Baby's First Clip

Zoebird is a lady from the cold, snowy north.

horse hats for a reason

I live in the desert.

you can't tell on account of how DST sucks

We're having some warm weather even by "high mountain desert" standards, which means nice rides get cut short because a certain bold, curvy lady is #Zoedying in the heat.

Y R SO HOT MOM

I have been LOVING this winter in terms of having a legit horse who just wants to horse and not wear blankets and be babied. But also. Let's not get heatstroke here. It's January after all.

is it really reusing a photo if it's still cute?

This weekend, I finally busted out the big clippers.

MOM R REAL CRZY 4 REAL

And went to town.

It's not the prettiest clip job I've ever done.

But.

My baby mare who had never seen big clippers before in her life was like MOM U CRAZY BUT HOKAY and stood there like a total champion. She was a bit bored/twitchy by the time I got to her butt, so hopefully we'll attack that another day.

I'm hoping as we get back to work this week, she'll be a lot more comfortable. The other obvious plus side is that now she gets to look completely adorable in a blanket.

I dunno why other horses look so boring in blankets but ZB is super extra adorable.

So that happened

ALL THE HAIR

Back in October, Courage was rocking the wooly winter coat, while the temps were still in the 80s during the day. That was obviously stupid, so I did a quick chaser clip on him. It's since mostly grown back in, but I swore up and down that I would wait until January to clip him again and thus skate by with two clips this year.

Then the weather warmed up from 20f to 40f, ice turned into wet, and I had to chip dried mud off the most sensitive princess horse before a ride. Do you know how many times you can do that in a winter?

ONE.

before

Plus I was trying to photograph something shiny and the fuzzy look just wasn't doing it for me.

So I busted out the big clippers, told C he'd have to learn to deal, and went to town.

Despite my better efforts, we ran out of daylight after I did about 1.25 sides of him. It's really quite impossible to clip in the dark with no good lights and no real crossties. Sigh.

his opinions of my ideas

I finished him the next day.

I went with a full clip minus head and legs (again) (even though I HATE fuzzy heads) because while Courage is in hard enough work to justify taking all the hair off and I do have the blankets to support this plan of action (on two horses, even!), it just doesn't make sense to strip him totally bald.

Mostly because I did his legs one time and it cause us both to fly into a murderous rage. And while I can clip his ears, they pretty much have the same effect. And if you clip the head and not the ears, that's just gross. Of course, not clipping the head is gross too...

super weird

At any rate. The first two winters he was with me, I clipped stars on him.

And then while doing some research this winter, I discovered that someone had stolen pictures off my blog of him and put them on pinterest.

Which.

WTF.

An OTTB wears a Clydesdale costume and the thing you notice is the rather-subdued clip? #lifefail there photo-stealing Pinterest weirdo.

Then earlier this year I did hearts because I'm not cool enough to freehand stars on an impulse clip. Little girls loved it, but it wasn't quite my thing. I may be all about the glitter, but hearts? Meh.

SO I DID THIS:

IT'S AWESOME

Ahem. For those of you less-nerds out there (you're reading a niche blog, so non-nerd isn't an option unless you're my mother), that's the Marvel Avengers logo. Best Franchise.

Makes me smile.

I think he likes it too

That's clip #2 in the books for this winter. I am loving the lack of long hair. Lil bit less loving realizing that most of his neck thickness was hair, but ah well. Can't deny he's looking damn good.

Like a super hero. (cough if said hero was super gay and rocked the bling).

First Clip in the Books

can't freehand a star yet

I swore off clipping until the end of October this year, but between 80f+ temps and Courage getting super hairy, even a quick 20 minute ride ended with him in a lather. I found myself with a few unexpected free hours on Saturday, so I busted out the clippers and went crazy.

I love a good full body clip, but Courage isn't in that hard or consistent work right now and I'd like his blanketing to be as low-maintenance as possible. With this clip, he still has most of his hair, but the areas that get most hot are bare.

Courage is the sort of horse that does have to be blanketed in the winter, as he loves getting dirty and HATES being brushed. I just don't want to make it an issue before we have too. It's still warm enough that we'll be doing the constant blanket on/off routine for the foreseeable future, and that's just a pain.

So yes. Round 1=chaser clip and shoulder hearts.

