When do you clip your foals for "preview"

[fantacsix]

[SIZE=12pt]I had a foal born on June 12th, I see him turning out awesome! Want to advertize him, due to already have two boys on my limited 2 acres. (wish I could keep him he is really nice) but anyway I have seen people clip their little ones but i have also heard that they need ty coats and they will not be ready for the winter if you clip now. Thank you for your help.[/SIZE]

 

[megaroo]

We normally wait until they are around 2 months. Thats just because we don't normally rush things. However I have seen people do it when they're two days old. I guess its when you think they're ready,

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

For me it is a matter of keeping the foals healthy. The weather plays a huge part in the timing. If it is very hot I will do it earlier as it is not good for babies to get overheated if the foal is mostly white I will go with the hair instead of against it so they don't get sunburned. I have clipped a foal we had (bought the mare who was pasture bred she foaled in Aug) 2 hours after he was born and others have waited till they were a few months old

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I do not clip foals.

We have had some pretty hot weather but I have never been tempted to clip a foal for that reason- they needed their coats to protect them.

At the moment it is so wet I am seriously thinking of building an Ark- if I were to have clipped my foals they would be in real trouble now- they are wet enough with the coats they have- which have more or less shed out on their own anyway, I think they would die of pneumonia if I had clipped them.

If you think they people buying a foal will not be able to judge it with it's coat on perhaps you could head and neck them- even then, all foals have dished sweet faces- doesn't mean that is what you will have in the horse, though.

I am happy to wait till they are yearlings.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Yes Jane you are right it all depends on your facilities as well.

I do have a barn so the mares and the foals can easily be stalled in very extremem weather they can be in under fans in the summer and in during wet or windy weather as well. My babies have never shed out as weanlings and often need to be clipped to get rid of that yearling winter hair which seems to be more like wool then hair always that first year for some reason

If I had them out all the time then of course it would be different.

 

[Minimor]

I clip mine when they are 1-2 months old. Ours are outside 24/7 with loose housing sheds for shelter & when the bugs are bad I do use sprays. However, I don't want the foals shaved right down, so I clip them with the hair. It takes off the fuzz & helps them stay cool, but still leaves them some hair for protection from flies & weather. With practice I can do a pretty decent clip job this way, & what it amounts to is the foals have a "normal" haircoat, just like the coat on the older horses that shed out naturally.

A foal clipped now has no problem growing a full coat in time for winter, even for our cold Canadian prairie winters!

 

[Joanne]

We are located in northern California and our weather is more like Oregon and Washington. We have just been able to start clipping out our horses and taking new photos in the last couple of weeks.

I look forward to clipping out the foals that were born in February through May as it is like opening a Christmas package !!

We typically wait until they are 2-4 months old. We would only clip a two month old in the summer. We have found that clipping all spring and summer foals is best because their new coat seems to shed the wet winter rains better then the cotton candy-like foal coat. Foals born late in the year we have to see how the weather is before deciding to clip.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

cotton candy-like foal coat.

Now that is the perfect description I have not heard that term before !

 

[Joanne]

I have ruined more blades on a foal coat.

:

The hair gets stuck EVERYWHERE.

And at the end of the clipping I feel like I am wearing what I just took off!

I think clipping the foals is the only way for people to truly see what they are getting. That and a good photograph or video.