How many times will your eventer get clipped this winter?

[mythical84]

I clipped the Harrymonster (literally! :lol:) in late October and he's a total fuzzball again. I'm thinking I'm going to have to clip him again, but am trying to decide on the best time for this 2nd clip. I was thinking the end of this month??

So, what do you all do with your horses?

[jumpxc]

My horse has been clipped 4 times since October! If you are riding regularly and you have the blankets, clip away!
Amy

[Bogie]

I usually clip about 3 times over the course of the winter depending on the temperatures and how much I'm riding.

I really need to clip my boy again now but we're expecting over night lows under zero later this week so I thought I'd wait until we'd survived them.

[Bobthehorse]

I did my boys in October as well. Training horse got a full clip, young'un got a trace clip. By December they were beasts again, so I did the young'un again, trace again. But the Training horse is older, requires less work and doesnt really sweat all that much, and since the full clip took alot of the bulk off, I just left him. Now, I think Ill leave him until it starts to warm up a bit, then maybe Ill do a full clip again. The way he was last summer, I may have to keep him clipped year round now. He is rising 19 (and a QH) and doesnt get as sleek as he used to, but last summer wasnt as atrociously hot as it can get here.

[GiGi]

I blanket the snot outta my horses starting in Sept to discourage any hair growth. This way I get through the last HT's and clinics in November. I trace clip right before the first HT of the new year which this year is the end of this month. When temps stay consistantly
in the 50's for day time I do a full body clip so I don't have to suffer through shedding. Until then I just keep up clipping the trace clip.

[yellowbritches]

Most everybody got clipped sometime in October. Most of them could have been clipped again by mid-November! (I remember there was a lot of discussing whether to clip the BFG again pre-Rubicon). I haven't clipped anyone again as most have been vacationing, but I need to start up, like now. :eek: Annoying thing is that both the greys are filthy and really need baths, and the weather just doesn't seem to want to cooperate with that. The bays I need to clip I could probably get away with out baths (though, I'd prefer to bathe them), but Paco and the BFG are just gross.

Thankfully, temps have been cold enough that no one gets too sweaty.

[Little Valkyrie]

I clipped my girl in October and I will clip her again (hunter clip) in February. With the deep freeze we are about to get, I'm glad I didn't have to take too much hair off the hunt horse or her. I like them to have a little bit of something to protect them from the cold.

[Catalina]

I clipped Connor in late October. Within a month, he was a yak again. Since I am not riding him much now (I HATE cold weather), I will wait to clip him again in March.

[toeknee]

I usually clip at least 3x but I have been lazy this winter(as far as clipping AND riding!) and just did my second and it will be my last. I hate clipping but I usually take a little pride and am quite meticulous but after I finally finished my big guy last week I was embarrassed:lol: who cares it should grow out before anyone really see's him! or at least that is what I tell myself when take off his blanket and cringe:lol:

[mythical84]

Well I'd like for this to be the last time that I clip Harry, so I might try to wait til mid-February.

When's the latest any of you will clip?

[yellowbritches]

Year round.

I don't clip every horse year round, but I've clipped a few. Ruby Boy would stay pretty fuzzy in the summer, so I would clip him, and the Dun One took a couple of seasons to get with the Northern Hemisphere flow of things.

[joharavhf]

I've clipped my Welsh cob twice so far - once in October, and then again at the end of November....Planning on doing it at LEAST once more, but we have SHEDDING :D So I'm going to try to wait until end of Feb/March sometime to get the most bang for my Buck (no pun intended - his name is Buck!).

[nhjules]

At our barn (50+ horses) the beasts are only clipped once between late October and early December, because after Dec. 21 when the days start getting longer, their summer coats start growing in and their winter coats start shedding out. Apparently clipping after that date cuts off the ends of the summer-coat hairs, and the horse won't have a smooth, flat, shiny summer coat.

For those of you clipping late in the winter, what kind of growth pattern do you see in your horses' coats? Do they keep growing new summer-coat hairs into the spring, so their coats look smooth and shiny even if they were clipped in late winter? I am really curious about this now. I always took it for granted that one clip was the way to go.

We don't have many superfurry beasts in our barn so the one-clip method works out well.

[FrittSkritt]

Zero with my current guy. He's fuzzy, but he's a TB and not exactly a wooly mammoth.
I used to trace clip my old guy once in the beginning of Nov. and it'd last through spring.