Clip Me Baby One More Time: Winter Pattern Baldness

so much hair everywhere

Here's a thing about me: I really, really, really hate hair. It makes me batty. I hate being shed on. I hate fuzzy winter horses. I hate goat beards and yak coats and all that shiznit. HATE.

I clipped Courage back in October. I haven't re-clipped since then.

I touch up his face from time to time, but like there is hair. Everywhere. It is not ok with me.

my sexy ass horse

BUT.

I know that I know that I know clipped horses are harder to care for and require more blanket changes. I know that shedding isn't harmful and many thousands of years of horseman were shed upon every spring and very few horses were murdered as an outcome.

I know that a fuzzy horse is a warm horse and a warm horse is less likely to buck me off, especially as the weather changes.

I KNOW ALL THAT.

so bald. so pretty. need mane pull. 2014 pic

But you know what else I know?

My horse is beautiful and I like looking at him. I absolutely refuse to tie up Courage's tail or even braid it because I like looking at it. I like the aesthetics of tack and how it compliments my horse. I really love the look of a freshly clipped horse. I love quarter sheets.

And hell, I own so many blankets I hardly know what to do with all of them.

Soooooooo.

Just a little bib clip.

I pulled my little clippers out and just did a nice bib clip for Courage on Monday. It didn't take long, it wasn't hard to do, and Courage didn't even need his cooler for very long after the ride. WOO WOO.

forgot how to take pics in the sun

And then Tuesday was warm and sunny and I had a little extra time.Plus Courage gives no shits about clippers, so he just dozes while I clip away.

It's a slow week at work, so I keep taking off a little early to play clippers. Who knows where this will end up...

Clipping Shapes for the Non-Crafty

This is for the birds

You know that person in your life who is always making scrap books and home made cookies and probably actually creates pins on pinterest?

I am so not that person.

I don't craft. I don't art. I do respect those people, but I am not them and anytime someone starts talking about crafts, my brain checks out. I mean, my idea of "crafty" is how I have yet to have to host Thanksgiving. Winning.

Anyways. I had a super lesson last night (recap later) and afterwards Courage was hot and sweaty and muddy and gross. Cue clipping time.

He looks like a whole different horse

But you might remember how Courage rocked the stars and a chaser clip last year.

I loved the stars and the clip style worked well for us at the time, but I had a whole new design in mind and Courage is working hard enough that a full clip isn't out of place.

So that's all fine and good. But at this point you're probably asking, "SB, that sounds an awful lot like a craft project. How do you get the stars to go on?"

I will tell you. It's easier than it looks and even I can do it.

Crafters will probably make cooler designs

STEP 1

Herein lies the entire secret.

Make. Stencils.

I drew mine by hand on cardstock, which is what happens when you decide to clip at the very last minute.

Then you just use the masking tape to put them on the horse, and voila! Shapes! 

I don't love them as much as last year.

I body clipped Courage with my set of Andis AGC two speeds. They also did the design work for me.

That's pretty much everything I used.

Wait for it...

So. It was cool out. I clipped Courage' head, neck, shoulders, and mid section. Then I outlined his hip area so I'd know my parameters, threw a cooler over his naked self, and got to work.

I just masking-taped the stars on where I wanted them and clipped over/around them. Once I had the stars defined, I pulled the stencils off and finished cleaning up the area.


It does take longer than just clipping the hip like normal, but the stars make me happy every time I see them. It's worth it.

yup

Ta da!!

I love it.

I'm a very tidy clipper, so I meticulously got all the lines out. In a couple days, it will look really sharp. Obviously, Courage is still growing hair right now, so I'll have to decide what to do next time I clip. I could keep the same design or try something new. :-D

Courage is now all set for fall riding.

PS  You might wonder why I left his legs. I did them last time I clipped him and at the end of it, we both wanted to kill each other. I maintain that unless my horse is going to HITS with a good chance of being division champ in 3' on up, he will just have fuzzy legs because HELL NO.

That Time of Year Already

He's pretty much like a super model

It seems disproportionately early, but the days are getting drastically shorter, the leaves are changing color, and even Courage is growing in a winter coat. I know I didn't clip him until November last year, but he seems to be adjusting to the Idaho climate (hella colder than California) and his coat is coming in a lot faster this year than last year.

Plus we should still have riding weather for at least another 6 weeks, maybe 8-10 if we're lucky.

That of course brings us to the real question of the day:

WHAT WILL I CLIP ON HIM?

