Summer Clipping Constraints : Breaking the Rules
Summer Clipping Constraints : Breaking the Rules
Today (May13th 2017) I clipped my regular all year round client Tyson. Tyson suffers from Cushings and requires my attention throughout the 4 seasons (see image taken today)
Anyone who watched last years short Healing Horse Film will be aware of the reason I started clipping. For anyone who hasn’t seen it; when I was 9 I had a pony, Misty. He was a Connemara cross, flea-bitten grey in colour. He was in his early 20s when I took him on. Despite this he was full of life and energy and little did we know we would have an active next decade, filled with success and happy times to remember forever.
Effective management of his Cushings coat often shaved years off his ‘look’ turning a slightly rough looking horse into a sharp handsome boy. Ridden and in hand veteran classes were ours, with red after red as the years passed by. With no sign of aging over the years, he lived to the age of 38 and was in tiptop condition until the very last 8 weeks of his life, where it was a quick downhill decline. Age simply caught up and nature took its toll. Throughout the years I regularly clipped him all year round due to his condition ‘cushings disease’. Clipping all year around was a major contribution to the longevity of his lifespan and general excellent health.
Cushings, What is it? In brief, this is what I am speaking of when I mention Cushings;
Cushing's Disease is a dysfunction of the pituitary gland. It is most common in older horses (18 - 23 years) but has been seen in horses as young as seven. This change in hormone has a few knock on effects, but the one that I am going to talk about is the change in the horse’s coat. Cushings often results in a longer, thickened coat, which doesn’t shed as the season changes.
This is where I come in. To make management of the cushings horse easier, full body clipping is a well sought out option. Mainly to relieve the horse of discomfort from excessive sweating, as build up of sweat, dirt and grease can lead to bigger problems such as sores and scabs. These in turn can become filled with infection and create pockets of puss and lumps. Cushings clipping can be completed all year round to provide comfort to a horse. This is a prime example of why horses should be treated as individuals and ‘THERE IS NO ONE RULE BOOK FOR ALL.’ People clip for their own reasons and it’s important to remember this before applying constraints to a person’s decision as to whether they ‘should’ clip or not during the summer months, and indeed the more traditional winter ones.
Reasons for clipping, plus seasons, differ all around the world, so it would be wise to consider this aspect before judging a person for clipping their horse in a month where another person may opt not to. Motivations differ. And so do horses. There is another blog which can be read – which discusses times I have recommended not clipping, after discussing a motivation of an owner, who simply wasn’t aware that a clip may have been detrimental on that occasion (think lean horse who struggles to hold its weight and the older horse who struggles to keep on weight where exposure to lower temperatures will be a hindrance plus more.)
Cushing’s coats can be incredibly demanding and require knowledge of equipment and blades for the very best possible finish. When I began clipping the cushings coat at a young age it would take me two days! And this is what many cushings owners who don’t ordinarily clip, are faced with.
I will be going into more detail about how to overcome these problems as a new clipper, during demonstrations later on in the year, which will demonstrate techniques to apply and equipment to use. (September onwards, 2017).