Shows and clipping

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Shows and clipping

Postby blob » Tue Oct 08, 2019 11:23 pm

I normally don't clip my horses in the winter. There are a few reasons for this, but the main one is that my barn will put/take off blankets at breakfast and dinner, but not midday and I live in a place that can easily have lows in the 30s and highs in the 60s, so without a wardrobe change midday horses would either get over heated or get cold. By keeping them unclipped they can stay naked and will self regulate fairly well (they do get rain sheets if it'll be wet).

I also don't normally show in the winter. However, I'm considering showing in Dec or Jan this year. My question is, how frowned on would it be for me to show an unclipped horse? Has anyone done this or even seen anyone show with a furry breast?

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Flight
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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby Flight » Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:04 am

My horses are always furry!! A judge did say to me once “my your horse has a hairy beard!” So I trim that.
Guess it depends on your region?

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby blob » Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:50 am

Lol!

Good to know that hairy horses are being shown at least in some places!

I don't actually know what the standard is in my region. I'm in Georgia, which is region 3. There are no GA shows between October and March. But TN, SC, and FL go through the winter. The really fancy folks go down to Florida. But I'm not sure what the atmosphere is like at the TN or SC shows that I'd be considering. But I can ask around.

MM gets quite the fuzz, including seasonal feathers. But at least she's a bay so she doesn't look dirty on top of being furry.

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby piedmontfields » Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:04 pm

Blob, please do not take this as a directive, since you care works best for your horse's boarding situation! And that is much more important than fashion IMO.

In TN, I would say almost everyone clips who shows late in the year. Unless it is just a schooling show.

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby blob » Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:22 pm

piedmontfields wrote:Blob, please do not take this as a directive, since you care works best for your horse's boarding situation! And that is much more important than fashion IMO.

In TN, I would say almost everyone clips who shows late in the year. Unless it is just a schooling show.


Thanks, PF, that's helpful to know. I suspected that might be the case. It won't make me change my choice to not clip--without proper blanketing services as part of the board it just wouldn't be fair to the horses--but it might make me rethink whether I go to a winter show at all!

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby exvet » Wed Oct 09, 2019 3:57 pm

Looks like my previous attempt to post went missing.

I am in a similar situation. I have showed in the winter despite not clipping and do not believe it's affected my scores greatly; however, for those who are really working hard (not just my competition horses) I often do at least do a trace clip. I hate body clipping horses - I hate eating all the hair, feeling like it's on me for days....LOL. Still, I find with the drastic temperature changes and riding late at night after work. horses working up a sweat, the trace clip keeps their sweating down and allows them to dry off faster so I don't have to worry about them getting chilled or actually using a cooler in Arizona.

Now having said all that I have plans to body clip Junior this weekend in preparation for our show in a couple of weeks. He is looking like a big ole black woolly bear and given what I'm asking him I want to make it easier on him to work in the Arizona heat. I also want to <dare I say it?> masquerade his breed! There is no way I can clip feathers on a welsh cob with a winter coat without doing a body clip. I used to ride with an S judge who I respect highly that told me that she thinks the feathers especially at the higher levels are a distraction when watching a test. This individual earned her gold medal on a Friesian; so, she didn't say it to pressure me into body clipping and she knew I would never do so on a stallion; but, a gelding? Well this likely being my last hoorah in this race, I'm going to try to maximize my chances while still riding a welsh cob who many think is a german riding pony when clipped LOL.

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby khall » Thu Oct 10, 2019 8:13 pm

I think in Georgia you almost have to clip to do hard work. At least I do. My horses tend to sweat. I do a blanket type clip on Rip and a trace on others. I'm lucky Joplin has little to no winter coat:) and does not require clipping.

I know in Florida they have to clip, it is way warmer down there.

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby blob » Thu Oct 10, 2019 10:27 pm

khall wrote:I think in Georgia you almost have to clip to do hard work. At least I do. My horses tend to sweat. I do a blanket type clip on Rip and a trace on others. I'm lucky Joplin has little to no winter coat:) and does not require clipping.

