How Would You Clip This Pony?

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Stephanie Slade

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Apr 19, 2004
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I was told that a Pony at the stables I ride at is terrified of the clippers. He is a 14.2hh chestnut gelding called Chester and it takes two days to do a bib clip on him. I was told that whenever you turn the clippers on he freaks out and charges round the stable. He barges through people and splatters them against the wall. He also tries to kick out and sometimes rears up.

How would you clip him?
 
i'd have him sedated, otherwise i'd alter his winter workload so he didn't need clipping. perhaps rug up earlier and hopefully not get so much of a coat in the first place.
my old git doesn't do clipping, and after last time, when he got an abscess on the injection site in his neck and nearly choked to death, he doesn't do sedation either, so no clipping, and lighter work in winter to minimise sweating.

long term, i'd try to desensitise him - get him watching other ponies being clipped, so he can see it doesn't kill them (good ponies only, of course), spend time just turning the clippers on and off near him etc. this doesn't always work - i've had copper for 16 years and he is no better with clippers than he was the day we first tried - but worth a try.
 
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Hey,

Sorry to hear about your clipping problem. One method I would suggest is that you use a twitch on the horse which could help to stop him from becoming as agitated when clipping. However should this not work then it may be best to contact the vet to administer a sedative to him. If this works then you could arrange for the sedative to be reduced in amount each time he is clipped so he can gradually get used to the clippers. Also try and clip other horses in near by stables so that he can hear and possibly see you clipping them which again will allow him to get used to the sounds of the clippers. You could also try running the clippers over him first not turned on and then turn them on and run them over him rested on the back of your hand so that he can feel the vibrations. Anyway you choose it make take a long time for him to get used to the clippers but with patients and the care of yourself and others at the yard I am sure he will soon grow in confidence.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!
 
If he is really bad I would go for the sedation rather than twitch. The twitch can slip off if not held tightly enough
 
Monty was terribly nervous to clip the year before last - so I didn't hve him done, even tiny dog clippers sent him rearing and trying to squash people aginst the wall...
But he got sooooo sweaty, despite being rugged, being a woolly native, even his summer coat is quite thick so it was impossible to work him with a winter coat.
I ended up buying my own clippers, fortunately got them in a sale, and I spent ages choosing the quietest ones I could get hold of. I then spent six hours one day doing a three inch wide strip under his belly and up the underside of his neck - that was his first clip!
I chose a day when the yard was nice and quiet, gave him a haynet to munch, and literally took all day about it, reassuring him as I went.
His second clip that year we went a bit higher, a very small chaser, and finally in January I did a medium chase, and also clipped under his jaw (not quite a half head, more like a third!) He was perfect!
It was a combination of factors, one I'd had him a whole extra year by then (so three years last winter) and he therefore trusted me more, two I had really quiet clippers, and three I was really really patient and didn't rush him. He was only just six last year and had never been clipped, it was bound to be scary for him, but time and patience won in the end.
I'm not anticipating any major problems this year, but I will take it slowly and start off with a smaller clip just to make sure he is still confident.
 
I know this may be a slow process but then you could be sedating th ehorse constantly for years.

Have the horse in the stable and show him the clipprs (Turned off) rub him all over or as much as he will allow withth eclippers. If he moves keep them on him, when he stands take them off. Do this until he is totally relaxed. Then anothr day with and you outside the stable turn on the clippers and allow him to see them. Leave them running for 5 min and then turn them off. Go in and rub him with the clippers (turned off) again.

Then as long as he is relaxed to the noise o fthe clippers have someone hold him with a headcollar (but not tightly) and turn on the clippers. If he backs off let him but keep the clippers switched on,when he relaxes a bit turn them off and allow him to look at them. Keep doing this until eventuall you can place the clippers on his shoulder while running but do not attempt to clip him yet.

Once you can get to the stage where he will allow you to rub him all over with the clippers switched on, you can then attempt to clip.

At no time resrtict him if he tries to back offf as this will enhance his flight mode. Instead stay calm and soothing and regain his confidence.

It could take weeks or months but the end result will be what you want instead of 5 yrs down the line still having problems.
 
It could be that the pony has had a bad experience of being clipped in the past, so I would take the long patient route, rather than having to sedate him each time.

When he seems settled with the clippers on him switched off, put them over him and make clipper sounds yourself. Yep, seems stupid but really can help!

Each day, run the clippers so that he can see and hear them until he is relaxed about it.

Time and patience can pay off in the long run!!

All the best.

From Tracy
 
the trouble is, the time and patience thing doesn't always work. i have clipped a lot, clipped professionally for others, and still after 16 years of trying, ith not only me but my YO and YM, who also do this for a living and are extremely good at handling difficult horses, copper has none of it. he's jumped out over stable doors, snapped headcollars, knocked people over, snappedout of light sedation and gone bananas, you name it, he just panics and there's no reasoning with him.

i wish i knew what had happened to him before i got him to make him so suspicious and panicky - it's not a normal reaction at all.

if the clipping needs doign and needs doing now, then sedate, and then try the desensitization. hopefully in time you can decrease the dose so he's not knocked out and he can still learn from the experience, and gradually phase the sedation out.
 
A cruel gadget.

The normal twitch is simply a piecs of wood with some rope at teh end or some twine. This rope is placed over the horses muzzle and tightened enough so that it does not slip off.
Then if th ehorse moves you tighten the rope with a twist of your hand on the wood. It is mean tto release a hormone that makes the horse drowsy, however it is more like pain to me and some horses will rssist it teribly, I have seen some rear and fall over.

There is a more humane one often advertisd in horse catalogues but they still give the same effect.

I do not believe in twitching horses.
 
Thanks for the explanation!
I don't like thesound of a twitch. I would certainly never use iton a horse that was scared. I may consider it as a last resort if the horse was simply being difficult but I would probably take a lot of persuading!
 
Coming back to the original question - I would get a Monty Roberts RA out.

I went to watch Sarah Dent work with Nat17's horse Podge, and after an hour he was relaxed and accepted the trimmers all over him. She used a similar method to the one described by ALF, starting off at a distance and switching on the trimmers and switcing them off again when the horse stood still. She gradually worked closer, and if Podge turned towards them she backed away and turned them off, a bit of approach and retreat. Then onto the back of the hand, then direct onto the body, then cutting, all the time allowing the horse to make the decision and stand and accept.

It would have been better if we'd had some clippers as we were back to square one the following week with the real thing, but even then, with distractions going on I was able to get to the vibrating through the hand stage before we decided he'd had enough.

I was able to use the same approach on Gem this weekend, apparently she was sedated to be clipped at her loan home last year, god only knows why because after little more than 5 or 10 minutes using the same technique she was standing like a pro quite relaxed whilst I did her a smart bib.

I do agree that twitches aren't pleasant and I do hate to see them used for things like clipping and mane pulling, but I do have Rio twitched for her jabs. She goes potty when the needle actually goes in and I can't train for that bit, it's safer for everyone concerned:(
 
You could try hand clippers. They are normal clippers but you have to guide them and make them cut the hair with the hand (like a scissor handle and no batteries ie. no noise). It may take you a good hour longer, maybe two but he will remain calm and happy with the process.

They sell them for around a tenner so no damage to your credit card ;) - only to your hand I think ;) :D
 
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