Differing tastes in show clipping?

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susanne

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I've had the last thread on show clipping on my mind continually for the last couple of days, because I truly believe that Each and everyone should feel free to show their horses as they wish.

It bothers me, however, when I hear comments such as: "I hate doing such and such, but I have to do it to be competitive."

It may be just part of my innate obstinance, but I have to be honest: There is no ribbon or trophy in the world worth doing something I hate. Why would I want to be rewarded for going against my own tastes?

As has been pointed out, this is merely a trend, and the exhibitors determine in the end what trends come to pass and what goes by the wayside. If I'm not competitive because of this, then so be it -- I'll continue to have fun at whatever level I can afford to compete (and arrange transportation) and work at perfecting my idea of a beautifully groomed horse, and hope that others will do the same.

So once again, I'm not bashing anyone's tastes so long as that truly is their preference. I just wish more had the gazoongas to trust their own tastes. Someone had to start the close clipping craze...someone will surely start things in the opposite direction (especially, as was pointed out, the miniature horse world can't go much further in the current direction!).

Does anyone remember when all the Miss America contestants HAD to wear beehives, even though they were WAAAAAAAAAY out of fashion? I'm sure they all felt that they HAD to do it to be competitive...
 
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OK enough of the happy faces!!! I could not agree more. I hate naked horses and I loathe balding- so I just don't do it!! I'm not about to go around lecturing people who do it, or tell them they are being unkind to their horses because they obviously feel completely OK about it. I will say it makes NO sense to me at all to strip a horse (or a foal) naked and then have to bring it in out of the sun in case it gets burned or rug it up in case it gets cold- DUH....tha's why they have the coat in the first place
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My personal experience has been halter horses are clipped to the nines and gooped up till they drip in order to get looked at. Performance horses are a lot of times not clipped for every show and do just as well as ones clipped. Last show both our yearlings were clipped with a 15 this show on the weekend 2 weeks later we didn't body clip just redid the faces maybe that's why we only got 1 reserve the others in the championship class were all clipped and do look a bit different standing there and a foot or so taller this time around it just looks to me like someone put more effort into how they were turned out and it usually pays of for them with conformation being in the same ballpark shaved or not. My mom and l don't see eye to eye on the clipping thing she says a good horse is a good horse naked or with some hair but still turned out nice she doesn't show but l can feel the differance standing beside and competeing with them. But like everything everyone has an opinion and you know what they say about opinions?? And l have to be honest we don't have or own show horses as everyone refers to theirs we only own and show some of the horses we have. You do what your comfortable with l even gave in this year and wore a dress in pleasure driving just because l was the only one in pants and a jacket any other year. Didn't help me though. LOL
 
I agree with the shaving thing. I'm not going to clip my horse bald. he's got a lot of white and already has a chance of being sunburned. There is no way I'm going to make my horse more vulnerable to weather just to look prettier. I'm not going to goop him up either.
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I am not bashing anyone either BUT, do you not like to look at a beautiful horse in the magazines that are groomed to the hilt. Do they not look nice???

I do shave and razor my horses, but I am responsible and make sure no one gets sun burnt. NO I do not shave my horses in the cold that I just find way out of line.

I do like the look of a shaved horse, just my opinion
 
The point is Nicole, if all the horses in the magazine were not razored and gooped you would soon get used to it, believe me. And , in answer to your question, No I don't like it. I get bored very quickly flicking through 'World and seeing horse after horse bald and gooped and in exactly the same pose!! Turn the page quickly to a nice, extended trot harness picture, with exemplary turnout without the " artificiality". You need to look at a few English Arab publications- best horses in the world and not one of them clipped!! Clipping adds nothing to conformation- you may argue that it shows it off better but it adds nothing to it- a well conformed horse is that clipped balded and gooped or not, and the Judge should be able to see through all the tricks. Not meaning to get heavy here- you are completely entitled to your own opinion, and I have no issues of "cruelty" with people who choose to do this- that would be silly, I just won't do it myself. My only real problem is with people who do it solely because they "have" to do it in order to win!!
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no Nicole i have to agree with fizz and the others,I personally don't like the looks of a horse that shines like its been greased. And I don't like the close shaved look either. The colors aren't as natural and the look(to me)is awful. Now thats just my opinion.
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Susanne,

I think your post is very well put!

EVERYONE is DIFFERENT!!!

I don't like to be all fussied up, nor do I want my daughters, my dogs or my horses fussied up BUT that is me!!!!!!!

I like natural looking everything!!!!!

However, I must say for people who do all the work themselves before a show WOW, it must be so time consuming and such hard work. That is real dedication! I tried clipping and it is hard work.
 
well minis arent the only breed nor is halter the only disipline to have things to do for turn out.

that is the great thing about it if you dont like it you dont have to do it. I wonder though how many who say i do it but dont want to .. are really saying that for fear of being flamed?

I hate banding yet people do it i think it is UGLY ... i loved braiding my hunters just different tastes i guess :)
 
Just for clarity for myself, what to you guys mean by "balding"?

would this be considered balding?

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rabbitsfizz said:
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OK enough of the happy faces!!!  I could not agree more.  I hate naked horses and I loathe balding- so I just don't do it!! I'm not about to go around lecturing people who do it, or tell them they are being unkind to their horses because they obviously feel completely OK about it.  I will say it makes NO sense to me at all to strip a horse (or a foal) naked and then have to bring it in out of the sun in case it gets burned or rug it up in case it gets cold- DUH....tha's why they have the coat in the first place
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Here..Here!!!
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I just don't like naked horses, or other things that are done by some in the search for a ribbon.