[GotSpots]

We usually have to clip twice on most of them, a couple can get by just being clipped once and one (thank you Ti!) so far has not needed to be clipped. First clip doesn't happen until after they've come back after their end of season vacations, so usually late November or early December, depending on how furry they are. I try not to do the second clip much later than January - we usually do it just before they head south - since I've also had experience with the summer coat not growing in as well as it should. That being said, if we have one going to a big spring three day and they are still too furry to be comfortable when in full work, we have done a third clip. Doesn't completely wreck the summer coat (hot oil helps, and though I've not gotten up the courage to try it, I've heard mayonnaise does as well), but still not as pretty as one that's not clipped that late.

[Jazzy Lady]

Mine didn't grow much of a coat suprisingly, so he didn't get clipped until the new year. He'll only be clipped once. He gets a hunter clip, everything but the face, legs and a saddle patch.

[joharavhf]

For those of you clipping late in the winter, what kind of growth pattern do you see in your horses' coats? Do they keep growing new summer-coat hairs into the spring, so their coats look smooth and shiny even if they were clipped in late winter? I am really curious about this now. I always took it for granted that one clip was the way to go.


I personally found that clipping does NOT keep the summer coat from coming in gorgeous. In fact, I show in the Arabian circuit as well (Sport Horse) and I body clip my mare 2 weeks from the show. She ALWAYS has a decadent coat.

My pony has only been with me since August, so I'm not sure how he will grow in with his summer coat. He had a "thicker that normal" coat when I got him (he came from 7 hours NORTH of us way up in Maine), and if his coat is like that this year, he'll be getting clipped year round. I suspect that once he's used to our 'climate change' down here he'll adapt.

I have both of my horses on flaxseed - 1/2 cup per horse per day. I have noticed a HUGE change in quality of coat/skin....so I suspect this may help my pony too.

[2ndyrgal]

none. He gets to be Chewbacca all winter long. I just spend the extra time it takes to cool him out, but as cold as it's been, frankly, that hasn't taken very long. Glad right now he has all his hair. Might be different if I lived somewhere a bit warmer. And I thought when I moved to Kentucky I was moving to "The South". Maybe in temperment, but not in TEMPERATURE!!!

[Cheval Gris]

I clipped my hairy beast in October, then he was long again by mid December so I clipped again. It is not growing back in quite as fast this time but I will have to clip one more time, sometime in February. My horse is the harriest TB I have ever seen, can't believe it will take three times to keep it down in our mild winters here in SC!

[spacehorse]

There are a couple of mine that I have done 4 times. Although, right now they are not bad, mostly those long 'cat hairs'. I ran over them and it took a half hour. I only did it for cosmetic purposes. Usually, once we hit the end of the year, the major clipping stops and the cosmetic touch ups begin. These are horses that have been done since late Sept/ early October.

I have also never noticed any problems with coat if I clip late. If they need to be done in March, they need to be done. They are totally shiny underneath anyway, I notice absolutely no difference.

[Bobthehorse]

Well I'd like for this to be the last time that I clip Harry, so I might try to wait til mid-February.

When's the latest any of you will clip?

Depends. If you are clipping year round, or have a horse that doesnt show lines (a lot of greys), it doesnt really matter. But for horses that you want to have sleek rich coats by the first show, that have hideous colours when clipped (chestnuts! and some bays), I wouldnt clip after February, for fear of tipping the summer coat coming in and having an uneven and not so glossy summer coat.

[Lori B]

Katy wasn't much of a yeti this year, so no clip at all for us. And she's had a couple of little niggling ouchies, so hasn't been working all that hard. So just as well she's keeping her fur.

Do you find that your horses are furrier some years than others? (not to hijack)

[Shrapnel]

mine has only been clipped 1 time so far...and that was just a trace clip. if we were heading south this winter, i'd do a full body clip. he usually only gets clipped 1-2x a winter.

gully's pilot has also enjoyed the fun of clipping this winter :D

[KBG Eventer]

I just clipped my horse last week, and he got a full body clip except for a saddle patch. I don't think I am going to need to clip him again. My other horse got clipped the same way in November, and I think that is probably it for him too. He isn't in heavy work, but he was SOOOOO hairy (and in TN! Seriously, he was equipped I think for upstate NY weather, :lol:), and he was getting wet with even the light work he gets.

[Highflyer]

Did a hunter clip in mid-October, and will probably redo in the beginning of Feb. My guy isn't too bad, except along the underside of his neck--but I hate shedding, so I'll preempt it any way I can!