AnnaC said:
When I trace clipped I also ran the clippers up under the jaw, taking off the long hair. Made the head look smarter and sort of finished off the clip line up the neck. I did this after I had one pony who still sweated a bit after some work sessions, and used to get the hair under his chin all sticky, and found that I liked the 'tidy' look so much, I did it to all my 'tracers' from then on!
Anna has some sound advice and it's got the dual benefits of uncovering some large arteries under there for further cooling and making the cavesson fit better and be easier to fasten. On the other hand, I tried to do that the first year I trace clipped Kody and was horrified to find that with the amount of long hair he has growing up the sides of his jaws, he went from looking like a goat to looking like he had the mumps!
Ever since then if I'm going to clip him under the jaws I also do up his jaw to the line of the cheekbone. It looks dumb for a few days but you don't notice it in the bridle and once the color comes back a bit it looks fine. I don't think Turbo will need that but part of good clipping is knowing how to customize it to look good for each horse.
I start out the conditioning season in late January/early February doing a tiny, tiny trace clip that only clears the inside of the upper hind legs and groin area, inside of the elbow and girth area and one strip up between the forelegs and ending at the bottom of the neck. This looks stupid, of course, but does help with the sweating while it's still snowy. I use a long blade like an 8 or 7F as then the horse has a bit more protection in the clipped areas and doesn't freeze until it regrows.
Then a month later (say early March or so) I'll do a bit more. I'll take that same 7F and clip out between the hind legs, the bottom of the belly, the girth in a T-shape up to the girth buckle area, the inside of the elbows, the pectorals, all the way up the esophagus and under the jaw. Still looks stupid, but hey. Not as bad at least.
Then FINALLY, when it begins actually feeling like winter might someday end and I can do a REAL trace clip, I get to do the one that looks good! Invisible clipping between the hind legs, the entire groin and belly and a sort of ascending "Nike swoop" up over the outside of the shoulders, up half the outside of the neck ending at the poll behind the ears and the entire head, minus neatened ears. If you're good with clippers you can make this clip look really sporty!
This is my preferred clip now and looks great on just about any horse while leaving their hindquarters nicely warmed to prevent tying up. I don't find they sweat much back there with so much of the rest of their coat taken off and the sweat areas inside the hind legs and stifles cleared.
If you are going to clip the hindquarters in a traditional trace clip as you did, the trick to blending the top of the legs is to clip following the natural lines or indentations of the body. On the forelegs this means going upward from the elbow to where the muscle at the front of the leg ties into the chest, on the hindquarters you mark the stifle and pick a line back and down that looks good and flatters your horse. Then lightly clip the top of the fluffy areas downward
with the grain of the hair until it blends better.
Rusty is adorable Rebecca, thank you for sharing the pictures of him! It's really hard to make a trace clip look good on 4" of fur and you did a good job.
Leia
