AMA: Is It Ever ‘Too Late’ To Clip My Horse?
Is it ever ‘too late’ into the season to clip my horse?
“Timing when to clip horses can seem like a minefield in the spring. If you go to the internet for advice, it is often conflicting and can leave you more confused than when you started! So, what to do!? First, when to clip your horse will depend on what you do with them. We at World Class Grooming strongly believe clipping should be for the health and well-being of a horse first, and cosmetic reasons second. So, you need to ask yourself why you want to clip. If it is just to avoid the horrors of shedding, while I hear you, it’s probably not the right answer. If you have a horse that is uncomfortable working in the warming weather, is not shedding out well on his own, or if you have competitions coming up that require a tidy, scruff-free horse, here are my spring guidelines.
If you have a healthy horse with a good haircoat, you can clip at any time. However, you must do a full body clip. Once we get into spring (past the spring equinox) our horses have already begun growing their summer coats under the winter coats which are shedding out. If you clip a trace or a hunter clip, or leave the legs and face on, you are likely to live with those patterns through the summer. That is because there is a good chance you will cut the tips of the new growth when you clip, and since hair grows from the root not the tip, that hair has been cut for the duration. Do not let that make you think the horse will be off color or dull looking though! The summer coat has a different texture and type than a winter coat, so your chestnut should not be orange when clipped in the spring, unless they are orange when unclipped! A good clip will leave your horse looking beautiful and shiny throughout the season, even with the tips of hair trimmed off. If you look at pictures from the Land Rover Kentucky jog up, I can tell you that 95% of those horses were clipped in the weeks leading up to the event, and they all look shiny, beautifully colored and happy. So go ahead and clip your horses, at any time in the spring. Just remember to clip the legs & face too!”
– Cat Hill
Cat Hill grew up in upstate New York on a working farm. Her first clear memory is of the day her parents got her a pony for her fifth birthday. She grew up on that pony, who was followed by a series of Arabian show horses. In college, she started riding show hunters through the Intercollegiate Horse Show Team at the University of Geneseo. After receiving her degree, she followed her love of horses to Ireland. Upon returning to the States, Cat spent time as a working student for a top Grand Prix Dressage Rider, a winter working the Winter Equestrian Festival for a Grand Prix Showjumping rider, and moved on to manage a AA Hunter barn. More recently she began freelancing as a groom in every discipline. Throughout the years she has worked at almost every type of competition, from the local fair to the Pan American Games. She partners with fellow groom Emma Ford in the enterprise World Class Grooming. Check out her books, World-Class Grooming For Horses and World-Class Braiding: Manes and Tails.
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