Razoring eyes/muzzle

[Knighthawke]

To the performance people since you dont do razoring, do you just clip the face with a 50 blade instead of razoring.

 

[Genie]

We don't razor, just use the 30 or 40 blade depending on the horse.

That said, we aren't into showing in a big way, but I am sure we would not want to razor even if we were.

In our limited show experiences it's sometimes obvious which look a certain judge prefers.

This is a whole other topic, but our feeling is that judges have their personal preferences and bias, and a competitor will prep their horse to suit the judge.

Ten L Training website has a diagram I think, related to clipping for the shows.

 

[tagalong]

I hate the razoring jobs that are too extreme - like right up to the noseband of the show halter or beyond and not smoothly and slowly blended in.

And BTW not all trainers take off the eyelashes as someone said... I dislike that "lizard" look.

It works for some horses and not for others.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I personally don't like to do it and won't do it again. This is a picture of my horse, his body done with a 10, his head was done with a 15, blended with a 30, and around his nose and above his eyes done with a 40. All I put on was baby oil gel. I think he looks fine.

 

[minimomNC]

And this is my horse, clipped with a 30, head done with 30, 40, 50 and razored. Body clipped two days earlier, head clipped, blended and facial the night before.

 

[Sandee]

To the performance people since you dont do razoring, do you just clip the face with a 50 blade instead of razoring.

I agree that it depends on the horse. My daughter thought it looked so good that back when we were showing our stallion she razored him. LOL, then with pink and black skin on his face, she decided that she had to cover it all up with black shine!!

If we are using a horse for performance only we only use a #30 on their face. That makes it plenty "clean" looking without going to tons of trouble. After all, just how close do the judges get to a performance horse?

 

[kaykay]

For the life of me I will never understand why this got started or why so many feel a hairless horse is more beautiful than a nicely clipped and groomed horse. The extreme razoring and clipping is horrible to me. Some are getting so extreme they look like hairless horses.

We did finally get a rule for no razoring on classic shetlands but it was a rule with no enforcement or bite. There is a proposal to give it some bite coming up at convention if anyone is interested.

I always hope that someone will present it as a proposal for miniatures but I am not sure it would pass.

I have seen way too many nicked, bleeding and allergic reactions from shaving cream to last me a lifetime.

 

[ohmt]

I don't mind some razoring, but tried it one of my show horses this year and didn't like it. Instead I used a #50-now I do not like the 'peach fuzz' the stays on bottom lip and on the side so I did razor those areas a couple of weeks before the show. That way I didn't have the strange red tint with my chestnut colt that I showed. He has such a gorgeous head and that red tint just looked 'off'. Other than that, I left eyes and the rest of the muzzle and face and you really couldn't tell the difference. I clipped with a #10 on the bodies. Actually, I showed at the area 6 show with 3 week old clips on my colt and mare. The colt did well in halter and the mare took a first in solid color. She has the most beautiful silver dapple coat. Looks better when she's shaved closer to show time, but the heat was unbearable the week before so I only did what I had to.

 

[horsefeather]

I totally agree with KayKay!!

Pam

 

[targetsmom]

I have done it but I don't like it and won't do it again. I once razored our gray LWO+ mare with a wide white blaze (Max's dam) and she looked AWFUL! There was black skin showing on the muzzle (under the gray) and under several black spots inside the blaze that I had never noticed before and then the bottom of the blaze was PINK while the upper part was still white! UGH!!! And then there are the nicks... Nope, not doing that again. I have lovely portable clippers that instantly go from a 10, to 15, to 30 to 40 blade, so I will use those.