To Clip or Not to Clip?

To Clip or Not to Clip?

We all know that feeling - when you take your curry comb to your horse after the first month or so of cold weather and you feel a solid layer of grease and dandruff hiding underneath the thicker coat your horse has magically grown. No longer is the nice thin summer coat there. However, what many people don’t realize is that the grease and oil which builds-up in a horses coat is exactly what they need to protect them from the elements. However, what the grease and oil does not protect them from is wind. So, regardless if your horse does end up getting clipped or not – when the wind picks up and there is no shelter your horse can seek refuge in, you will need to blanket your horse. Which leads us back to a every horse owner needing to make the ultimate decision - To clip or not to clip?

Clipping is one of the most tedious tasks of owning a horse, whether you decide to do it yourself or hire a professional – someone is getting covered in horse hair whether they like it or not. The decision to clip is always up to the owner of the horse. However, it also depends on how much the horse is working versus the length/thickness of the horse’s hair. If you are putting your horse through a vigorous work schedule, producing sweat and grease would cause quite a build-up in your horse’s coat – which can lead to it being uncomfortable when in work. To prevent this build-up, clipping would solve most of your problems.

Unfortunately, like everything in the equestrian industry there is no hard and fast rule for clipping. Whether you do or don’t depends on many things - but how do you decide whether you should clip or not?

Check out this general checklist and see if you rank in the clipping bracket or not.

• You blanket your horse in the winter

• You are showing this winter

• You are exercising heavily throughout the winter

• Your horse is quick to sweat

• You do not like spending a lot of time grooming

• Your horse gets a very thick coat in the winter

• You own your own clippers

• You don’t mind hiring a professional to clip your horse

• You do not want to spend a long time cooling out

• You want your horse to look show-ring ready

• You like to bathe during the winter months

• You will be shipping to a warmer climate

If you answered yes to 1-5 of these, then the likelihood of you needing to at least trace-clip this winter is quite high.

If you answered yes to 6+ of these, you should be prepared to do a full body-clip this winter.

Once you have decided on whether you are going to clip your horse or not, you then should decide what kind of clip you would like. Trust me, this is sometimes even harder than even deciding to clip or not.

Types of Clips:

Pros of Clipping:

1. Faster Cool-out times

2. Less Grooming Time

3. Less build-up of grease and dandruff

4. Beautiful Looking Horse

Cons of Clipping:

1. Blanketing gets a little tricky

2. Cool-out times after exercise increases significantly

3. More time spent grooming

4. Cost of hiring a professional or doing it yourself

5. Time Spent Clipping

6. If you are doing it yourself, you get covered in horse hair

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