Do love the clean look of a full clip

I know I hemmed and hawed about whether I approved of doing designs last year, but I ended up coming down firmly on the side of fun for the first clip at least.

Aside from the fun factor, I think what tipped the balance for me is that designs and contrast opens up conversations with lots of people, horsey and otherwise, about clipping and horse care and OTTBs and I think all of those things are interesting.

I have a few ideas, though I doubt I'll top the blogger queens of clipping, aka MONICA and ANDREA!!!

Who else is kicking off clipping season?

Here Goes

A very strange thing happened when I curried Courage Monday: I got covered in long, sweaty, gross winter horse hair. I hadn't had that sort of experience in several years, because I've been at show barns where we rode through the winter and body clipped all the horses.

By the time I put the saddle on, I was covered in hair and itchy and Courage still looked gross.

bare naked pony

I had time to run out to the barn early Tuesday morning, so we just went ahead and took care of that problem.

I debated a few different clips, but decided to just go ahead and take it all off. Spring is on the way and riding weather is here again. It's time to get rid of that nasty long hair that just holds in dirt and funk and get ready to be beautiful again. :-)

That mane. Has to go.

I'm a little bummed that I took his stars off, but I was worried that he'd shed out awkwardly and look bad. Well that, and it was taking forever and I didn't want to take the time to clip around them.

Obviously, the next project is his mane, yikes! He's sensitive, so I only pull it when he's warm after work. I'm hoping to get it done soon, since you know, I can actually ride now!

I know a lot of people don't like to clip into the new year for fear of screwing up the incoming spring coat. To that I say I show clipped a bright bay gelding at the end of March (or was it early April?) and his coat was great.

See? All at once

And yes, I know that clipped horses still shed. It's just less overwhelming and disgusting when they do it.

Now bring on the sun!!

Less Wordy Wendesday

November 2013

January 2014

I was running through some old blog entries and caught this comparison. This first is a shot from the day I clipped Courage at the end of November. The second is taken mimd-January 2014. Check out what six weeks off did for my little man!

When/Why to Clip

Cuna in 2012

For those lucky folks who haunt the aisles of show barns, clipping is so basic that it doesn't need explaining. For the rest, sometimes it helps to get a basic rundown.

Why We Clip

A horse in work is going to sweat. In the summer, we just hose them off and call it good. In the winter, they grow more hair and it's way too cold to use a hose. Even if you have a indoor, heated wash rack, the hosing will get them very wet and the hair takes forever to dry. (Also if you have one of those, don't talk to me). A wet horse is a cold horse. Moisture on the skin can cause funk. Getting long hair to dry frequently takes longer than the ride itself.

So we clip.

That said. If your horse doesn't sweat during your winter rides, by all means, LEAVE HIS HAIR ALONE. There are many cool properties of equine hair and it's best utilized when actually on the horse.

First full clip of the 2012 season

What We Clip

First things first--if you are in a program with a trainer, whether boarding at their barn or hauling in on a regular basis, please ask the trainer what they prefer. You are representing their program and they have worked hard to be where they are. Some don't care. Many do. If you are committed to the trainer's philosophy, show your respect by honoring their wishes here, ESPECIALLY if you will be showing over the winter.

If not, think about your horses's lifestyle and workload. If your horse is in a warm stall in a barn, you can take lots of hair off. If your horse is turned out a lot or lives outside, I'd make a note of where he sweats the most and then limit my clipping to that area. The more hair your horse still has, the warmer she's going to be. Here is a link to a great list of different types of standard clips.

What That Changes

Courage rocking the sheet

If you have removed your horse's natural line of defense against the cold, you are now responsible to replace it with something equally warm. Please, please, please think about this before you even turn the clippers on. I know this varies according to your local climate and your horse's particular biology, but be aware that horses can get very cold. Not only does this mean they eat more, it is miserable. They don't get to go inside your warm house and take a hot shower, so be aware of what you're doing.

Cuna runs hot--he's a big horse and he really isn't a fan of blankets. Courage runs cold and has very fine hair, so he takes a lot more coverage. For Cuna, I had a cotton sheet, a waterproof sheet, a medium weight blanket, a neck cover, and a 200 g liner. For Courage, I've added a heavy weight blanket into the mix. I layer up according to the temperatures.

