I decided that Nina had just too much hair and was heating up too much so today she got a haircut. I have been going back and forth about clipping her because I am mostly riding in the middle of the day so getting her warm and dry before sundown is not a problem.
I was SO glad I decided to clip her. Her hair in some places was TWO INCHES long. The rest was about an inch and a half. It didn't look that long but she has been trundling around carrying a big bearskin.
I did a trace clip on her and she was very good. The last time I took this much hair off I sedated her. This time I just took my time, clipped her in her pen and gave her a couple of breaks. She did kick a couple of times, not at me or even near me. When she is totally frustrated she will pick up the hind foot on the side away from me and lash out hard, straight back. I make sure that she is not near anyone else if I am going to do something that she considers picking on her, like clipping, and don't worry about it.
She did finally get just so ticklish and reactive that she couldn't stand it and just touching her with my hand made her twitch all over. You just can't clip skin that is twitching so I have a little clean up patch on her flank to finish tomorrow and I will take pictures of her in her new 'do.
I was SO glad I decided to clip her. Her hair in some places was TWO INCHES long. The rest was about an inch and a half. It didn't look that long but she has been trundling around carrying a big bearskin.
I did a trace clip on her and she was very good. The last time I took this much hair off I sedated her. This time I just took my time, clipped her in her pen and gave her a couple of breaks. She did kick a couple of times, not at me or even near me. When she is totally frustrated she will pick up the hind foot on the side away from me and lash out hard, straight back. I make sure that she is not near anyone else if I am going to do something that she considers picking on her, like clipping, and don't worry about it.
She did finally get just so ticklish and reactive that she couldn't stand it and just touching her with my hand made her twitch all over. You just can't clip skin that is twitching so I have a little clean up patch on her flank to finish tomorrow and I will take pictures of her in her new 'do.
Holy teddy bear! What a good girl to endure the clipping without drugs. Did you get pics?
ReplyDeleteP.s. Your new blog background is making me cold :P
She has changed a lot over her time with you! Can hardly wait to see pics! :)
ReplyDeleteYour post makes me grateful that my horses have always enjoyed being clipped. They just stand there and snooze. I've even clipped Freedom out in the pasture with some hay in front of him!
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