Winter driving

[Marsha Cassada]

Our weather turned off warm for a few days--81 one day. I've had my horses out a few times this winter, but that warm day was almost too much with their yak coats. They rolled good, and seemed fine but I don't think I'll take them on a long drive again if the weather is warm until after those furry coats are gone.

The weather is so unpredictable. I think it was discussed on here before what kind of clipping could be done in the winter. I can't quite visualize a clipped swath around the girth and chest with 3 inch long hair everywhere else...

As a winter aside, it really annoys me when people think my horses are "as wide as they are tall" in the winter.

 

[chandab]

Here's a link to a page with some trace clips on full-size horses (so no yak coat): http://equineink.com/2011/11/10/a-guide-to-trace-clips/

Google "trace clip miniature horse" and a few pictures should come up.

 

[poniesrule]

Oh Marsha, I HATE this weather with a passion! We had snow and freezing rain yesterday morning, then sunshine and 40 in the afternoon. The woolies were wet and looked miserable. I too have considered clipping for winter, but more often than not, I fear they will need that insulation. Until it warms up consistently, I guess I will live with the driving itch and instead work on ground skills

 

[happy appy]

I haven't been able to hitch or even ground drive since November! There has been just too much ice and when it snowed and finally covered the ice it was very cold (-40's). Now it's finally starting to warm up and we have all this ice again.

When will spring finally get here?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I've thought of trying that clip but I suppose I'm afraid of looking totally ridiculous with the smooth swath across all that fur. But I might give it a try--I'll be totally clipping at the end of next month anyway. If i do, I'll take a picture so you can laugh.

The big horses get by with a fraction of our little yaks, so why should it bother ours to lose a little hair?

 

[minirocky]

I am getting ready to body clip my minis as I can't stand the yak fur. Is there something you can use under or over the harness when driving, almost like a quarter sheet?

 

[Renolizzie]

I love the adorable yak fur. I think those horses looked ridiculous and I had to laugh. Marsha, if you do clip them like that you must post photos so we can have a chuckle.

I've actually had pretty good weather here but the wind has been howling. Can't drive in 40mph winds so I try to get out there on the days it isn't windy.

 

[chandab]

If you have a coarse blade, like a 7 (I think that's the right number), then they wouldn't be snatched totally bald.

 

[paintponylvr]

Marsha -

In the past, I have done various "heights" of trace clips. We used various types of clippers but size 10 blades. Some, w/ the help of the kids and not enough marking, have extended way too high on the ponies' sides and thankfully those weren't winters as bad as this one has been here. Right now, I'm so totally glad that I didn't clip this year here as it would be the first time I'd have to look at also blanketing. In the past, when I have done trace clips, we have not blanketed and all of our lived outdoors w/o problems. The one or two times we had bad storms (not prolonged wind or cold), I moved those into the aisle way between the 4 stalls that I had then... It worked well enough.

Here are quite a number of pics of our ponies when they've been trace clipped. I did this when we knew we were working ponies but had limited hours to groom and cool them out w/ work, school and darkness arriving too early (no electric/lights outside when we did this then)... These are 1/2 shetlands - the largest matured at 14.1 hh (officially measured/permanently carded thru USEQ/USEF as he competes as a hunter pony). The last 1/2 shetland mare that is pictured (Xena) hasn't had her trace clip finished. She'd come down from MN over Thanksgiving weekend 02 and had more hair than our ponies here in NC at the time....

 

[paintponylvr]

Here are the purebred Shets actually working with their traceclips,

AJ (blk tobiano) just had a throat/chest clip - we never got the rest completed that fall.

And I just like this photo - The little guy leading Koalah is going to have a riding lesson!



and a couple of other pics -

 

[paintponylvr]

and some more ...

PG, Pretty Girl, the arab mare above has never gotten the same heavy coat that the shetlands and shetland crosses or even our other arabians get. She matured at 13.3 hh...

Star, a 1/2 arab-1/2 hackney pony mare.

You can see in the head shot of Star, that she has "goat hair" growing back in where she'd been clipped over Christmas break. In a "real" h/j barn, she'd have been clipped again to keep those "uglies" gone... I never reclipped a trace clip - if needed- we finished out a full body clip in April or May. In 2006, we didn't completely body clip any of our ponies... We did in 2003 and 2004, and also did a couple in 2005 who hadn't originally been trace clipped. Clipped a couple in March 06 and then had to blanket before it got warm here.

You can also see that trace clipping at our place isn't an "exact science",

 

[izmepeggy]

LOL..It's still better than what I would do.I would get carried away and clip everything..hehehe..Sometimes I don't know when to stop.That is why I don't trace clip..

 

[happy appy]

I'm like you Peggy. I was planning on trace clipping to take my minis to the National Drive the last 2 years. I started and couldn't stop! They ended up getting body clipped except for their legs! I couldn't even help myself!

 

[izmepeggy]

I'm like you Peggy. I was planning on trace clipping to take my minis to the National Drive the last 2 years. I started and couldn't stop! They ended up getting body clipped except for their legs! I couldn't even help myself!

LOL..I'm glad I'm not the only one that gets a little overly zelous.And all this time I thought it was just ME..hehehe

 

[paintponylvr]

HEHEHE... well that's how it got "so big" on Star in 05/06 and on Koalah's very pregnant belly so many years later! I take the tape off (duct tape torn into strips and then stuck to the pony works great for me, chalk didn't work) and then try to "fix" the mistakes - taking the clipping higher and higher. In all actuality in that head shot on star - the clip could/should have followed the juglar vein/groove in her neck/throat not be 1/2 way up to her hunter shortened mane~!!

In fact, now when I look at all of our pics, it could have beenmuch lower on ALL OF the ponies. ah well, we did ok!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I didn't trace clip. I'm trying to take mine out in the morning, instead of in the warmer hours of afternoon.

I like to check mine over every day, as they are pasture-roamers. Yesterday I found a puncture wound under all the hair on the chest. I guess she got down into the trees by the pond, or did it while scratching her itchy hair. It wasn't a big deal, but I shaved around it, peroxide, and this morning some neosporin. It's looking better already. It's hard to know what's under all that hair sometimes. Just a few more weeks...

I had that site saved with the different types of trace clips. Good reminder to look through my Miniature Horse documents and refresh.