Clipping for halter

[Whitewave]

I have noticed latedly that some horses are clipped with the V at there tail going up to their hip ..Why is that ? Is this done to make a LOW tail set "appear to be higher" ? And Why are some horses having their "last hair on the mane" suddenly being clipped in a V to the withers " Is this to make the measuring height Lower? Perhaps its just my thought but I feel the tail extention looks silly and the Lenghtning of the mane pushing the limit when it comes to being Honest about a horses height.

Okay some are gonna flame away at me , thats okay everyone has a right to say what they feel.. I was just curious as to why this is happening. Never really noticed it til recently.

Thanks for explaing this new practice to me.

Jennifer

 

[MiLo Minis]

It has actually been done for years and years. When I showed my full sized horses in the winter with a full body clip I clipped the tail head in a V because it makes it look neater and more finished. Yes you can visually change the tail set within reason although I find that the really high V's look a bit ridiculous and aren't fooling anyone. As for the V at the withers, this is not really done to fool anyone but rather to prevent clipping away the last actual hair of the mane and to give it a neat finished appearance. When you go to a show the steward will not use that V to measure on anyway but will find the coarser hairs of the mane and use that. Again, I find the really long V's there unattractive and kind of silly

 

[Reble]

I must agree, have noticed allot from our club now doing the longer V at the tail,

and it is ridiculous and looks so unattractive.

I like the more smaller and natural look.

 

[HGFarm]

Yes I think some try to do it as an illusion to make the rear end look different, however I have had judges mention that if they see a big long V, they are wondering what they are trying to hide on the horse to have to try to disguise it. I too, think it looks silly, and leave only a short one to blend the tail in with the body hair.... If their tail sits that low, or their rear is that bad, leaving a bunch of hair is not going to hide it in my opinion. It just draws more attention to that area.

 

[cre]

Actually the op is also correct in the wither v - many people in the last couple of years of showing have started doing this to get horses to measure under what they really are. Several other trainers have readily admitted it. Again, if a judge sees this or another exhibitor is sure the horse is over, it's up to them to go to the steward & have something done about it. It's a shame people lower themselves to such tactics as this, but it is a reality. I say, measure the horse honestly & show it where it should be.

 

[maestoso]

At least from what I have seen in AMHA, at the rated shows and world show almost all horses have their tail V going up to the point of hip, and in fact, the ones that don't are the ones that look ridiculous. It's a preference thing, but also one of those things that if you choose to do it "your way" you will stand out, and not always in a good way. Sometimes "following the crowd" is necessary if you want to give you and your horse the best opportunity to do well.

When I learned about clipping, it was all about the V's. the tail V. The mane V, the forelock V, etc.

 

[dreamlandnh]

what is a forelock V?

 

[Reble]

At least from what I have seen in AMHA, at the rated shows and world show almost all horses have their tail V going up to the point of hip, and in fact, the ones that don't are the ones that look ridiculous. It's a preference thing, but also one of those things that if you choose to do it "your way" you will stand out, and not always in a good way. Sometimes "following the crowd" is necessary if you won't to give you and your horse the best opportunity to do well.When I learned about clipping, it was all about the V's. the tail V. The mane V, the forelock V, etc.

I do agree with you Matt about preference, I do remember when I first started clipping and showing, everyone was doing the long bridle path, but after a few show years, seen some that did not do so long of ones, and must admit the one that did not do the long bridle path had a gorgious flowing mane and stood out so much nicer, just in my eyes, but you are correct alot follow the crowd.

Everything keeps changing, and only takes one to change the trend.

 

[midnight star stables]

I agree with MiLo... But I also think some people just don't know what the heck they are doing!

Personally I hate really short V's. None of my V's are overly long(at least in my opinion

) but I'd take a long one over a short one -- You can always take away, you can't put the hair back on

. Also, all my V's are bigger in the spring, but by September they shrink about an inch, just from routine clipping.

