Body Clipping Don’t body clip a pasture horse until all danger of cold/cool weather has passed. Only body clip a stalled horse only if I have a blanket for that horse to wear.
[edit] Items to have on hand
A clean & dry horse (BOTH are essential)
Heavy duty clippers (while small clippers will work – they will also work you and develop more heat than tolerable for you and your horse and usually take longer to complete the job)
Spare set of new blades (you don’t want to get 1⁄2 done and be unable to finish due to dull blades)
Blanket to use on shaved horse (essential, even in spring) bullet
Tunic top – preferably a long sleeve one that buttons tightly to the neck or a shirt that you can put on backwards and still be able to move around freely (helps to keep the hair from getting under your clothing)
A cooling lubricant for the clippers
[edit] Time
Start on the neck and work backwards. For the first pass, always go WITH the lay of the hair (face the blades towards the rear of the horse). Stop at the top of the legs with the large clippers and after finishing the entire body you can use smaller clippers to trim the legs. Be cautious around the mane – you don’t want to end up roaching your horse’s mane.
Make sure that you monitor the heat that is building up in the housing of the clippers. This heat transfers to the horse’s skin very quickly and can burn them. Use a cooling lubricant often as well as an oiling lubricant on the blades. The cooling lubricant prevents the heat from burning up the motor of the clippers; the oiling lubricant helps keep the blades sharp.
By going with the grain you won’t be taking the hair as close to the body as you would if you went against the grain. This will give you more leeway and it will not be as hard to get the entire coat looking the same.
Dirt will dull your clipper blades faster than anything else you run against. Wet hair will also dull the blades as well as be close to impossible to clip.
Do the head and legs last or sometimes even the next day.
On your first clipping task, make sure you set aside several hours for completion of the task. The more you do this the faster you will become.
[edit] Types of body clips include
- Full body clip: the horse's entire body is clipped, including the head and legs. This is the most common clip used on show horses. However, it provides the least amount of natural protection for the horse.
- Hunter clip: The entire horse is clipped, except for the legs and a patch of hair under the saddle. This clip traces back to the hunt field, and is still used there today, as it provides extra protection to the back of the horse (essential during several hours of hunting) as well as to the lower legs (which may be cut by brambles), but still allows for the horse to stay cool while galloping.
- Blanket clip: Long hair is left in a blanket-shaped area on the horse. The shoulders and neck are clipped, the legs are left unclipped.
- Trace clip: varies, but generally the horse is clipped from under his throat, down along the jugular groove, and then clipped half-way up the shoulder and belly. Variations include clipping higher along the neck, shoulder, and belly, and clipping a strip off the side of the hindquarted, to the buttock. Additionally, many clip a strip half-way up the cheek to the muzzle. The back and legs are left unclipped. The clip is named after the traces of the carriage, as it follows a similar pattern. The amount of hair removed is based on the work the horse is in, the amount he sweats during work, and the areas where he sweats the most. It is most commonly seen used by eventers.
- Strip clip: clip along the jugular, and clip the chest and lower belly. This is a minimal clip, and many horses with this clip do not need extra care beyond their regular blanketing.
