I normally clip our hairy PPID horses in the fall and then manage them w blankets, liners, and turnout sheets. It’s worked well for years.
For reasons out of my control, I didn’t get that done last fall so they are sweaty and hot w our crazy spring weather.
I gave them all trace clips to help w that. Now I think I should go ahead w a full body clip as I really don’t know how to manage their temperatures.
Their coats are very dense and thick (I was really surprised how well the clips came out) and I can’t comprehend how I keep their lower bodies warm with the thick rugs on their backs.
What would you do and why??? Our temperatures are all over the place for the next 45 days.
A couple of options:
1 - clip longer along their backs, so all clipped, but leaving longer hairs
2 - full clip, and just run through the wardrobe of blankets, sheets, and liners for this next 6-ish weeks
It’s definitely hard on even healthy horses who still have a full Winter coat but it’s 80* out one day, 50* and windy the next, and so on.
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What do you mean by keeping lower body warm?
I have a stable blanket with a belly wrap that I use under a medium turnout that works well after a body clip.
I don’t worry about the legs. Just make sure the ears are warm-ish and they are warm under the blanket, if not I add a layer.
It’s mostly a case of the blanket blocks the wind with a trace clip. If you have any that tend to get chilly they might need extra insulation to make up for the naked belly heat suck (assuming you did a traditional trace clip including the full belly).
I’ve been running horses with modified trace clips for over 20 years. The first time I clipped I did a full clip and it was such a nightmare to deal with in the spring temperature swings that I never did it again. The horse lived outside and the too hot for a blanket days paired with too cold for a full clipped horse nights were tough (I boarded, without a blanketing service).
For really hairy beasts I reclipped the trace in the spring and pushed it higher along their sides.
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Thank you, everyone. Mt horses all have great wardrobes ( better than mine) so I wound up doing a full clip. I know how to care for the those. @JB, thank you for the specific suggestion. I wasn’t able to bathe them and their coats are so thick I couldn’t really get them clean. I chewed through a lot of blades but they look nice.
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I have the same problem with my aged gelding-- I clip in the spring (around May) only though. Fall and winter here in PNW are so wet, windy and ‘mild’ (30s to 50s) that his coat and a sheet are plenty unless we get a cold snap. It’s summer that sucks for us. I can’t really bathe (no access to warm water) but this year, on the first heat wave, I’m giving him a cold water bath. Sorry buddy!! Then a full clip as he never loses enough coat to truly not sweat and suffer in our heat of summer. Some falls though, I really want to take off the hair on the bottom of his neck (like a bib clip) and trace along his sides. he just stays too hot with our mild weather.
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I’m so grateful for our support group!
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Next year, consider doing a hunter clip (everything but legs) in the fall, and a trace after that. For horses that grow a really thick coat, this tends to work better and be less of a mess in the spring.
For the draft cross hunting horses I clip, if I have time, I like to do a full body clip, legs and all, in the fall, and then hunter clips after that. If I don’t do the full clip to start out, their “leg warmers” look really silly on about March. 
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Thank you…I normally do clip on the fall, but due to circumstances out of my control, I wasn’t able to. Those are good ideas. Thank you.
True this😀!
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Do you get much rain? I have 2 horses with blanket clips, 1 unclipped, and 1 fully clipped.
The problem I had this year is that we have had a lot of rain. The fully clipped horse dried in about 10 minutes, the unclipped horse was wet but fine, and the blanket clipped horses were shivering and wet and I could not get them dry. I ended up blanketing them over the wet hair and letting them dry that way.
I’ve decided for wet weather it is better to fully clip them so they will dry faster. It really makes a difference in how fast they will dry not having a ton of wet hair.
I am also in favor of a reverse trace clip- leave the belly and leg hair and take the topline hair off, then you can blanket and not worry about them having a cold neck or belly.
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If you clip the bib/apron/trace late September/early October the clipped areas will still have most of the winter growth yet to come. By late December they’ll have enough fuzz to be comfortable in the coldest part of the winter.
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You know, I’m really pleased with how nice they both look. I’ve never clipped horses who were dirty w so much long hair! I chewed through blades but I don’t have lines. It was cold here today. I was very comfortable putting blankets and hoods on in the way I know how. It’s going to get hot again soon, so they will be ok then, too. Thank you again for ideas and support.
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