Conference noted::equitation

    I believe it helps with cooling down the horse faster,
    and also makes them easier to clean after a race. 
    They get covered with mud racing this time of year....
    
    

    Pssst...that's clipping not 'haircuts'...you might as well learn the
    buzzwords!
    
    Anyway, horses' winter coats are clipped to help them cool down faster
    after exercise. Not just race horses but those in lots of other sports too 
    (like hunters) that get worked hard during the winter on a regular
    basis.
    
    Because they have lost their natural insulation(i.e. lots of hair), a
    clipped horse needs to be blanketed when it is not working.

    Thanks for the info! Got it, clipped not "haircuts".
    
    I did notice that a few of the horses coming into the paddock
    had blankets but most of them did not.
    
    BTW how come not all of the animals were clipped? And why leave the
    hair on top?
    
    Thanks again,
    
    Joe

    Hey Joe,
    
    I didn't know you had an interest in horses.......
    >>>why did they leave the horses on top of what??? ;-)
    
    Some folks will shave the whole body in the spring. Easier the
    groom ,etc. In racing I'm not sure.
    
                                                   Gene

I was planning on doing some 'haircutting' this weekend, seeing as how
I just had my clippers sharpened, and I'm about to bring a horse
into work who's been roughed out all winter.   My question is this:
is it too 'late' to do a haircut?  I have never done one this late,
so I'm wondering whether the summer coat will look normal come show
season (May for me).   

Melinda

    
    re: .5
    
    I would not body clip a horse this late in the season as the coat will
    not have enough time to grow out before your show season starts.  At
    this point, I would double blanket the horse to get him shedding as 
    fast as possible and would then apply massive amounts of elbow grease 
    to get as much hair off of him as possible.  Use the clippers to trim
    up the bridle path, face, and legs and let him shed the rest of it.  A 
    Baker blanket works the best as the semi rough texture of the blanket
    helps pull the hair off.  
    
    re: .4
    
    A body clip such as you describe is called a trace clip.  The hair is
    left long on the horses back to help provide protection under the saddle
    pad, saddle, and rider.  There are many types of trace clips in which 
    different amounts of the coat are removed.  Some horses have the entire
    coat removed in a full body clip.  I think the reason that some horses
    at the track are clipped and others are not is that some trainers do
    not want to go to the trouble and expense of keeping a stable full of
    horses blanketed all winter.  It is just easier for them to cool the
    horses after they run than to clip and blanket.
    
    Pat     

    I aggree with Pat. It's too late in the season to bodyclip.
    
    The summer coat is actually supposed to start growing around Christmas
    as the days start lengthening! I know. I didn't believe that either the
    first time I heard it but I've read it in some reputable magazines &
    books too...
    
    John

re: .6
>   re: .4
>    
>    A body clip such as you describe is called a trace clip.  The hair is
>    left long on the horses back to help provide protection under the saddle
>    pad, saddle, and rider.  There are many types of trace clips in which 
>    different amounts of the coat are removed.  Some horses have the entire
>    coat removed in a full body clip.  I think the reason that some horses
>    at the track are clipped and others are not is that some trainers do
>    not want to go to the trouble and expense of keeping a stable full of
>    horses blanketed all winter.  It is just easier for them to cool the
>    horses after they run than to clip and blanket.


	Also, some horses (TB or not) turn into walking hairballs in the winter,
while others do not.  My first horse looked like a giant shetland in the winter
with a 2 inch coat.  He was a quarterhorse/app.  My current guy, all quarter
horse, grows no coat, and he lived outside unblanketed in NORTH DAKOTA in his 
youth.  You would have thought he would have learned how to grow hair....

	My instructor had a TB that grew a 2 inch coat, so I know TB's *can*
get hairy!!

    Mine are already showing signs of shedding out........so I
    would say it's too late to body clip!  Double blanketing will
    help drop the hair faster, and so will working the horse, 
    i.e. heating up the horse will make the hair folicles release
    the hair....(this was told to me by an old time trainer!!!)
    
    L-

    re: .4
    
    Hi Gene,
    I got to visit Saratoga last July and a latent interest in the
    sport has taken over! The more reading I do and visits to the
    track I make, the more questions I seem to have.....
    
    Joe

    My horse/pony (a 14.2) has always had a neck and belly clip and her 
    winter coat is growing thick and fast, so I was wondering when I can 
    have her clipped at the very earliest?
    
    Cheers