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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Courage Goes Bald, Round 1

We've had two days of steady rain, making the arena practically useless and then yesterday afternoon was in the low forties with a steady, cold wind blowing in some even colder weather. Ew. It was too cold and yuck for me to want to ride this early in the season, so I decided it was more than time for C-rage to get his first clip as a sporthorse.

He was not sure it was a great idea
The past couple of years, I've had my horse in a very full care situation, so I just did a full body clip (including legs) because that is the easiest to deal with from a riding perspective. This year, however, we're in a more laid-back situation and Courage isn't really working hard enough to sweat much. Couple that with the fact that he doesn't have a ton of hair, and I really had no reason to take it all off.

After reviewing a lot of information, I decided to go with the "chaser" style clip for a couple of reasons. 1) It leaves the horse with plenty of hair to stay warm. 2) It avoids sensitive hind quarters, which reduces the chances I'd get kicked in the face. 3) It isn't quite as ugly as a trace clip. 4) I can always change it later.


Of course, Courage is a very sensitive guy and due to the high winds, I'd closed the front barn door, so the interior of the barn was quite spooky. I'd intentionally chosen a low-traffic time to clip, which meant that there were people buzzing around, dogs barking, and a horse coming back from the vet.

First attempt
Here goes nothing, right?

I was very impressed with the clippers--they were super quiet and cut well. Courage is reasonably clean, but they held their blade nicely and didn't get too hot. I used masking tape to mark off the lines I wanted to follow and clipped away. It was tricky to do the neck, but that's just because someone kept twisting his adorable face around and demanding cookies anytime I was forward of his shoulder.

Cuz he's a rockstar


I'm not really sure how I feel about clipping designs, but the fact is that we never had the option at the show barn. Since he's my horse and we're free to do whatever we want, I decided that we had to try this at least once.

And I have to admit, it is pretty cute.

By the time we were done, he had dropped his head and was falling asleep.

I'm hoping the cold wind dried out the arena enough that I can have a ride around today to see how it goes. After all, there's a chance I'll get a lesson this weekend and I want to be prepared. 

22 comments:

  1. Love the stars! I've tried, but I am NOT talented at clipping shapes.

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    1. It's all about the stencil! (and the freehand editing you do afterwards, haha).

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  2. Great job, he looks super cute!!!

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  3. Aww I love the stars!

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  4. Whoa whoa whoa...trace clip? Ugly? IM OFFENDED.

    Also I've found the neck is the most difficult part to clip...its my nemesis. He looks spiffy and dashing!

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  5. Well done! What kind of clippers did you use?

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    1. Jess--I used the Andis AGC with the t84 blade. It's my first time with them and I was totally impressed. They aren't really any noisier than little clippers, but they were tidy. I wouldn't want to do some draft X with a lot of hair in them, yikes.

      I think I'm going to have to do a clipper post. I have a lot of opinions about clippers.

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  6. I would love it if you did a clipper post, since I have to buy some before next year. Having went to college surrounded by mechanical engineers, I am well aware of how often motors fail, and I would rather be holding my own $300 motor than someone else's $300 motor when that motor inevitably fails.

    I think the distinction between what you're able to do when you don't have a trainer and when you do is really important. I'd love to do a chaser clip like that with Connor, but my trainer's opinion does matter right now, like you said. Very cute clip on Courage!

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  7. I've never seen a chaser clip. That is really cute! I love the stars too. You did a really good job. :)

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  8. Like that clip, and the stars are super cute.

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  9. I've never heard of a chaser clip before! The stars are so cute! He looks adorable.

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  10. I like the clip! The stars are super cute. I do not clip Varro but then again it doesn't get super cold here and just putting a blanket on at night seems to do the trick.

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  11. This is terrible to admit but the idea of even attempting some kind of pattern is so frustrating to me that I don't even try. I have always worked my horse through the winter though so a full clip was justified with appropriate blanketing!

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  12. Misty's getting a chaser clip too! Twinsies, lol but without the pretty stars. I'm too afraid to even try!

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