To Clip

I've never body clipped a horse before. I tend towards wanting my horses to be able to live as naturally as possible. That said, I've never had a horse who is as hairy or sweaty as Kachina. Her sweat is impacting how much work we can do in the winter, and so I've been considering jumping on the clipping bandwagon. Half the horses at the dressage clinic this weekend were clipped and it made me think about it more.

Fuzzy yak

I had this whole long post written up yesterday "To Clip or Not to Clip?", and was planning to ask you guys for your thoughts. However, as I was laying out all the facts, I realized that I could answer that question myself. Reviewing old posts of other bloggers who have made the transition to clipping helped me to make the decision too (thanks all, especially Cob Jockey and Bel Joeor).

So I've decided To Clip. What now?

Type of Clip

I'm leaning towards a bib clip or low trace clip. This is new to both Kachina and I so I'd rather start conservatively. We can always take more off later if we need to, but even a small clip should help a bit.

Bye-bye chest hair

Function is my top priority by far, but there is also the small issue that Kachina is a loud overo pinto and I am planning to show in March so I don't want her to look completely ridiculous. There are shockingly few pictures of clipped pintos online, and I'm not sure how clip lines are going to look with her pattern.

What to Clip With

I don't own clippers. My first response to solve this problem was to go look at clippers on sale for Cyber Monday. After reading tons of reviews and looking at the different brands, I decided that was a silly plan. This is my first time clipping. I don't know how well it's going to work for us, and I only have one horse who will be clipped once or twice a year; it doesn't make sense for me to spend a few hundred dollars right away on brand new clippers. So what am I going to do instead?

Plan A 

Hire someone to clip for me. This is the best plan because I don't have to get clippers myself, and it also gets me an experienced person who knows what they are doing. I asked around and got the name of one lady in the area who clips horses. I've made initial contact and I'm hopeful that this plan will work.

Plan B

Borrow clippers. A friend has said that I can borrow her clippers if I want. (I thought her clippers died on her recently which is why I wasn't looking at this option originally, but I guess she got them going again).

Plan C

I also found someone local who is selling a second-hand pair of clippers - Oster Clipmasters. I know from reviews that these aren't considered the best option, but the price is right and so it might be worth going this route if Plan A and B fall through.

How to Clip

Even if I have a clippers, there's a few barriers to actually using it:

1. To my knowledge, Kachina has never been clipped before. Some desensitization is probably going to be required. Keep in mind that I don't currently have access to clippers so I can't start getting her used to them.
2. There's no hot water at the barn and it's already cold enough that I can't bathe. I know that clipping dirty hair is not ideal, but I'm not sure how to get around this other than going back in time and thinking about this a month ago. Just use a ton of show sheen? 
3. Location. Ideally there would be a well lit tie stall or something with well located electrical outlets. In reality, the inside of the barn is super dark with motion sensing lights that shut off periodically. I'm not sure where is best to attempt the clip job but I'm sure long extension cords are going to be part of it. 

Sweaty horses get angry eyebrows

I'm hoping that the experienced clipper in Plan A can help me figure some of this out. Apparently she has worked with a lot of first-time horses so that makes me feel better. If you have any suggestions please let me know though.

When did you first clip? What made you try it? Are you glad you did or am I making a terrible mistake (speak now or forever hold your peace ;-P )?