Balding / Shaving

[dmhstacy]

HI,

I have not been here for so so long so hello to everyone!

I have just been going through the archives on balding / shaving as i have a yearling colt i would like to have a practise on to see if it suits him or not.

I have been showing for many years but have never tried this techinque so with another 2 months until the show season starts. . . nows the time to practice!

I am fine with the muzzle but does anyone have a close up photo of the eyes to show where and how much to take off above the eye.

 

[Buckskin gal]

Hi, I have a drawing of what size blades to use on the different parts of the head. If you would like me to send it to you, I could try. Mary

I am going to edit this because I just found the link to get the drawing and it will be much better for you than for me to try and send it. Have fun, Mary www.flash.net/~estracrs/shave.html

HI,

I have not been here for so so long so hello to everyone!

I have just been going through the archives on balding / shaving as i have a yearling colt i would like to have a practise on to see if it suits him or not.

I have been showing for many years but have never tried this techinque so with another 2 months until the show season starts. . . nows the time to practice!

I am fine with the muzzle but does anyone have a close up photo of the eyes to show where and how much to take off above the eye.

 

[dmhstacy]

Thanks for that Mary - it is brilliant. Now i have lots of practising to do!!!

Thanks Stacy

 

[Little Bit]

Thanks for posting this...it's quite interesting!

I would have thought that a much smaller blade would have been used in the area over the eyes, though, it says to use a #7 blade! I thought that area was shaved closer so that when you put the clear hightlight on, it looks darker.

That is what I did with my buckskin filly, it looks MUCH more natural than all the BLACK stuff blobbed up over their eyes, JMO.

 

[minih]

I am fine with the muzzle but does anyone have a close up photo of the eyes to show where and how much to take off above the eye.

Here are two pictures of razoring we have done with two of our horses.

 

[Little Bit]

Terri, your horses look beautiful. :aktion033:

I am wondering, did you use the razor above the eyes, too?

I do not want to use a razor on my filly, so have used the 40 blade on her muzzle & face up to the bottom of her halter and above her eyes, then used the clear highlight on these areas, which brought out the coloring of her black skin.

On these two horses, did you use the razor on the face(all the way around, including the jaws) up to the halter, making a straight line where the chain fits?

 

[nootka]

I use a #50 for the areas previous to razoring.

THEN I blend w/the #50 and so on until it matches/blends w/the clip that it meets against.

I DO razor over the eyes on my dark-skinned show horses (with some deciding factors such as the horse's behavior/age, etc.). None of them really notice or care, so I am not worried I would hurt their eye and I cover the eye and close it w/my finger when I do. Just be careful w/the shaving cream.

If I don't razor, I DO use a #50 blade and rarely do I settle for a #40 as the hairs around and over the eye are already quite short and tight to begin with.

There are pics of a few razored horses on my website. the mare in my avatar was razored minimally/clipped w/a #50 to blend to a natural coat over the eyes, as she was not body clipped for her pics.

Liz M.

 

[mininik]

I'm going to say that the drawing posted makes shaving and/or razoring a horse's face A LOT more complicated than it has to be...

: I really ought to draw a diagram.

 

[nootka]

mininik, would you?

I will try one, too, and see how it compares to others'.

I have the one that was posted and use it as a guideline but I end up doing my own thing on each horse anyway. I probably make it WAY too complicated w/my multiple blades, etc. *LOL*

But I find it fun and sort of therapeutic as long as the horse is easygoing about it. If they aren't, I will admit I pretty much go w/minimal on it. I find I almost HAVE to at least shave the lower muzzle w/a razor anymore as I hate the look of the silvery fuzz on the ends of the nose. Makes it look huge and bulbous!

Liz M.

 

[minih]

I use a #50 for the areas previous to razoring.THEN I blend w/the #50 and so on until it matches/blends w/the clip that it meets against.

I DO razor over the eyes on my dark-skinned show horses (with some deciding factors such as the horse's behavior/age, etc.). None of them really notice or care, so I am not worried I would hurt their eye and I cover the eye and close it w/my finger when I do. Just be careful w/the shaving cream.

If I don't razor, I DO use a #50 blade and rarely do I settle for a #40 as the hairs around and over the eye are already quite short and tight to begin with.

I prettymuch do the same thing as Liz

: Just remember to take your time, if your horse is jumpy or uncomfortable I just use the back side of the razor and some gel on the nose and over the eyes until they find out you are not going to do something dreadful. Most don't seem to mind at all, and if I am being really slow about it, I have had some lay their head in my lap almost and half snooze.

On these two horses, did you use the razor on the face(all the way around, including the jaws) up to the halter, making a straight line where the chain fits?

Yes, but not on the white areas, I just used a close clipper blade.

 

[HJF]

While we are on the topic of razoring I have a quick question. Are there some colors of horses you wouldn't consider razoring? I have a gelding who is a silver bay with light points. I razored his nose last year and it looked really weird on him. I did it on the other horses, it just didn't look right on him. His eyes looked okay though. Any suggestions?

 

[minih]

This is a picture of our silver bay that I razored. I don't know what you mean by light points? If you could post a picture of him? White areas I do not like razored at all.

 

[HJF]

Forgot to add he is a silver bay pinto. (At least I think that's his color...his papers say chestnut pinto, but I'm really not sure.) He is light grey when he is clipped and turned almost black after a couple of weeks. This is an old picture in his yearling gangly stage but it's the best example of his nose.

 

[minih]

I don't see any white on his nose from what I can tell? I don't see any reason why you couldn't razor his nose. I really don't think it would be bad color wise, but you may want to practice at home before a show and see what it looks like. Not all horses look good with the shiney razored nose.

 

[HJF]

That picture was taken 2 years ago and his nose has lightened up a bit; not white though. Thanks for the help! I'm going to razor him soon..a while before a show so I can work on making it look better this time. :bgrin

 

[Jess P]

How many razors do you guys go through per nose?

I was doing Diego for his A show and I swear it was one swipe and then a new razor was needed.

 

[minih]

Forgot to say one thing-----be sure and put baby oil on their noses and keep them out of the sun until the hair grows back in! And Yes Miniseasons I also go thru alot of razors while shaving, they do not do a very good job once dull, ha ha but it is more than one swipe :bgrin

 

[dmhstacy]

Thankyou everyone for your comments and help.

It is really great!!!

Stacy

 

[mininik]

No, no, no, no, no...

We use the "Lady Bic" pink, cheap-o, disposable razors that can be had at any Walmart for very little per set and I will only go through TWO IF I'm doing the face of a big pony. Please be careful as these razors are sharp, so it's important to use plenty of shaving creme, start on a spot on the side of the muzzle where the skin is not going to be cut easily and always do the area above the eyes last.

I would also NOT advise putting baby oil on your horse's face where it is razored in hopes it will act as "sun screen." The best way to help your horse avoid over exposure after shaving and razoring is to keep it out of the sun during the day or times when the sun is it's strongest until the hair starts to grow back after the show. Know also that there are sun screen products available now specifically for horses.

:

 

[wpsellwood]

For the razors I would suggest the good pivot ones with the aloe strip. That is one thing I do not cut corners on, also I use the good shaving cream Edge the purple can. On the first clip of the year it usually takes one razor per horse but as we go I can usually do 2 horses per razor.