Space for Horses Forum
1 to 10 of 10
EQUINE WELFARE: Clipping
-
When do you stop clipping your horse and take the rugs off? Is it me or is the weather so all over the place its going to be hard to judge this year...again! Basically our weather is such a hazard. Actually would say the rain last summer was more hazardous than clipping etc...does anyone know if we're getting it all over again this year.......
dam hope not. -
I don't clip. I also leave forelocks, manes, and tails long.
I believe that all those hairs were put there by God and Darwin for a reason - to protect my horses from the bugs and the elements. In the case of tails, they are also important communication aids for the horse.
If the horse was supposed to be bald, he'd have evolved bald. Bobbing tails is just plain cruel, in my most humble opinion.
I will pull a mane and trim a tail or forelock to prevent them from interfering with the horse, but I always leave them as long as possible. I prefer to tie or braid just for the job at hand, then to release the hair when the job is done.
Good examples are seen in may horses Jake and Jenny:
http://www.spaceforhorses.com/profiles/385/
http://www.spaceforhorses.com/profiles/386/
I don't care if this costs me ribbons. I'm not that good anyway. I would like to see the judges start to adopt a more natural approach. -
My pony get cliped 1 a year and looks a bit like a wooly bear
-
in rules of horses you feed according to type, temprament, work, ect.
clipping is the same if your working your horse hard and it sweats and is not clipped then it will stay uncomfortable and catch a chill, you wouldn't run a couple of miles and not take a shower! if you then do bath them or wash them off and they are not clipped then they will stay wet longer and end up with a chill.
if you are going to leave them "natural" then they shouldn't be broken or in work! people clip there horses for there comfort not to look good!
ive stopped rugging 2 of mine and the third is in a fleese (because she was in a middle to heavy weight for the winter!) but that will be taken off soon! -
I clip my horse right out every winter, but dont believe that if you do not clip your horse you must not ride it or even break it in. But i do believe it all depends on the type of horse and how much they are doing and what type of work they are in.
I have been teaching on a very busy riding school and some of those horses and ponies do not get clipped at all and they are probably doing more work than my horse.
As I have said it all depends on what type of work they are doing and how much they are doing also. Alot of fantastic horses are super at being ridden and can not be clipped as they do not like it, but if you based that on the idea that it can not be ridden then what a waste of a great competition horse.
Some horses feel the cold alot more and some horses sweat up just by doing a bit of gentle excerise so it all depends on wether you think if it is right for your horse and its work load wether it should be clipped or not. -
I clip my horses because of the time they take to dry out after exercise. If I left them hairy I would have to stay up the yard longer . Sometimes I do not have the time to wait around, If on the other hand I had them at my house it would not be a problem to just pop out and change rugs etc.
-
I didn't clip my horse this year, as I only got her last November and she must have been rugged up too early by previous owners as she had no winter coat at all!
And yes the weather has been all over the place!
If we get a half decent day, we just whip the rugs off and then put them back on at night.
Hopefully won't be much longer before they can go out in the nude lol -
If the horse is sweating excessively then it is only fair to clip whatever is necessary.
I've only ever had to clip one of my horses who was in heavy work and grew a rather mammoth-like coat.
Take the rugs off if your horse is getting warm under them.
I wouldn't be clipping at this time of year as i have heard it can affect their summer coats coming through. -
Dolly is clipped fully in winter as she sweats excessively and i wouldnt want to risk her catching a chill! Her mane is also kept hogged as she suffers badly from sweetitch and taking her mane off leaves her much more comfortable.
I usally clip her at the beginning of October, and may need to re-clip once or twice over winter. I would not clip again past Februrary as the summer coats will start to develop underneath the fluff and you dont want to ruin the hair underneath.
As G says, horses are best at telling you when they need rugs removing for the summer....i.e, if the yare starting to feel too warm under the rugs, start taking them off through the day and as the days warm up leave them off for longer and longer until they are off completely -
i only clip our horses that are in enough work to justify it, the only reason horses need clips is because of our demands that make them sweat.
i give my cob a full clip as he gets very hairy and does work and compete in the winter
and my 17.1hh warmblood a blanket as he has such a fine coat anyway.
regards to the rugging i clip and rug up on the same day so once they are clipped they have turn out rugs and neck covers on (weather dependent to the weight of rug) where we live normally requires heavey weights during mid winter then we reduce to light weights in march time and april they normally start to loose any excess hair and malt so we take off rugs and give them good grooms every day to encorage the summer coat.
1 to 10 of 10