coat to grow out enough to get some color back. For western breeds, this means your halter or showmanship horse can look a little dull. So, instead, the western breed folks use lights year round to keep the coat short, which also works. Doing that, the coat more naturally stays short and is, therefore, shiny, since the hair isn’t cut.
Hunter people tend to focus more on clipping to best maintain the horse. We clip horses year round to assist with keeping them cool, being able to cool them out, and keeping them clean. I’m sure people think it’s a look but it’s really more about maintenance. But… the coats can get to be a fugly color on some!
But the reality is, you can clip any time and it doesn’t really ruin the coat.
One thing I have found to be true, though - if you wait until after it gets really cold in Nov/Dec to do your first clip, it will last longer than if you clip before the temperature drops. It can save you $150 if you wait. 
So, if you only clip in winter, you can get more time out of the clip by holding out until you’re past the weird temperature fluctuation. Here in GA it means don’t clip until after Thanksgiving. I’ve had 3 horses that were able to go all winter on 1 clip and with Rambo body and neck covers by waiting like this.
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Every three weeks, and I was one of the “laziest” clippers. We were at a seven week show once with a sales horse, client looks at her and goes “do you know how she clips? Maybe not?” And I’m like, I just clipped her two weeks ago…
You can clip any time.
I clip my one horse around this time. He grows a nasty winter coat and takes ages to shed out. Everyone has their spring/summer coats and he still looks like a yak.
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I just re-trace clipped my elder yesterday actually. I did a heinous trace clip Christmas Eve, she was filthy and she’s got cushings and she’s a pinto so her white hair is just unbelievably dense and a PITA to clip. It was a means to an end since it was so mild. If you need to clip, clip.
I will probably end up clipping the rest of her butt in another month.
LOL. Thanks for the laugh today, I needed that. I think my childhood pony might have been part yak.
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Show season is cancelled. If you ever wanted to roach a mane or clip lightning bolts into your horses butt, here’s your moment.
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My competition horses get clipped year round, unless I turn them away over winter. Apart from the chestnut who goes a very fetching shade of peach, it doesn’t affect the coat.
Clip him. You’ll both be happier.
Clip him, when I showed Arabians we clipped year round, it was expected really at the higher levels regardless of color. Use sharp blades, scrub your horse well like you were going to show and then do an oil rinse after the bath to help the blades glide. After the clip do another oil rinse. I like to do warm water with a splash of baby oil added and sponge on then after dry do a nice brush with a soft brush.
Never to late to clip! I did mine today!
I would be clipping again by now if I were still riding!
