Turnout/Clipping/Blanketing/Riding in the Wet and Winter

[FjordBCRF]

We just moved barns this past weekend and I don’t think there are any boxes unchecked. It’s private, well maintained, most of the horses there are the owners, 200 acres with a few miles of trails, space to drive, indoor and outdoor riding arenas. The barn owner and their adult daughter both live on the property as well the main caretaker of the horses/property. The caretaker is on top of everything, has a lot of experience (track and other barns), and is a total work horse himself. All people are very nice, communicative, and are on the same page about horse care as I am.

As far as turnout goes…again, ideal. Multiple acres large, well maintained pastures with run in sheds, and 3 smaller dry lot areas. The horses are pretty much out 24/7. They come in in the morning for breakfast for a couple hours, go back out again for the day, come in for a couple hours for dinner, then go back out for the night. With the exception of truly inclement weather like thunderstorms, the horses go out.

Right now my fjord is out with two other new friends on a dry lot with ample hay in small hole hay nets. Once we get our first freeze, the plan is to wait a week for the grass to be done for the season, and then put him out with the friends we moved with in the big pasture with a run in shed off our barn.

This is the first barn that has the combo of awesome turnout and an indoor arena. Initially I was thinking to let him grow out his wonderful fluffy winter coat which is coming in full force. Upon further thought, I realize I will often have a soggy horse to bring in that I want to ride. If I put a sheet on him, he needs to be clipped in some capacity otherwise he will overheat with his full winter coat.

Looking at this:

Last year I gave him a blanket clip, mostly due to the fact that we had a warm November and he was getting way too hot with his winter coat. He had a no fill rain sheet for the entirety of the winter once it started getting wet and colder (low 40’s). Im inclined to let him be out day and night in the winter since there is a shelter unless the weather is totally miserable.

I think in this environment, I’m leaning towards towards the trace clip so he has his neck protected. The sheet I have for him goes up the neck a bit, but I want him to have hair to puff up.

I don’t mind him burning extra calories with the cold…he could stand to lose a few pounds but is in other good shape. Here’s our average temp/precipitation info:

What would you do? We will be in work all winter both in the indoor and trail riding. Last year was the first year I clipped/blanketed in my 30+ years of horses so I don’t have a lot of experience.

[luvmyhackney]

If you are going to be working him regularly and/or he’s a heavy sweater, I’d just body clip and leave his head, legs, and belly alone.

He would probably be fine with a light weight turnout all winter. Your temps aren’t crazy low and based on your description he runs hot.

[NaturallyHappy]

I do this, too, although I do clip the cheek. One could add a liner, if need be.

[HeartsDesireEventing]

I do what is probably best described as a modified Irish clip - I only sometimes clip the cheek, but I do often clip the entire neck, so my clip line actually runs from the flank to the withers. But, I do have hoods for my blankets, so I’m not so worried about being able to keep the neck warm. Bonus is it gets hair off the areas most likely to sweat first - neck, chest, and girth - so I’m less likely to have a sweaty horse to try to dry and turnout for the night. All my rides are after work, so in the winter I basically ride, brush off, blanket, turn out, and head home.

[trubandloki]

I personally would start with a trace clip and then if he is still too warm you can always remove more hair.

[GoodTimes]

I’m in Canada and have one horse out 24/7 and one that is out overnight and in for 6ish hours during the day.
Last year I did full clips in mid-late November so they wouldn’t overheat when we went to WEC Ohio for the first two weeks of December. By January they were both pretty fuzzy again. They both have blankets with necks and an assortment of liners to keep them comfortable.

In your case I would probably invest in a sheet with a detachable neck. Or do a trace clip sometime in the next 4-6 weeks so that the hair grows in a bit before the cold weather really sets in. If he’s too sweaty you could always reclip his chest/shoulder where it’s under the blanket.

[DMK]

I do a combo of trace and Irish (trace behind, Irish up front) until I’m ready for the full clip job and blanketing. Just did it today as a matter of fact, and that was 1 month after the full clip job. You might try doing that sooner rather than later since, uh, you have a few clip jobs ahead of you… that way you can figure out what works for cooling off/reblanketing and your schedule, and do that next clip accordingly for when it’s actually cold

[Amy3996]

I did something similar to @HeartsDesireEventing last winter to start with. My guy was primarily getting sweated up on the underside of his neck and chest. I ended up going for a full hunter clip (left head, legs and saddle patch) about a month later because the modified Irish wasn’t enough while he was working.

You can always take more off, but I’d be prepared with a neck cover if you do much clipping in front of the withers.

[quietann]

Depending on the horse, start even smaller – like a strip clip.

The first winter I had my mare, I didn’t really know how much coat she would grow. She was in full training and I asked that they start with a strip clip, in late October. They actually only did a strip from just in front of the girth area to under her jowls. That wasn’t enough, so they took a little more. Eventually she had the underside of her jaw, her chest, and lower half of her neck completely clipped, and a little bit on her belly and flanks. (The trainer thought she might not want her girth area clipped, and I am guessing that was a good decision as her skin was a bit sensitive there.) Never went further than that as it turns out she just didn’t grow that much winter coat; she mostly got a little plushy. I never had to clip more than the underside of her neck and her chest after that.

So I guess my advice would be start small; you can always clip more if you need to, but if you clip too much, there’s nothing you can do but wait for it to grow back.

[Weezer]

I agree with starting with a fairly modest clip and then removing more if you need to. If you’re clipping his neck at all, he should wear at least an uninsulated neck cover to break the chilly wind. If your arms are cold wearing a single thin layer under a vest, then his naked neck is probably chilly too.

