Clipping for a cut above the rest

By: Beth Noble

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Should I clip my horse? What type of clip should I choose? Does my horse need rugs? Professional presentation expert Beth Noble explains.

Horses grow long coats as their natural protection against the elements in the cooler months, but contrary to popular belief, it’s not so much the cooler weather that triggers a horse to grow a coat; rather it is the shorter daylight hours. This is why extra rugs can help reduce a coat a little, but it’s the use of lights in stables that makes a bigger difference.

To keep your horse growing only a shorter summer coat using lights, you need to ensure that they are having 16 hours of light each day. Once the days start to get shorter in autumn you can start using artificial lighting. This can be done by either having the lights come on early in the morning, in the evening or a combination of the two. To make it a little less time consuming consider putting a timer on your lights so they turn on and off automatically each day.

Needless to say, stabling horses is not ideal as it prevents them from grazing, moving around, and interacting with other horses. You should avoid leaving the horse with an empty stomach for any lengthy period. Horses naturally eat and chew for 16-18hrs a day, so if their grazing time is reduced by stabling you need to provide another roughage source (preferably via a slow feeding system) to fulfil their behavioural and physiological needs.

Does my horse need rugs?

Most horses (baring the sick and elderly) will cope perfectly fine during the Australian winters without being rugged at all. This is assuming that they have access to shelter (natural or man made) and enough room to move around to keep warm.

If you are unable to commit to checking on your horse twice a day then the kindest thing to do is to not rug your horse at all, let it grow a proper winter coat and let it keep itself warm naturally.

Clipped horses will need more rugs than unclipped horses as will horses that are under lights and have a shorter/thinner coat, however it is even more important not to over-rug your horse. Sweating under rugs is not good for their skin or coat.

As a general rule, a clipped horse will need one more layer than an unclipped horse. Every horse is different, some a hot horses who don’t need many rugs, others really feel the cold and need more rugs. While you’re working out what your horse needs, it is a good idea to check on your horse several times during the day and night. Feel under their rugs to check if they are warm enough, they need to feel warm, not hot and not sweaty.

Why clip?

Some horses grow really long coats in winter, even here in Australia where our winters are often much milder than other countries.

Keeping a horse in full work is time consuming enough, but add to that the time required to cool it off properly and ensuring that it is completely dry before being rugged and it can be an impossible task, especially if you have to work your horse in the evening because of work or family commitments.

For this reason many riders choose to clip their horses in the winter months.

A clipped horse will sweat less than an unclipped horse in winter while being worked because they can cool down faster. The next bonus is that it is far easier to hose/sponge any sweat from a horses coat when they are clipped and then, more importantly, get the horse dry before it is rugged for the night.

Should I clip my horse?

Before you decide to clip your horse you need to look at your situation and make sure you are prepared for the extra work that is involved in looking after a horse with a clipped coat.

In most areas of Australia our winter days are quite mild, with colder nights. So with up to 20-degree differences between nights and days, a clipped horse will need their rugs changed/altered both morning and night. Unless you can commit to doing that every day and twice a day, you should rethink your plan to clip your horse.

What type of clip?

Once you decide to clip, decide also the type of clip that will best suit your horse’s situation. The most common clip styles are:

• Full body – this clip removes hair from the entire body, leaving no hair on for protection.
• Hunter clip – there are several different variations of the hunter clip but all leave the hair on the legs on. Variations include leaving a saddle patch and/or leaving half or all of the hair on the head.
• Blanket clip – this clip leave the hair on the legs and also along the top of their back and hindquarters. The hair on the neck, stomach and the bottom half of the hindquarters is removed. The line that you choose to follow is up to you.
• Trace clip – this is the same as the blanket clip except the hair is also left on the top half of the neck as well.

About the Author: Beth Noble is passionate about show horses, dressage and the arabian horse. After spending many years helping friends prepare and present their horse at shows she started a professional presentation business called "Nags to Riches" and still enjoys helping others to learn how to do it themselves and seeing them enjoy their horses at shows. www.nagstoriches.com.au

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