2 Responses

1. I only clip my horse if I will be competing after she starts to grow her winter coat. As a distance horse, she needs to be able to cool herself efficiently. As an example, I had a competitive ride in October when the California temperature can vary quite a bit. I did a trace clip on her, and was quite glad that I did as it climbed up to 95 degrees F on the day of the ride. In a full coat she would have been struggling with the heat, but she did fine thanks to the clip job. If I won’t be competing in the fall/winter, I don’t clip. My horses live turned out 24/7 365 with run-in sheds.

2. I am strongly against clipping for a few reasons. I know it is a very controversial topic however, and I welcome anyone who would like to explain to me why people clip.

   1: It is simply unnatural. I understand that riding horses isn’t natural either and domesticated horses may need certain things (like regular hoof trimmings) that wild horses don’t. However, from my point of view, nothing has changed in domesticated horses that would require them to be clipped. You are welcome to enlighten me.

   2: I have heard a lot of people say that they clip their horse to regulate his/her body temperature. That is what a winter coat is for! It is how the horse naturally regulates his/her body temperature. A lot of people feel the need to baby horses and control every little thing example: stabling. The horse can regulate by himself just fine.

   3: When you clip a horse, you most likely have to blanket them. I really dislike blanketing for a few reasons: it’s very unnatural and doesn’t give the horse a time to be free of tack. If a horse is blanketed when he is out in the field or in the stable and then haltered/bridled/saddled etc. when he is used, he never gets to just be a horse without tack. Imagine if you had to always wear something and never got a break from having things on your skin – not even when you showered. Also, leaving a horse in the pasture with a blanket is just as bad and leaving them in the pasture with a halter. It can get caught on things and choke the horse. I understand that some/most blankets are designed to break if the horse gets caught, but this is not fool-proof! I’ve seen many horses get injured from blanketing accidents.

   4: Clipping certain parts of a horse can result in sunburn and water damage. The hair (especially around the face and ears) is there for a reason – sun protection. The feathers around the feet and other such hairs are there to keep water out of the horses coronary band. When these places are clipped, the horse loses it’s natural protection. Think shaving your eyebrows and then showering. You would mostly likely get water in your eyes because that is what your eyebrows are supposed to prevent. Same with if you didn’t put on sunscreen and went outside day after day in the sun – sunburn!

   To conclude: I really dislike clipping unless it is necessary for a medial condition. I am open to other people’s input and I don’t want to seem defensive. Seriously! if you have a good reason, let me know why you clip so I can understand it more. I just haven’t heard a good reason to clip, and to me, it seems like horse abuse. Thank you for your time in reading this extensive comment 🙂