[FjordBCRF]

@Weezer

If your arms are cold wearing a single thin layer under a vest, then his naked neck is probably chilly too

Meet my fjord

I dug up some old pictures and think this is probably where I will start. He went out during the day with not clothes at this point.

His coat is T.H.I.C.K. He also starts shedding at the end of December

As long as he’s not shivering, he can burn the extra calories but I want to make sure any nights he’s out overnight he is comfortable. Maybe daytime naked and nighttime the no fill.

[RedHorses]

On the other hand, it is early October and you could do a more aggressive clip now and a more conservative clip later (leaving three levels of hair as the aggressive clipped areas still have a lot of coat to grow at this point).

I live in a colder climate. It gets below freezing and stays there for months with the occasional foray above freezing. I do a modified trace clip that doesn’t touch the belly below a straight line from elbow to stifle. I go higher if the horse needs more hair off. I have done the early October aggressive clip, followed by the late November more conservative clip and it worked well.

Like yours @FjordBCRF mine wears a high neck (200g Rhino Wug). I keep a light blanket (100g) with neck rug ready to throw on top for the bad weather events (snow or ice storm, rain followed by a rapid drop below freezing).

Two pics - one of the aggressive, high clip - please note I bowed the elbow-stifle line down on this one. The other of my regular modified trace clip with straight elbow to stfle line - the amount removed around the stifle varies from the side stripe to a bump up almost as high as his hip bone… I looked for a pic of the regular clip cut over the aggressive clip but can’t find one right now. I’ll look for one if you really want to see it.

[FjordBCRF]

This is great, thank you for sharing! I LOVE the agressive clip, that looks like art.

We really haven’t been getting low low temps anymore until January so that would give him nearly 3 months of growth. I think that’s why we never needed cover at our first barn. I clipped around this time or a little earlier. I remember hosting Christmas and thanksgiving for a couple years a few years ago, and one Christmas Eve was in the 50’s. I had to open the windows in the house.

Now is certainly the time to do the agressive clip. I’ll just have to do a little trial/error to see what warrants cover with temps/precipitation.

[Willesdon]

Over-rugging is recognized to be a welfare issue here in the Land of Ponies as our native ponies and cobs really don’t need to be rugged over the not-very-cold British winters and they are designed, by mother nature, to deal with the seasons. But wet and muddy horses make their owners really miserable while SM and every horse magazine are full of endless adverts for rugs. People over rug. It is a big factor in the obesity problem in the national herd.

Clipping is a problem because the weather is so variable, it is not as predictable as it used to be and owners use rugs. How much work do you ask of your horse in the winter? How much is he likely to sweat during a trail ride? How often are you riding in the wet and cold? How much time do you have time to take care of him after a ride, particularly if the days are much shorter than in the summer?

If you think your future rugging regime and level of work will justify a large clip, do an aggressive one now to reduce the amount of hair in a couple of months. Then in the proper winter weather, start small with a bib or a strip clip, taking off minimal hair, and extend it if he is getting seriously sweaty during winter work.

[signmypapyrus]

I should note that I live in a really awful area of the world where our winters are about nine months long and temperates average -20F or -30C. Fjord horses do love the temps, however. I’m also horrible at clipping. Right now the underside of her jaw and chest are clipped and she looks homeless.

I got this fleece cooler for my girl in case she sweats or gets wet down to her skin playing in the snow. I also have an Eskadron cooler that is a similar material to Under Armour material that helps.

So you can see how wooly she gets in November:

[signmypapyrus]

Did you clip LEAVES on your horse!? HOW?! Teach me! That looks so beautiful!

[RedHorses]

Yes. Yes, I did clip leaves into my horse’s coat. I drew the leaves on with a whiteboard marker, clipped! around them, and then used an 1/8" length guard and clipped the leaves short.

I used to use chalk to draw my clip lines, but it’s not very good on longer coats for details like leaves. I have to follow the lie of the coat with the marker. Cross hair lines are more a series of dots.

[FjordBCRF]

@Willesdon

Over-rugging is recognized to be a welfare issue here in the Land of Ponies as our native ponies and cobs really don’t need to be rugged over the not-very-cold British winters and they are designed, by mother nature, to deal with the seasons

I couldn’t agree more. One barn I was at was particularly bad about over blanketing and it was clear it had nothing to do with the horses actual needs.

@Willesdon

How much work do you ask of your horse in the winter? How much is he likely to sweat during a trail ride? How often are you riding in the wet and cold? How much time do you have time to take care of him after a ride, particularly if the days are much shorter than in the summer?

He will be in some sort of work 5-6 days a week. I don’t wuss out until day time temps start to get around 20/teens. With that said, I don’t go hard on the trails enough to really get much sweat. He will be getting weekly training rides with my trainer, but this is the first winter he will be in that type of work.

After sleeping on it, I really like the second picture that @RedHorses shared. I will start with that today and plan to keep him naked for turnout given he did totally fine with the Irish clip naked over that past winter. Having the belly hair I think will be a good idea for him. If I do that asap, he will have plenty of time to grow it out before our colder months hit, and that usually isn’t until end of Dec/beginning of January. I think that will be a good place to start and if we do get any fall heat waves, hopefully that will get us through.

[Pico_Banana]

I’m thinking about this, too. Going into my first winter without an indoor but hoping to stay in work. I’m planning not to clip until it gets too unworkable dealing with sweaty horses. Of course, I do not have a Fjord.

[tabula_rashah]

My Fjord is out 24/7 (god forbid you try to keep Miss Opinionated Bulldozer in a stall overnight lol)
She gets a bib clip with a 0g sheet for cold rain or a 100g for colder wet weather. I do have a medium for her if it gets really cold and snowy here but she rarely needs that. If it’s not going to be wet or have her lying in snow, I skip the blanket altogether, even clipped