How far back do you cut?

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Leeana

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Okay ...Thursday im doing all the trimming. Not doing any full body trimming. Just behind the legs, muzzle, whiskers, and ears. But i have a couple questions!.

MANE: how far back do i cut from behind the ears. I really dont want to cutt this at all. Do i have to? I love his thick flowing mane and it kills me that i have to cutt the lenght thursday to!. I know i have to trim it some ..but do i really have to cut it at all. Other then just trim it up and even it up?

EYES: Do i trim the long (like 2inches long) above his eyes? There super long eye lashes ..or do i just trim them up and shorten them?

Doing it Thursday will give it a week. I know i still will have to probaly trim up the muzzle a tad sometime next week around monday ..but i want to get a major part of it done thursday.

Thank you and lemme know.!
 
If he has a short neck, thats the longer you want the Bridal Path(that is what it is called) if he has a long neck, then dont do it to short, it should at least be as long as if you were to lay his ear black, but if he has a short neck go long (like 6 inches) Bridal paths are alot easier to have, it looks better, and if you are showing him, then yes you probably should, cause if you dont, then your going to be the only one there with a horse with no bridal path!

as for the eyes, i dont know, someone else will have to help!

-Gage-
 
Thanks gage. I think im going to go back only an inch or two ..i really dont want to. But i guess i should. His neck is 'medium'.
 
This is just what i tend to do...

For the length of the bridal path do it the length of his ear (push his ear flat back against his neck and trim off to where the tip goes. Then stand back and asses! - you can always take more off, but you can never put it back on. I normally do about 2 x the ear length. (depends on the horse).

If you were refering to mane length I do not pull my manes i leave them long I do find though with a long mane they need a longer bridal path so you can still see the neck to the point of the shoulder.

I take all wiskers off (the long 2" hairs) but never take off the eyelashes this asks for trouble and can cause dirt to get in their eyes causing problems. I always keep the eye lashes covered with my finger so they can not 'jump' and cause me to cut them off.

(dont cut them either as they get very spikey - not nice that close to the eyes)

HOpe this helps

stacy
 
I never touch the eyes or eye lashes.

For around here I just clip a bridle path a little bit more than an ear's length, just to keep them nice and neat looking. A couple of them, I do a longer bridle path if their manes tend to be big and bushy.

I do not cut the bottom of the mane, but I do like to sissor the dead and split ends off but I don't cut it straight across. Same with the forelocks. I just lightly snip off any dead ends but I don't cut bangs straight across.
 
Do you need to do an undercut, do you know what that is and how to do it? Is his mane think and you want it thinner? if so I can tell you how to do it! its easy!

-Gage-
 
i trim manes 1/4th to 1/3rd of his total mane's lenght..work here!
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OK- I think the long bridle paths look ghastly (BRIDAL paths on the other hand, should be long and happy
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) I cannot think of one time when cutting off a third to two thirds of any horses mane made it look better!! There was a fashion for this in Arabs a while back (NOT over here- over here until very recently it was not allowed to even cut a genuine bridle path on an Arab) Judges, you know are neither stupid nor are they blind. They are also supposed to be able to actually understand how a horse is made!!!!* gasp* Of course a little bit of subtle juggling never did anyone any harm- if the horse is very short in the neck cutting off half it's mane will accentuate it- trimming the path a wee bit longer will help- as will leaving the hair down into the back just a wee bit help hide a long back. Remember what a bridle path is for- so you can easily place a bridle- it should be no longer than the ear length to start with- then you start your cosmetic balancing act- slightly longer for a short neck, shorter mane at the top and graded down for a long neck- to accentuate the sweep, etc.

Remember- you can always cut a little more- you cannot stick it back on!!!!!
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[SIZE=14pt]For shows I clip the bridle path anywhere from 3 to 6 inches maybe a little more on some that I need to have a longer neck look. NEVER blunt cut a mane or forlock!!!!! if you need to shorten a lengthy mane you need to either pull it or feather it with the scizzor blade not cut it across. with forlocks I divide it into thirds side to side and take off both the outside thirds and leave only the center third where the bump or occiput is.[/SIZE]

Lyn
 
Okay ..i did most of it today. While david was over looking at Rocko he helped me out. He cuts horse's and trims them normally so he was allot of help. Exept he refused to get the clippers or touch the horse. He told me what to do and i did it. Here is what i did

-There not eye lashes i guess you would say ..there these 2 or 3 hair's above each eye that are about 3 inches long. I cut them down to where you can not see them anymore. He has eye lashes ..not touching them. Sorry to confuse them.

-Trimmed the mane ..mostly for split ends. Its very thin now but still has some volume to it. It took 3 days of using a thinner and scissors to get it there though.

-Took about 1 inch of tail to even it up some and get ride of the dirty part and split ends.

*CAN I BLEACH THE TAIL? or will it turn it yellow, it kinda dirty and yellowish i want it white* quick question.

-Used Scissors to cutt the forlocks. Got the hair gone there. I loved it bc it gave him sort of a drafty look which i love, but it had to go. Will grow out next year and then it will go agian before fair.
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.

-Attempted to trim the muzzle but our frickin clipper/trimmer thing wasnt working. Im pretty sure my dad broke it and tried to fix it when he was doing the sheep.
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!. So probaly tommarow when i go get a mini blanket im going to pick up a new one. Im going to use the money i made this week to get one, there so expensive!.

-Couldnt do the ears bc of the trimmers being horrid and the hair way to thick. I might have David do that for me. He said he will do it sometime this week for me.

So im glad ..he turned out okay. His mane needs trimmed and evened out a little more and made to look more natural but im sure it will look that way in a couple more days. TANGLE FREE FINIALLY!!
 
In all honesty, no, you do not have to cut a bridle path.

I do though, just enough so I can put the harness bridle on, and it will not slip off. About a ear's length in width.

Unless you are planning to show, it is not a good idea to cut the whiskers off a horse. It is hard for them to see close up and they use the whiskers to guide themselves to buckets or what ever without hurting themselves.

But I am the Odd person out,, as always.
 
Shari i wish i read that earlier.

i just got back in about 10 minutes ago from using MY shaver (the pink one you can use on eye brows .ext). I got his whiskers off. Broke my shaver, but i got them off!
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Since we only do one show a year + parades i prob wont be doing this much
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Even though I wasnt showing I cut all whiskers off!!I dont like them!!I leave eye lashes but cut the long hairs around his eyes!I would have left his mane but my cousin said it woudl be better so she cut it!!I almost cried!!He had such a big fluffy mane!!But it will grow back....eventually!!
 
I don't ever cut the "feelers" around their eyes, even on my 'big' show horses. They need to be able to feel around in the dark.

I do trim their chin and muzzle wiskers just because I think it looks tidy. As for a bridle path, I only cut as far as their ears go when pushed over backwards.

If I decide to do a show, I will most likely cut farther to elongate my mare's neck...but considering she is in the pasture most of the time, she doesn't need to look perfect.
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