Does everyone showing use

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maryann

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We have noticed a lot of people using 30 blades on the body now instead of the 10 from years past. Is this a trend eveyone pretty much follows? We want to be competitive but I just hate clipping them this close. If you do this do you clip the entire horse with a 30 or do you clip the head witha 40 or 50? One of our halter horses also is a driving horse.Will clipping him with a 30 make him more sensitive to his harnesses.? Thanks, Maryann
 
No way in HE** would I body clip with a 30. I have gone back to body clipping with a cattle clippers, but I used to clip with a 10 on pintos and a 15 on solids. SOrry but I dont like the scalped look.

I know sombody who once clipped with a 40. ONly because they accidently took a swip off the body with a 40 and well you cant exactly blend that so they had to finish with it.
 
I use a 15. 40 is too close for me. We only use a 40 or 30 above the eyes and on the muzzle for a show
 
My daughter is a professional body clipper, and does work for many of the major show barns. She gets a wide variety of instructions when it comes to clipping show horses. Some people want 15's for body clips, more frequently is asked to use 30s, and a few have requested 40s for the body. Frequently the blade used depends on how far out the clip job is from the actual horse show, and sometimes it is just the personal preference of the owner or trainer. Another factor is how much white is on the horse. More frequently it's the dark horses that are clipped with 30s and 40s, while horses with a lot of white are more likely to be clipped with 15s (but if the owner wants 30s - that's what she uses).

I have to request her to use 10s on my driving horses - she always wants to use 15s. And I do my driving horses (at least for local level shows) at least a week ahead when possible. I want them to have a little protection from the harness. Much more than a week away from the show and their faces start growing too much hair for my taste, even though she always uses 15s and 30s on the faces even when the body is done in 10s.

Brooke orders a LOT of blades on a monthly basis -- many, many 30s which is what she uses primarily, 15s are next highest, then some 40s, a few 50s and 10s. So, if we think of it in terms of the clipper blade invoices from PetEdge, most people she works for seem to be selecting 30s for show horse body clipping.

Robin C
 
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It's probably yet another 'trend!'
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Hope it fades fast! I clip with a 10, and actually, on some horses, depending on color, use a 7. I won't use a 30, not even on the face. I will use a 15 on the face and legs, but no lower. 'Course, I HATE the shaved muzzle look, so obviously won't 'skin' my horses' bodies. If the judges can't see the horse for what it is, I personally don't think 'skinning' or 'shaving' will help. JMO

Pam
 
I've never used a 30 blade on a horse's body, and I don't plan to start. My horses get a lot of "outside time" and so for me, I feel they need to keep some hair.
 
I usually use a 15 on the body, don't much like to get as close as a 30 unless I have to clip way ahead of time. But as Robin said, faces grow back pretty quickly and usually need reclipping if you start too far ahead of time. I use several different blades to blend the face, from 15 to 50.

Jan
 
In my own personal opinion, for me,
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it depends on the color of the horse. Most of mine are clipped with a 30, except for the ones that I drive. They are clipped with a 15 up to a week before, and I clean up the underline the day before if the hair has grown in too much. I also like a very cleanly clipped head.

The only halter horse right now that I clip with a 15 is my grey pinto yearling...he has a lot of white. I clip him maybe 3 or 4 days before he is shown. I do clip his underline with a 30 the day before.

Even my sorrels/chestnuts are clipped with a 30. By this time of the year, their color is pretty deep.

Edited to add: most of my horses are solids with very little to no white.

Sue
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I do my Pewter mare (silver dapple) in a 30 and she looks AWESOME. The dapples become almost three dimensional! I also clipped my client's blue roan in a 30 (both of these horses were done the day before the show), but my pintos get done in a 15, usually about 4 or 5 days before the show. I haven't used a 10 in a couple of years, but I might do this week on a couple of yearlings.

I think it really depends on the colour of the horse as to which blades to use. I can't stand a pinto (or a few other colours) that is clipped so short that it becomes pink. I would definitely be worried about sunburn then, never mind how awful the horse might look.
 