Love those soft fuzzy unshaven muzzles!
 
Last year was my first and only time out that I showed.

I did not bald my horses.

I did not shave off their eye lashes.

No razor here either.

A little bit of goop, not greased up, just enough to hold the fuzzy forelock and give a shine around the eye and muzzle.

Now then, my take on this is it's still my horse. And if judge cannot see my horse's eye with his eyelashes intact, or see his face without balding him, then that judge doesn't need to be a judge if he's that blind. OK, that's sarcastic. Sorry.

I had people coming up to me and Jerry on the spot offering us good money to buy those horses that I had there.

I certainly was not ashamed at my turn out.

Now that is my thing. If someone else feels he needs to do whatever to his horse, that is his horse and his business. Not going to bash anyone for tending to their horses the way they see fit. I just mind my own business.

And furthermore if anyone were really using their noodle, they would realize that instead of adding piles of greasy goop to a forelock, a nicely applied scrunchie would work very well
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Now there's a fad fer ya!
 
I respect everyones comments here. I do not go crazy with the razoring and I DO NOT shave my horses eyelashes off that is to much.

You guys are right about being natural, I do wish people would show more in the natural look then gooping them up. Mind you I do like a nice and neatly shaved horse, the minis I find get a thicker summer coat.

I have spoke to several U.S breeders and they say the only way to win in the ring is the grooming.

SO WHAT IS BEING JUDGED HERE THE GROOMING OR THE HORSE??????????

I don't want to contradict myself but I would like to see more natural horses.
 
nicole said:
 
SO WHAT IS BEING JUDGED HERE THE GROOMING OR THE HORSE??????????

You can't expect to go in with a poorly groomed horse and expect to win. Now I'm not saying you have to razor your horses head and cut off his eyelashes, I just mean you have to present your horse to his best advantage.

I've seen people who showed a horse with mane standing on end, rough clip, still with whiskers on, complain because the judge never looked at them and put the neatly groomed horse ahead of them.

My thought is, taking a horse in the ring like that is not only unfair to the horse, it's telling the judge that you aren't taking this seriously, why should they take your horse seriously.

Now I'm not saying that grooming techniques can't vary ... there was a little mare at one of our shows this year that hadn't been bodyclipped, someone put a lot of time into grooming and if she hadn't told me I never would've noticed. She was neat and clean and didn't have a hair out of place.

We body clip with a 10 and clip eyes and muzzle with the little Walmart clippers and apply a little baby oil gel for shine (okay, I apply a little, my brother does it and puts on a lot). This year, with all the mosquitos we've had, we barely clipped out ears at all, basically just what stuck out! And we've had a great show season. I always say, if a judge tells me they couldn't use my horse because he had hairy ears or his mane was sunburnt or I didn't razor his face, that's okay by me. And you know what? I don't think they've even noticed!
 
I am sorry BUT did I read that PEOPLE SHAVE THE HORSES EYELASHES OFF????????????

Please tell me I am misunderstanding something???????

I am sorry BUT not just IMO that is simply horrible??????????

I can't be Politically correct on that one, that is simply a horrible thing to do to any animal and to do this for a fad is cruel. To do it at all is cruel, any judge who would deduct a point for a horse having eyelashes needs to be put in a straight jacket.

I hope to goodness, I have misunderstood this wording??

How could someone justify it, am I missing something?????

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When is enough enough???
 
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Not thats not balding. Balding is where you take a razor(like you shave your legs with) and actually take all the hair off the nose and above the eyes.

I personally dont like it, wont do it. And actually if you were to show up here and do it, you would stand out like a sore thumb. Very rarely do I see it being done up here anymore.
 
capall beag said:
I am sorry BUT did I read that PEOPLE SHAVE THE HORSES EYELASHES OFF????????????Please tell me I am misunderstanding something???????

I am sorry BUT not just IMO that is simply horrible??????????

I can't be Politically correct on that one, that is simply a horrible thing to do to any animal and to do this for a fad is cruel. To do it at all is cruel, any judge who would deduct a point for a horse having eyelashes needs to be put in a straight jacket.

I hope to goodness, I have misunderstood this wording??

How could someone justify it, am I missing something?????

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When is enough enough???

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It's true it does really happen. I do not like it. I think it's pointless and creul(sp)

I don't see what's wrong with Balding, I don't think show horses with a lot of whiskers look good. Having them cut off makes them look clean cut, and well groomed. JMO.
 
Ok here is my no flames my background is not strictly mini's I worked in arab barns q-horse barns mixed barns hunter and dressage barns..........

back in the "olden" days we used to have to actually GROOM the horses this meant picking feet using about 10 different brushes and rags applying "product" to manes, bodies, and hooves and this was done a minimum of 5 days a week.....clippers were typically a set of osters used on wiskers fetlocks and tidying ear hair but never removing it... body clipping was reserved for those rare shows in very early spring on ultra hairy horses.......of course those olden days were only some of our teens lifetime ago...........oh for your info I was a groom I was paid to make these animals look their best AND if I couldn't do that with grooming and bathing then I would have been fired......we didn't use vaccuums either..well except to clean the barn aisle and stalls at one farm
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