Top Grooming Tips from HS Contributor Erin Gaul

How should clients prepare their horse before your visit?

Horses need to be spotless in order to achieve a great clipping. Erin says, “The day before I come, give them a good bubble bath with a high quality shampoo made for horses.”  Using coat conditioners is not only ok but highly recommended. Your horse can’t be too slick! If you are lucky enough to have access to a grooming vacuum, use it to get all of the dirt under the coat. If Erin arrives and the horse is wet, sweaty or muddy, there may not be any clipping that day. The clippers will pull the horse’s hair and leads to an unpleasant experience for the horse.

What type of clippers do you recommend?

Most horses will do well with the Wahl KM-10. Some horses with thicker coats may do better with a sheep shearing type of clipper. “I did a Curly Baskir once and that was really interesting. They have a very thick coat typically with a thin mane, tail and forelock. When clipping, it leaves a beautiful scalloped pattern.”

What type of clips are common?

Typically, Erin does full body clips with or without a saddle patch. She also does trace, blanket and Irish clips.

How often should you clip?

Erin says that the length of the day triggers hormones that stimulate hair growth and seasonal shedding. So, for those of you wondering, you can lengthen the day by leaving the lights on longer in your barn. Then, clipping is dependent on the horse, their showing schedule and some specific health issues that may require you to clip then more often. 

Ears, Muzzles, and Feathers! Oh MY!!

According to Erin, it really is a personal preference unless there are some underlying health issues.  Ears should be kept clean. If the owner trims the insides, it does make it easier for keep them clean. However, no see ums and flies can wreak havoc on your horse’s mental state unless you regularly use a fly mask. Hunter horses tend to use ear plugs. In this case, removing the plug can pull hairs making it uncomfortable to not keep the inner ear trimmed. Muzzle trimming is at the discretion of the owner and often dependent on the sport in which they participate. Similar to muzzles, tail clipping and trimming is very sport specific. 

Notably, she is seeing less dock trimming in dressage horses these days. If a dressage horse is clipped around the dock, this should be maintained as it can become very prickly. Lastly, Erin encourages owners with feathers to really deep clean them. A slight scratch can quickly become a problem if not addressed. Every horse grows their hair at a slightly different rate but Erin has clipped some feathered horses due to skin itches in which the feathers grew fully back in about 6 weeks.

So, all in all, most of the style and areas of clipping is owner and horse specific. Be thoughtful and remember that the health of the horse is always number one priority.