Do you clip heads/ears?? Advice! Pretty please!

[horsesforever]

Just wondering, when you all clip, do you do your horse's heads/ears? Or just leave them. I was talking to my YO about clipping my horse... she enquired if I wanted his head clipped. I know he had it all off last year along with a trace clip with previous owner, but is it necessary?? He is very fluffy, especially on his ears but don't want to have it clipped if it's just for fashion's sake.

I am in a real confuzzle over this clipping business. Cant even decide if he should be clipped at all.
He is a ID/Connie so pretty hardy. Likes being out, Im 10 times more likely to find him slightly too warm with his rug on than too cold.
He is still out 24/7 with a lightweight rug on - no filling.
Winter coat coming through, fairly thick already
Been off work due to injury, but coming back into it now starting with 15mins walk per day building up to an hour over about 6 weeks. So no strenuous work for now.
Cant really comment on sweating as he hasn't been worked in his current coat yet.
When the weather turns nasty, he will have to be in at night due to yard rules.
He "looks" very scruffy atm. So am tempted to have him clipped to "tidy" him up. Is this very wrong I suppose I could easily just have his feathers, beard etc trimmed up so he looks smarter.

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated from all you experts! Even if its quick

 

[little lauz]

i hate hairy horses clip it all off lol

 

[horsesforever]

Lol.. but I think it's unfair to him to take it all off when he would be quite happy all hairy! Hence I need all the opinions I can get

 

[Rarah]

I'm sure that leaving his head etc hairy wouldn't make much difference to his comfort.

I tend to get everything off when I have my cob clipped, but if you want a compromise my friend has her cob clipped, but leaves his legs and face on but just has under his jawline clipped which makes him look a lot tidier in the face without having the trauma of clippers in that area much.

 

[Flony_Pony]

my girly (nf) is a fluffy bear and i have a trace or blanket done on her. i had her face off the first time but not the next as i didnt like it cut off (she twitch as friend was doing the line so had to have it off!! id personally leave head on but maybe low trace, blanket or a bib depending how much you want to take off!! Good luck

 

[Sexy Sietske]

I would only ever clip the head/face/ears for showing purposes. A horse that gets clipped for being a sweaty betty wont get a sweaty head that often and if it does, you can't rug it too cool it off like you would an unclipped horse

 

[magicalmac]

It all depends on the workload. Why not go for just a bib [neck and belly] for now, then as the work increases if hes too sweaty next clip go for a trace or blanket clip, this should co-inside with the uping of work. I get round the clipping a full face by just doing half the face then you only need to tidy up the ears with a trim. I also prefer to leave the front of the face on as I think it gives them a bit of protection from the weather. Hope that makes sense?

 

[Wilowfarmjumper]

We have never had head and ears only half head. Heard storys of horses having the clippers in their eyes and stuff..

So yeah we have always just done half the head or none at all. And we like to keep the hair on the ears as i certainly wouldn't like to get cold ears and i'm sure the horse doesnt lol. But it's upto the owner and there taste.

Personally half or no hair clipped off the head, and usually unless in heavy work leave the belly to keep it warm, especially older horses.

But like i said different people have different opinions.

 

[horse babe]

if your not sure about clipping his head/ears...Get some scissors and trim the fluffy bits

x

 

[sheryl]

I'd leave him unclipped, if he doesn't need to be done. You could always get him done later, if he does start to sweat up too much.

If you do choose to clip him, I think it looks tidier to have the head done too, but some horses won't have their ears clipped, so I'd clip a straight line, from behind the ears, down to the curb area.

 

[han_x]

I tend to prefer Hunter clips, which involved removing half of the facial hair on the face i.e. under the chin. I would leave the ears but I like to get scissors to neaten them up if hair is growing out from them

 

[Iron Maiden]

I never bothered clipping my old horse's head, he was a super-sweatbucket but I figured that he wouldn't catch a chill just because of having a sweaty head! I loved his fluffy ears and billy-goat beard anyway Maybe if I'd taken him out with the bloodhounds I'd have tidied him up a bit, but I never did & couldn't see the point of clipping off fur that wasn't causing him problems just for the hell of it.

 

[showjumper-zoe]

I always clip head and ears off, unless they wont let me then i'll clip half a head (like a hunter clip)