I use a 10 blade on most of our horses ... pinto and appaloosa's. Only a 15 on solids. I will not use anything more on the bodies. On the face, a 15, above the eyes, and on the muzzle a 40 blade. But only for showing. For anything else I use

a 15 blade for them. We do not like the shaved look, we do not like shaving the muzzle. I know a lot of people do. But this is our feelings and likes, we do not like the look it gives, it does not look natural. That is just our feelings. I hope this trend goes away. I like the horse to look natural. Show off its true beauty.

Vicky
 
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I just, seriously, do NOT understand the "need" to skin our horses. Perhaps "we" need to develop a hairless horse; like the hairless cats and dogs that have been "manufactured" in years past.
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IMHO(honest opinion, not humble, in this case)
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a #10 is more than enough for a body clip. Enough is enough already!!

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I always shave with a 30 blade on the body. In fact I just finished clipping my halter horse today with a 30, however he doesn't show for 4 more days so he has a little time to grow out and get some color in but he will still appear "slick". I believe clipping closer also helps the judge see the horses muscle tone much better and it make them appear much "tighter". And please don't bash those who clip closely we are not harming our horses and I know we sure don't intend to.
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Breanne
 
It depends on the horse as to what I use... on my dark horses... (blacks, bays and some of the deep chestnuts...) I use a 30 blade on the body and 40 around the eyes and muzzle.... on the horses with a lot of white on the body and legs I will use a 15 and then shape with a 30... and, yes, I still will clip with a 10 if I have a horse that might have some skin problems to work out...

One of the things that really has to be taken into consideration when choosing the blade type you will use is the condition of the hair and the skin of the horse you are clipping. To often I see people try to clip a dirty horse or a horse with dry skin to close and not only end up with a lot of lines, but also with a horse that will have continuing dry and flakey skin long after the clip job is completed. As is true with conditioning your horse for muscle and tone, the same care needs to be taken with the horses coat and skin.....
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Suzy Hooper

Show Horses by Suzy

Fresno, CA
 
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15 here for the body - don't plan on using any shorter for the body/legs either.
 
I tried a #30 for the first time at the last show, and it did not look good on my silver dapple gelding. He has pink skin, though, so I think it made him look particularly unpleasant. At least to me.

I may use a 15, but not a 30 on him again. His sire was clipped w/a thirty, though, and he looked really good. He was a smokey black w/dark skin.

Some horses, I think it looks fine on, others, no way. I think it's fine to use a ten if that is what you are comfortable with. I have had horses win Championships being clipped w/tens, but I do notice that many of the trainers use #30 and their horses usually look superior.

I would never flame someone for their choice of grooming. I am assuming anyone who chooses to remove a horse's natural protection from the elements would also take measures to protect the horse from same w/blankets, barns, etc.

Liz M.
 
I used a 0 blade
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We show in natural coat (Well, Mingus does, LOL...I haven't asked what blade my hairstylist used...); I clipped only his muzzle with a 15 I would have cleaned up his fetlocks, but the clipper blades went dull.

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I agree wholeheartedly- I am starting the "Au Naturel" look fan club- Mingus you can be the first member!!! The only good thing about the "skinned" horse look is the back lash it is causing- quite a few people are actually beginning to show, if not in full coat then at least in some coat
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I HATE it with a vengeance and my own personal reaction has been to clip once, with coarse blades, at the beginning of the year to take off the winter coat, and NOT clip again. The only reaction I have had from the Judges was one remark that he liked to see a coat on the horses, or maybe it was how unusual it was to see the coat, nice change, yo get the drift. It in NO way affected the placings, either way!! Skinning a horse does NOT make it a better horse- the Judges are not stupid, they are actually trained to see the horse underneath! It stands to reason that, if you are faced with a ring full of skinned rabbit animals with balded faces, and one gleaming, perfect, full coated on, the one that will get the most looks is the one that is different- of course, in order to win it has actually to be the best horse, as well
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It is slightly different over here- no other breed is shown clipped, it is actually against the rules, here, to clip Arabs (Thank goodness!!!!) So we also have to contend with some serious criticism form very knowledgeable people. I heard some very complimentary comments at the Royal International, two weeks ago, followed immediately by "WHY do they have to clip them so close, aren't the horses good enough to stand up on their own???" We do not need this, we need the "Big Horse" people on our side.
 
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