Modeling the heavy

Not only do I have to keep the boys warm, but it's also important to keep them from overheating. A horse trapped in a too-heavy blanket for the day is at best uncomfortable and at worst, a huge colic risk. Plus there's the "I sweated under my blanket and now I am cold" problem.

This is a lot of maintenance. If you are in a full care situation or keep your horses at home, that's not a problem. It is something to be aware of if your horse is boarded out, though.

It's Worth It

Tommy, a cute client horse

As long as you supply the proper blankets and take care of your horse, clipping is awesome. I don't love the furry horse look and I can't stand waiting around for two hours for my horse to dry. With a clipped horse, you rarely even have to use a cooler! Just hop off, quick brush, and re-blanket. Voila!!


Who clips their horses? How do you decide which clip to use?

Body Clippers Rundown

I've had a couple of requests to do posts on clippers and clipping, so here goes. If you have decided to clip your horse, you then have to choose what you are going to clip with. I've clipped a lot of horses with a lot of different clippers, and here are my thoughts:

Oster Clipmasters (Variable Speed and Not) 
Smartpak $280

You know all those horror stories your hear about clipping and how horrible and itchy and awful it is? THESE CLIPPERS ARE WHY. I hate them. I HATE THEM. MAY THEY BE BURNED WITH THE HEAT OF A THOUSAND FIERY SUNS.

Ahem. Just below the head of the clippers (the black part), you will note two black slits in the casing. This is the fan that keeps the clippers cool BY BLOWING HAIR DIRECTLY INTO YOUR FACE.

I am not even kidding. I have probably clipped 5-10 horses with this model and it is every bit as bad as you might think. Tiny pieces of cut hair get into every crevice of your body.

They're loud. They're heavy. They break a lot. I don't think they get hot any faster than any other clipper, but if I never use these again, it will be too soon. DO NOT BUY THESE CLIPPERS.

I mean, if you get a steal of a deal and you only clip one horse once or twice a year and you have an unhealthy dose of self loathing, by all means, buy these. If, on the other hand, you don't hate your self, try ANY of the other options below. Seriously. ANYTHING is better than these.  You may think I'm exaggerating, but this is precisely how I feel about them. They do get the job done, but you will hate yourself for doing it.

Noted: this seems like a fairly simple engineering issue to fix. I have no idea why it hasn't been addressed. I have used old models, mid range models, and brand new models and they all suck(blow) equally.

Andis AGC Super 2 Speed with T84 blade
Smartpak $170

This petite little clipper was recommended to me and I found a new set on eBay for $120, so I snapped them up. It was a deviation from my usual tack whoring, but I feel passionately about clippers. I used these to clip C-rage this year and then used them as back up on a couple others.

The clipper body is actually just normal little clippers, basically. Stick a #10 or #15 blade on these suckers and bam! Face clipper. The T84 blade is wide enough to make body clipping not a bad deal.

Clipped with Andis

Here's the thing though: They aren't fast. The point of the ginormous body clippers is that they basically clip as fast as you can move your arms. These clippers clip at their own speed. If you're working on a twitchy TB fresh off the track who has no hair, these are THE SHIZ. Courage fell asleep while I used them and I sort of think he couldn't handle full on body clippers yet.

That said, I used them to back up my big clippers on a drafty cross and it was zero fun. ZERO. They were getting the job done, but it was going to take forever and the drafty didn't mind the big ones, so we just used those. I will say that the blade doesn't hold an edge as well as I would like--after doing a trace on Courage and a couple spots on the drafty, they really need to be sharpened before they can be used again.

So. If you have one fine haired horse, BUY THESE NOW. If you have a hairy horse and want a multi-purpose clipper and either only do an occasional trace clip or are ok with having multiple blades and taking way too long to do your body clips, also buy these. I'm quite impressed with their versatility for the price.

If I had a hairy yak, they would not be my first choice. That said, they will eventually get the job done and your nose will not be full of hair. Winning!

Star

Lister Legend Clippers (and Lister Star)
Legend: ValleyVet $290
Star: ValleyVet $240

A barn buddy got the Legend clippers last year, and it was love at first clip for me. These things are incredible. They are fairly loud. The blades are not interchangeable with the Andis/Oster models and their system to grading the blades is a little confusing at first. Noted: you body clip with a medium blade. Not the coarse or fine. Found that one out the hard way, haha.

The blades are also more expensive--$50 instead of $20.

That said.

