Clipping too much

One thing that I always like to think about before doing something to a horse that it does not have done to it in the wild is: is this going to help the horse, or is this something that has no purpose/is superficial/possible harmful?

Take clipping for example. I have seen people clip ears inside and out, and shave the eye guard hairs and the chin hairs right off. Then they trim all the hair off the fetlocks. This is to make the horse “look nice” and is pretty much standard at horse shows.

Take a step back and look at what that does. Let’s start with the ears. The hairs on the inside of the horse’s ears act as bug guards – keeping nasty little critters from climbing down there and biting the horse/taking up residence in a very sensitive area. (I have had the displeasure of getting a bug in my ear canal once – bug on the eardrum HURTS, plus those feet are LOUD in there. Feeling creepy just remembering it. Ugg.) There really is no reason to clip those inner hairs. If you insist on cutting them, then be kind and outfit your horse at all times with a fly mask with ear covers. The kind thing to do is to clamp the ear closed, and then trim only the hairs that lie outside.

Now let’s look at the face guard hairs. Horses use their whiskers as an early warning system for collisions in areas that they cannot see. With widely spaced eyes and a long nose, the area of their face between their eyes as well as directly under their nose are blind spots. They cannot see anything there. The hairs bump an object first, signaling the horse to be careful, and “seeing” the object for them. Shave the eye lashes and the muzzle, and they lose that early warning system. As prone to injury as horses are, why would you want to let them stumble around with a blind spot and no warning system?

Next, the hairy fetlocks. The extra hair in this area helps deflect possible scratches/injury from woody brush. Without the extra hair, sticks and thorns penetrate easily. Not the end of the world, but it is the difference between you doing heavy work with gloves or bare-handed. It is doable, but not nearly as easy/painless.

Finally, if winter clipping the horse’s natural coat, you have to be extra careful and allow extra time to check blankets every day. It is best to have two of every weight for the horse – so you can launder/mend the one while the horse is wearing the other. Body clipping removes the horse’s natural temperature regulation. Although horses are comfortable at much lower temperatures than humans(50-60F is ideal temp to a horse)without the winter coat to provide that insulating air, they find it very difficult to stay warm. If possible, it is best to leave the horse with their natural coat. Horses with proper winter woolies can withstand temps well down into the teens, given a wind break and dry spot to stand. The only time they really need human intervention is with the combination of extreme cold and wet. Soaking the hair can leave a horse shivering – and a dry-off and waterproof blanket or shed for the duration will help.