I know in Florida they have to clip, it is way warmer down there.


Mine do fine in GA without being clipped. So I think it depends on the horse. Neither is a big sweater though MM is definitely in hard work. She'll sweat under her saddle area, but she dries fast and will be dry well before I'm done putting everything away and grooming her, etc.

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby Chisamba » Fri Oct 11, 2019 12:02 am

I do blanket and start to blanket early to keep the horses from getting long hair, i also clip, i know that does not answer the question about hairy horse showing! lol in colorado they early spring shows were actually called "hairy horse shows" to let riders know it was okay to show in full coat.

I changed my opinion about long hair based on, ( as Khall said) how many horses i ride and how long it takes to cool them out after riding if they have a full coat.

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby khall » Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:40 pm

Blob I am farther south than you and I think our humidity stays higher here. Rip is a big sweater, his dam Gallie was too. Gaila not as much though I will probably do the trace clip on her like chisamba says convenience and ease of cooling out.

I would expect if you show in FL you would have to clip, it is way warmer there than in GA. At least in south FL it is. Went to a symposium in White Fences in December 2016 it was short sleeve weather.

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby Ryeissa » Thu Dec 19, 2019 2:29 pm

All the horses that I know who train in the winter get a trace clip. its totally ok to show fuzzy.
I am now on my second trace clip of the winter already

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby blob » Fri Dec 20, 2019 1:07 am

It doesn't look like I"ll end up showing until the spring anyway (but I might take my very fuzzy mustang to a fancy clinic in february.

Both mine are full fuzz and given how crazy up and down the weather has been here, I"m glad I have not had to worry about the multiple blanket changes needed within the day. MM definitely gets sweaty after rides, but she also dries very very fast (she has kind of an unusual coat).

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby exvet » Fri Dec 20, 2019 2:32 pm

I'm getting ready to show in February so I'm going to be body clipping Junior again at the end of January. I've been keeping up with the blanketing struggle and he's tolerated it well. The one thing I did do was buy myself a Christmas present that I've wanted for DECADES; so, I finally did it. I bought a horse vacuum cleaner! Now I don't have to muddle with bathing either before clipping or before the show. YES!

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby heddylamar » Fri Dec 20, 2019 3:26 pm

Maia is the proud owner of an embarrassingly aborted trace clip :lol:

Girly wasn't introduced to clippers as a young'un but she was okay with the clippers rubbing all over her, then let me start clipping her chest. THEN she lost her mind :roll: I managed to turn it into a neat rectangle, but it's not quite right ...

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Re: Shows and clipping

Postby musical comedy » Fri Dec 20, 2019 5:56 pm

exvet wrote:I'm getting ready to show in February so I'm going to be body clipping Junior again at the end of January. I've been keeping up with the blanketing struggle and he's tolerated it well. The one thing I did do was buy myself a Christmas present that I've wanted for DECADES; so, I finally did it. I bought a horse vacuum cleaner! Now I don't have to muddle with bathing either before clipping or before the show. YES!
Absolutely the best purchase I ever made for horses. I bought an Electro Groom (the big blue thing) when I first built my barn 30 years ago. It keep going until about 3 years ago when the latches rusted off it. I debated buying another one, because at the time I only had my old guy. Still, when he would roll in mud and it dried, it was a grooming nightmare. Now that I have the second horse, I am so glad I made the purchase. The vacuum is also good for taking dried mud off blankets.

Heddy, I had to clip my old guy even in the summer. Not because he had long hair from Cushings, but because his normal coat was thick and he was big muscled and sweated quickly. The quick, half-ass clipping job I would do on him was a real sight. Fortunately, nobody got to see it. I would do sections at a time, because I just do not have the patience to do a whole body in one clip. When I was showing or boarding out in training, I paid to have it done. Again, money well spent.

Personally, I would not show in a trace clip unless it was a schooling show. I would do the full clip.


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