Clipping? Here’s how to make your horse love it

For some horses, clipping is the most challenging and scary experience of the year.

Some need to be held, tied up, twitched or even sedated to make it happen.

But what if there’s a way to make your horse love clipping?

To lean into the touch and enjoy the experience?

It’s possible, and it’s all about the right training and approach.

I see clipping my horses as a training session. Simply because it takes some preparation to teach your horse to feel comfortable when clipping.

So, there are some steps you need to take before you get the clippers any place near your horse.

My first step is to never tie them up. Your horse needs to learn to how to manage himself and they can only do that in an open space. In the video you see me in the arena.

The next step is to make sure you have the right starting point. Your horse needs to have his focus on you and feel comfortable in the space. If that’s not the case, I first go through the groundwork patterns before I even think of adding the clipper.

Your next step is to teach them the elements involved in the clipping.

Firstly, that’s touch. You have to make sure that your horse is comfortable with all kinds of touch, also on the sensitive areas of their body like the thin skin between their legs.

Secondly, that’s noise. Make sure that your horse knows the noise is not there to spook him, but that it can help in making him feel relaxed.

Flow knows the exercises because I have done groundwork with her before. Taking her through these blueprints helps her to relax, to feel comfortable in the recognition.

Lastly, you can combine these two elements and teach her how to respond and release the tension that might have built up.

With the clipper in hand, you’re ready to take the first snip!

Before you begin, make sure your horse is standing still by themselves. That they’re managing their own body and feet.

Start with touch first, moving a turned off clipper over the coat, using it to scratch some pleasant spots on their neck and mane.

When you feel confident that your horse is relaxed, slowly turn it on and bit by bit you can clip the coat.

It’s important in this moment that you don’t want too much – stop when your horse responds well and relaxes.

If your horse tenses up in a certain spot, that’s okay. Just keep the clipper there and move with the horse right until they relax, even if it’s just a little bit.

Then you can turn the clippers off and take some distance. The horse will learn that relaxing will be rewarded.

Be sure to alternate uncomfortable spots with plenty of comfortable spots to help you horse find their relaxation along the way.

It’s not about how much hair you can get off, but how much you can reward the horse for breathing out and relaxing.

Watch the rest of the video here: