Grooming and clipping ????'s

[dreammountainminis]

I have had trouble for the last five years with clipping but I got it down for my solid colors and they look good but I have a palimino and two pintos that are medi hats and have a mostly white body with the pinto markings when i clip these ones they always look awful .

I have double k clippers and oster golden a 5 clippers I use a 10 or a 15 but they always look all tracked marked what advice can you give to help me make my show horses look better how do you get that sleek look that always looks so nice???? Any advice would be greatly appreciated ...

 

[MinisOutWest]

Just my two cents--don't worry, I do the same track thing with a 10 or 15 and that is why I have to clip a week to 2 weeks out before the show. I saw a clipping expert do my palomino/ turns white when shaved and she left a few tracks too, but she clipped with a 30 and in 2-3 days, they were gone!! but the best thing till we get used to it, clip way out before the show. oh, and I had all the available clippers in the world, use the ones that are most comfortable for you. I now have the oster a 5s and the 3 way adjustable wahl's from walmart for 19 bucks. good luck.

 

[dreammountainminis]

My pali is the same way , turns white when clipped , I am kinda glad I'm not the only one that leaves marks but i have clipped a week before the show and most of the time still have tracks when the show comes . OH! .But I will try all suggestions ..

 

[Rebecca]

I have a very deep colored mahogony bay, she gets really light and loses a lot of that color I love when I clip her. I too have the Oster Golden A 5's, I like them, but unless the horse is bathed and show-sheened well, they tend to leave track marks.

 

[kaykay]

If you leave the coat a little damp it will go much smoother. Always use really sharp blades and clean them often. Most people leave track marks because they rush. Get one area totally done and smooth before you go onto the next. I always do the back last because no matter how good you wash there will be dirt there and it will dull the blade. My personal preference is to use a 10 on the body of pintos and light colored horses. Otherwise all you see is pink skin. Remember if you leave a track mark you can keep going back over to get the mark out but that only works the day you clip. You cant wait until the next day. Also we dont clip all at once. Most horses we do the body & neck and the next day do the head and lower legs. Makes the horses more agreeable

 

[Tammy Breckenridge]

Just a little side note from someone who uses clippers everyday (im a pet groomer and clipper marks are a big no no for a smooth finish) If you havent replaced your clipper blade drive often enough that will make clipper marks no matter what. I have to replace my work clippers blade drive every month sometime more depending on work load and I find my barn clippers need to be replaced at least every 10 full body clips, those blade drives get worn down and just cant push the clipper cutter the full width of the blade, so you get choppy marks. And always use sharp blades on a squeeky clean horse.

Tammy

 

[Coventry Lane Farm]

Make sure the horse is absolutely squeeky clean and as soon as he dries off some, being slighly damp, spray lightly the horse with show sheen and take your time clipping them, not to rush the hair thru the blades, take your time.

I have Double K's, Oster A-5's and Andis Super 2's plus a cordless set of Laube clippers that I use in different areas with different blade sizes. Plus also...keep your blades clean, cooled, sharp and oiled thru the process.

My stallion Lordy is a mostly white and black pinto horse and I clip him closely and I can clip him the day before a show and the clip job looks great, no tracks. I never bath them one day and clip the next, I do one at a time bathing and then clipping and we mostly have pinto's and some appys that we show and they have white areas, I usually have 4 to 6 horses to do for a show depending where we are headed. Appearance means everything to the judge when he see's if the horse is groomed properly and taking the time to do so from the very start or not.