This spring I went to clip my super hairy mini and she was quite sweaty in a few areas. I decided to go ahead and clip her because it wasn’t going to cool down anytime soon. It was the easiest and best looking clip I’ve ever done! So I came across some old COTH threads about wet clipping, which I had never heard of before. Anybody have recent experience with wet clipping? I’m wondering if I should try actually hosing her off and scraping her down before I clip her next spring?
Yes! I love wet clipping. Takes a little longer IME but I love that the hair doesn’t stick to you as much, and the clip always looks much better. I usually bathe and curry with some shampoo, then scrape off the excess water, then start to clip after about 20 minutes of drying.
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It can look really, really good! I do think it wears out the motor on clippers faster, so you’d be wise to have a second pair on hand just in case.
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I have never had good luck with wet clipping. It is never even and my clippers heat up fast for me. Give me a dry, fluffy, wooly mammoth slicked up with show sheen any day. But this is just one COTHer’s experience!
*I used to clip about 10-15 show horses every winter season
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I have successfully clipped wet. What I couldn’t do was keep the clippers from rusting, even after oiling them.
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I clip wet and it’s fabulous. I scrub the pony sparkly and then sponge him with Avon skin so soft and hot water, then clip.
I keep my clippers oiled and sponge as I go. My clippers don’t heat up and no flying hair.
I haven’t noticed rust as long as I dry my blades after with alcohol and then oil.
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I tried it on my ponies a couple times and all I got was a bogged down clipper 
. It was like trying to clip memory foam or something.
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Interesting range of experiences. I think I’ll give it a try next spring and see how it goes.
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I’ve had mixed results, mostly due to the hair type and real cleanliness. One was a draft cross that got ridden right before our appointment and was just rinsed off. She had super-coarse hair that I needed to break out my Clipmasters for, the Andis AGC-2s literally couldn’t cut it.
My other experience, long story short, needed a bath the day I clipped him. He packed a weeks worth of dirt down to the skin overnight. I used the E3 argan oil shampoo, and clipping him with the AGC-2s was like a hot knife through butter.
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The E3 shampoos are a game changer. Love them.
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I thought wet clipping horses was revolutionary and then discovered via YouTube that dog groomers do it all the time for thick matted hair.
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Interesting! When I googled “wet clipping”, the first few links were adamant that you should never wet clip. So that’s why I came to COTH for expert advice.
I like to clip when the horse is damp, not wet. And I like some Show Sheen in the coat too. There’s less loose hair flying around, the clippers don’t clog up as fast.
You can’t clip a really heavy coated horse when damp or wet, because of the extra strain on the clippers.
But for a really slick, lovely show clip; give me a squeaky clean, damp horse that’s been Show Sheened.
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I just saw those shampoos at Tractor Supply. I’ve always used Cowboy Magic shampoo-it seems to rinse very well w well water. Have you used that? Do you think the E3 is better? Thank you!
Same
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Which shampoo specifically?
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My AGC2 clippers with fresh blades cut my cushings pony hair like butter when he is wet. Like wet wet not damp. He has that soft teddy bear hair that gets 4” long at least.
My other two I clip damp cause they really have a thin coat.
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I haven’t tried the CM shampoo, but I’ve tried the conditioner. I like the E3 Argan Oil conditioner better that CM
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I like the argan oil shampoo and conditioner from them! A little pricey, but a tiny bit goes a long way and it works so well without stripping all the natural oils off.
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I’ve clipped wet or dry for a few decades and my experience is that if the coat is right at that tweener stage of too short and “time to clip!”, My choice will be to clip dry. It just works better for me. (This is especially true if the neck/shoulder area has a short, fine coat, which is typical in the tweener stage)
Once we’ve got a “SSWJ get the clippers” coat, it’s wet clipping FTW. The only snag (and I used that term literally) is if the coat dries enough to get damp, not wet. That just plays hell on clipper blades. So when I’m clipping wet I usually wash and rinse the horse, scrape and start clipping. I may even rinse him off when I get to the other side of I think he’s drying off too much.
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