Shaving the head and neck

[chandab]

And what is an 8 1/2 blade?

The blades that came with mine are; (USA)

1/8 (3mm)

1/4 (6 mm)

3/8 (10mm)

and 1/2 (13 mm)

Assuming those are inches, then go with the 1/2, it should leave the most hair behind, but still get rid of a good share of the long itchy winter woolies.

 

[Leeana]

All of our show ponies are full body clipped right now, but they are all in the barn, my barn is still in 'winter mode' so every crack is covered and the barn door stays shut to keep cool air out as much as possible. Its cold, but its not going to be freezing anymore. Some have winter blankets on, some don't. I don't worry about head/neck clipping them during the winter or early spring to much, just common sense.

 

[Lil Eowyn]

I ended up clipped her lower neck and chest area. I'm going to put her in the barn at night just in case she does get cold. I might clip her more when it gets really warm out.

 

[Ike]

I live in central MN and I normally clip mine the end of April and planning on doing it this weekend. Last year it was the end of March. I have never had any problems with them if it gets a little cool. Never had any blankets either. But if you do need one zip up hoodies work awsome if you dont have a blanket.

 

[paintponylvr]

We are down in NC and right now, I still wouldn't body clip - but mine are out on pasture. I now have blankets but not enough water resistant ones to cover the heavy ones.. It's supposed to rain all week this week and I expect we'll be dealing with rain rot this year, ugh.

BUT I have trace clipped when the girls and I were working ponies and had limited time to groom, work and cool out. Trace clipping them helped. I tried to never trace clip more than I could shove under a shelter that I had - even it they had to be tied up. and when we moved to Lillington, we had a barn w/ two stalls - but I also had to consider who could be stalled together w/o hurting each other before I would trace clip in case the weather turned weird...

Here's some pics -

This is one of our 1/2 shetlands. His is a little high... I also have a tendency to go too high on the pregnant mares w/ big bellies, LOL.

This is an American Show pony filly (1/2 shet; 1/2 hackney). Her head is not shaved but is trimmed up. You can she she still has all her leg hair as well.

 

[bevann]

Get creative and make some kind of covering for your horse if you are going to clip. You can use a cheap fuzzy throw blanket and duct tape if you can't sew.When I first got into Minis in the 1980s I made lots of my own blankets and shipping boots and coolers.A blanket of some sort is very helpful in keeping a horse clean for showing especially if it is a pinto. The weather is very unpredictable and a cheap even poorly made covering is much better than a sick horse.When you clip a horse you are going against what is natural and normal for the animal,.You are removing its protective covering against weather(rain, sun, cold,wind) insects and other things.I really wish we could show our animals with minimal clipping(chin whiskers,fetlocks in some breeds,bridle paths,etc.) like lots of other breeds do. then we wouldn't have color classes with pink and grey(should be black&white) pintos in color classes.Good luck with your showing.Is it a Mini show or are you going to an all breed big horse show?If so you may just kick butt against those big guys.If you measure your horse I probably have a blanket I'm not using and I will be willing to send it to you if you pay the postage from DE 19963.Let me know and I will check my tack room.

 

[bevann]

Are you interested in the offer of a free blanket?