I am going to do some fox hunting this year - probably no more than once a month. I am thinking of doing a trace clip rather than a hunt clip. Just to avoid the daily blanketing chore.
Does anybody just trace clip for the season? How do the horses do?
Thanks in advance!
Trace clipping is fine. I quite often choose this type and I hunt 3x/week. 
Thanks strawberry roan!
I was concerned that the horses would get overheated with the trace. Glad to hear it works for you.
I trace clipped too, worked fine. I did put a medium weight blanket on with wet snow, as all of mine live out. I’m sure they would have been fine, more peace of mind for me though.
You can always start out with a narrow trace clip and work it a bit wider as you work your horse to see if it is enough. If you know where your horse begins to sweat or sweats the most this will give you an idea of what type of clip to do.
I used a modified bib clip on mine and it worked great. clip half the neck (lower) and a then clip the chest and finish off by clipping a little around the shoulder and between the legs to almost the girth. I clipped the girth area once and found that my horse got some rubs there, so I stopped clipping the girth area.
My current mount is a grey and I body clip him early, then change to an irish clip then to a bib clip as the season moves along. I do this because he loves to get dirty and needs to be bathed before every hunt. As the season progresses he is in a blanket so the main body is not exposed to the dirt and grime, so I only clip the parts that will need to be bathed regularly.
Thanks for sharing !
I use a modified trace clip. One trainer I had used to call this a lesson clip.
Draw a diagnal line from the withers to the stifle, clip everything in front of the line except the legs. Everything behind the line is left.
I have a white and grey pinto that looks all white. I have been using a high neck combo blanket to help keep him clean. He actually stays pretty clean.
I used this clip in the past on my QH, Sonny, when I didn’t have access to an indoor. Sonny was a bulky muscle bound horse that sweated a lot. The lesson clip was really plenty to keep him from sweating too much.
What about a blanket clip - works well, too.
I also do a trace clip on mine - remember you can always take more hair off if needed - but you can’t put it back on !
One of mine is blanket clipped and other will get that in a few weeks. Prior to this they were full body clipped.
What does a blanket clip look like?
[QUOTE=whicker;5256836]
What does a blanket clip look like?[/QUOTE]
And on the 7th day, god invented google:
http://www.google.ca/search?rlz=1C1SKPL_enCA407CA407&aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=blanket+clip
I did a blanket clip on my mare last week and hunted three times. Even with drastic weather changes she barely broke a sweat and stayed quite comfortable.
In past years I always did an Irish clip (like a trace clip but front part only). However this year my horse seemed to be getting too sweaty behind, so I did a trace clip the second time I clipped her. It is working well so far. I only hunt once a week and keep a medium-weight blanket on her (she lives outside most of the time.)
Although I’m not hunting right now (sigh), I am still riding my furry beast and I did the Irish clip, too. Honestly, I didn’t know what it was called, I just pulled out my clippers one day after a ride and took off the hair in the sweaty parts…chest, “underarms”, and belly to just behind the girth. She hasn’t had any difficulties being clipped in the girth area.
I’ve actually started a trend at my barn…the other riders are not hunters, they’re mostly kids, but now we have an entire herd of horse & ponies with naked chests! 
Just another good idea for a horse not in hardwork:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jHqBIAYy2bc/TPUGED1Mk8I/AAAAAAAAEdY/V03tvvwrdhg/s400/DSCN2735.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jHqBIAYy2bc/TPUGE22DdjI/AAAAAAAAEdg/ISuFxVskiLY/s400/DSCN2734.JPG
This is my modified bib clip. I didn’t know how this horse would react to cold weather while in work (although it’s not hard work, he was still sweating up a storm), I wanted to start with the modified bib.
If this proves not to be enough for him (it seems it is; on a warm 70° day we did 45 minutes of arena work and he just had some neck sweating), we will go to a full bib. Then from full bib to a low trace. And so on and so forth.
He is only blanketed in cold, rainy conditions or in freezing conditions; he is also on 24/7 turnout, so I didn’t want to take away too much and have him freeze.
I took a little artistic liberty after doing my mare’s trace clip this year. 
My Indian Princess name would be “Princess Has Too Much Time on Her Hands”.
http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2986732750052639572fLyUUk
I do that clip but leave 2/3 of my mare’s neck covered- from her crest to the jugular vein. I’ll take off more if the winter stays “warmish”.
I’m with Whitmers…start out with an Irish and finish with a trace clip.
I think the answer would depend on where you were.
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