OMG.

BUY THESE CLIPPERS NOW.

Legends

They are workhorses. Last winter, I think we clipped FIVE FILTHY, DISGUSTING horses on one set of blades and they were still going strong at the end. These clippers must have a fan but it has never, not one single time, blown hair into my face. They basically take all the unpleasantness out of clipping and just leave you with the time and comfort to finish your horse out properly.

Clipped with Listers

I have not used the Star models, but my research indicates that they are basically the cheaper Legends. That means they aren't designed to do multiple horses a day, so they heat up a little faster. Oil/lube frequently, give them quick breaks (while you brush the hair off the horse), and clip away.

I actually intended to buy the Lister Legends when I set about getting my own clippers this fall. They are that good.

If I were planning to just clip my one or two furry horses a couple times a year and maybe help out a friend here and there, I think I would buy the Stars. They are cheaper than the hateful Osters and they do a great job.


Andis Heavy Duty Corded Horse and Cattle Clipper
Amazon: $350

I was all set to pull the trigger on the Listers when these beauties came along on Tack of the Day. Andis' site lists them for $650, but Amazon always seems to have them for $350. I paid $300 on Tack of the Day. Regardless, they were well reviewed and I wanted to try them out. They came in a hard-sided carry case with cool gadgets. (Well, oil at least.)

I've only used them once so far, but it was on the drafty horse. I was very impressed. They are quieter than the average body clipper and not super heavy. The grip is easy to hang on to and the instructions for use are easy to follow.

That said.

They have a fan. It blows straight in front of the clipper, which usually clears the hair out in front of where you're working and is ok. Then you do the flanks and you have to clip straight up and yeah, it blows in your face. Not great, but not the worst design. I do like these clippers. They held their edge well, they got the job done, and they work great. That said, if I had it to do again, I'd probably buy the Listers.

These are 1000% better than the Osters, but they don't inspire the same love and devotion in me that the Listers do.

Courage has approved this message

So there you go. Clippers! I'm (obviously) pretty passionate about clippers. I think I'll do a post about the hows and why of clipping, just because it's fun and I've done it a lot and it's still too cold to ride.

Anyone else? Who wants to argue in defense of the Osters? What other clippers should be on this lists?

Amateur Hour

Catch riding in high school

In honor of kicking off the next round of Ammy Hour interviews, here are my thoughts on amateurs and professionalism.

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about having stars clipped on C-rage's butt. It's something I've never done before. I came through the ranks of tidy, professional horse people and I appreciate all those things. So when someone I respect told me that clipping shapes on horses and wearing bright colors was "cute when you're 12, but dumb after that", I had to stop and think.

I didn't have a horse, but I had a sweet winter coat

What about those of us who didn't have a horse when they were 12? I got my first horse at 20, and I realize that's a lot earlier than many of the amateurs out there in the blogosphere. Yeah, if you had horses as a kid and got to show and play around and do all that fun stuff, cool. I'm sure you're ready to grow up and get serious and accomplish your goals, and I'm happy for you.

Going BN on the OTTB

If you're me, you worked your ass for for well over a decade on lesson horses, catch riding, and then feeling like a lottery winner because your parents let you half lease a green OTTB when you were 15, provided you paid for it. If you're me, you never got to show very much because there just wasn't money for it in my family. Forget NAJYRC--I couldn't afford to join USEA, so going novice was out of the question. I showed out of state one time, at dressage championships. I borrowed a lovely mare to go and another mother from my team paid my entry fee. God bless her.

My $2 show coat from the 4H tack sale

I never had the coolest, nicest, or fanciest anything. I'm not complaining--I know I was luckier than most kids, even kids that live in first world countries. I had a great time. I learned a lot about hard work and gratitude. I can be proud of the things I did and the horses I brought along. I certainly don't regret my childhood, but I never got to do a lot of the things I really wanted to.






So I guess I don't have a lot of patience with the "only cool if you're 12" argument. I'm not a professional. I don't want to be one. My goal is to be a happy amateur, and I'll be damned if I'm going to skip over doing new things just because some other subset of lucky people got to do more things when they were kids than I did.

It's a statement

It's not about money or resentment or reliving my childhood either--I have horses for me to enjoy. It's about having fun. As much as I respect tidy professionals with well turned out horses, if I want to clip stars on my horse's ass, then I have no remorse. It's amateur hour!