Clipping questions

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minimoesmom

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Hi, I'm fairly new to the forum, usually just reading posts but now I have a question/problem. I recently got a 6 yr old gelding and have been trying for a week to clip him for a show Saturday. I did fine on his body and neck, but his face, ears and legs are a different story! He won't even let me get close to his ears, I got some of his face, but barely even the top of his legs and he freaks out! I called the lady I got him from and she didn't remember having a problem with him in the past. We have tried a twitch, which helped as far as the face and outside of his ears, but didn't help with his legs. Even with the twitch, he tries to kick me, rears up, and when I lift one of his legs he'll fall down trying to fight with me. I don't want to hurt him, but I don't know what else to do. I've tried being patient with him, slowly letting him get used to the clippers, talking to him, having my husband hold him and daughter pet him, but nothing helps. We have 6 mini's and none of them have any issues with the clippers at all. One didn't like his ears clipped and we used a twitch and then he stood quietly and patiently.

I'm at my wits end, please help me!! I only have one more day to get him finished. otherwise he's a good boy and very loving, so I feel horrible trying to force him to stand still

Thanks,

Becky
 
i'm certainly not versed in this subject since i only clip bridle paths and fetlocks but i seriously doubt you will have any luck at all trying to get this done in one day. for whatever reason, this guy has become frightened of what you are trying to do and it will take a LOT of patience to get him past it. i know sometimes twitching is necessary but it doesn't really teach a horse anything. the only time i've ever had to use a twitch is on my biggie when the vet is here. i'd hate to think you'd have to twitch him every time you wanted to freshen up a clip but maybe that's just me.
 
If you are truly at your wits end and all else has failed I say use a mild tranqulizer cause it is not worth getting yourself hurt. I clip a lot of horses and there are always a few that I have to resort to tranquilizing. Talk with your vet and he will recommend and prescribe something for you.

Good Luck!

Tammie~
 
You need to relax. Stop fighting with and treating the horse. Work him, cool him out, cross tie him safely. Get everything quiet and everyone out of there, except your husband to help in an emergency. You can twitch both lips and even ear twitch him if you have to. (An ear twitch does not have to be tramatic and shouldn't be, in my opinion.) Forget using those huge metal twitches. Go to your local hardware store and pick up a couple of these before you start:

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_...astic_clamp.jpg

Try to only put those twitches on good ONCE, let him relax a bit and get the job done. You might even consider tranquilizing him, though I've never needed to do that to any of the hundreds of horses I've clipped. I'll bet your blades got hot and helped to agitate the horse, or he's just sick of playing games over something he doesn't want done. At this point it doesn't matter. Just take a break and start over with the right attitude and a different approach. If you think "he's going to go crazy," or "we'll never get this done," you're probably right.
 
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First would like to say [SIZE=14pt]Welcome[/SIZE] to the forum

I like the metal clamps from the dollar store (4 in a pack) for a dollar.

put on upper lip or you can try some treats in a deep bucket to keep him busy.

Make sure he is cross tied.

Good Luck
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I've used both the metal clamps shown above and the plastic clips I mentioned previously and much prefer the plastic clips as they can lock on to the lips and the pressure points are more concentrated.
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I've used both the metal clamps shown above and the plastic clips I mentioned previously and much prefer the plastic clips as they can lock on to the lips and the pressure points are more concentrated.
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I have tried the plastic clips and just found those orange nips keep moving hard to place on a moving horse, which knows their coming.

Maybe the ones I have are not the same mininik do you have a picture of the ones you use?

Would like to check them out. thanks

Oh sorry, just seen the picture and I find those ones hard to keep on. those darn orange clips have to be just right. but what ever works.
 
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i have to ask, since this has been suggested but...you guys DO "train" a mini to stand in crossties, right? i have never crosstied my mini boys but my biggie knows the drill. however, i have seen some horrendous biggie wrecks when some cowboy decided he'd just stick his horse in the crossties without getting him used to it first!

i'm just curious as i think it's questionable advice (at least from what little i know) to suggest crossties unless the person's horse is used to being restrained in this fashion.
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Those are the same clips I use, Rebel. I forgot to mention to just snap the orange nubs off.
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Charlene, yes, I do take time to get a horse used to crossties. I assumed the horse being posted about was safe to crosstie or if it wasn't that it would be safely tied some other way or held on to, and while I thought about posting something of a disclaimer about that, I do get tired of posting endless disclaimers about the obvious. If someone told me to crosstie my horse and it couldn't be crosstied, or hadn't been crosstied before, I would be very cautious or I wouldn't do it. I would probably think to ask for advice on crosstying if I needed it. At some point a person has got to know themself, their horse and their limitations. ALL advice should be looked at as questionable, especially when you get it from who knows who knowing who knows what on an Internet forum.
 
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mininik, sorry...i was not singling you out by any means! i was just suggesting that a person should know how his/her horse will react to crossties before they actually use them. many people assume that since a horse is ok standing tied, crossties are no different. i once saw a woman put a normally calm mare in crossties for the first time without any preparation. the mare ended up flipping and suffered a broken neck, out of sheer panic.
 
No worries, Charlene, I knew what you were getting at.
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