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

Does anyone have pictures of their mane v's and their tail v's. I'm totally new to this stuff and I sure want to clip my boy somewhat correctly this year. I really don't know much about this stuff.

Thank you!

 

[~Lisa~]

I hate the long overdrawn V up the croup- I have never done it just do not like the look. I come from a large horse background and have never seen nor clipped any of my horses like that. I do blend a small V just above the tail head so it looks nice but that is it.

 

[tagalong]

Tail Vs long enough to reach the point of the hip are overdone. There is no need for that IMO.

As far as it being purely a measuring trick...

... no. Unless big horses in hunter clips or body clips are being measured that way as well. The V at the tail head is just a smoother, better blend to the eye - and less problematical if the horse feels itchy after his clip.

 

[Minimor]

Leaving a small V at the top of the tail to blend it in is one thing, but leaving the V all the way to the point of hip is not 'blending it in'.

some people leave that big long V because they think it makes it look like the horse has a higher tailset. Such a long V makes the hip--at quick glance--appear shorter than it is. IMO it defeats the purpose of what these people are trying to achieve, because for me the only thing worse than a slightly low tailset is a short hip! Of course if you take a good look at the horse you can see that the hip isn't really as short as it appears, and of course you can tell that the tail isn't set as high as the person would like everyone to believe--it would be a poor judge that gets fooled either way and IMO it's a poor judge that would mark a horse down because it wasn't sporting a big long V!

 

[maestoso]

Karen, A forlock V, at least the way I was referring, is shaping the base of the forlock(on the neck end not the forhead end) so it looks like a V, with the open end of the V facing forward and the point of the V pointing towards the neck.

I don't think most judges are so dense that they can't see through a tail V and know where the tail is actually set. I believe it is more or less a trend, and since horse shows are basically a fashion show, you have to follow the trends if you want to compete at the top level.

I don't much like clipping before every show either. Would I be doing myself any good to just decide to bring a fuzzy mess to the show because that is what I liked?

 

[MiLo Minis]

I think that most people would agree that Lee Crutchfield shows at the top of the game in A and R and he doesn't leave the V's up to the hips!!! (or at least Kirby doesn't!)

 

[Reble]

Does anyone have pictures of their mane v's and their tail v's. I'm totally new to this stuff and I sure want to clip my boy somewhat correctly this year. I really don't know much about this stuff.

Thank you!

Hi hope they do not mind but browsing some web sites found one that has a good pic of the tail V

scroll down this page and you will see one.

The horse is gorgious.

http://www.lostspokeranch.com/mares.html

 

[Leeana]

I also can not stand the really short V's .... but i hate the V's that go almost up to the lumbar just as much, especially the really long super skinny V's

... but we all have different idea's of what looks nice i guess

.

Find a good medium between the two go from there ... i try not to fool with it to much as it just seems like one of those things the more you try to fix it, the more damage you do ..

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

Thanks Rebel! That looks about to be the same as the one my boy came to me with. I will just be showing locally, not at the world shows or anything like that. I just want to have fun!

 

[SuzE]

Well I hate the long V's too...how silly it looks to go all the way up to the point of hip! Here is a trick I was taught at a clinic giving by a very successful AHMR/ASPC trainer...take a long piece of string (I just use baling twine) put it under the tail and then bring both ends back up towards their spine and when the two pieces meet, you have a perfect V. Clip everything outside of your string. This is going back a few years now so maybe things have changed. But this is what I do every year...never been a following the crowd kindof gal anyways!

 

[Taylor Jo]

Hi hope they do not mind but browsing some web sites found one that has a good pic of the tail V

scroll down this page and you will see one.

The horse is gorgious.

http://www.lostspokeranch.com/mares.html

That is a perfect tail set IMO. And that horse is GORGEOUS. Last year though I "accidently" made my filly's crooked. Man was I ever upset. I tried to straighten it the best I could but if I would have messed with it much more she wouldn't have had one, so I just left it. I didn't know what to do so that's what I did. HOPEFULLY, this year I will get them straight as I have 4 to do. TJ