Woo-Hoo! Big progress in ear clipping today!

[greygirls]

I believe I've posted before about my ear-clipping woes with both of my mares. At the start, I had to twitch them (Southie almost broke my nose when I tried to clip without the twitch ). I clip them once a month & every time we make baby steps of progress. So we've gone from using the twitch, to a gum chain, to an over the nose chain, to NOTHING MORE THAN A HALTER (today)!!! I'm so happy with them! I hate having to resort to such harsh methods & now, I no longer have to! I know it seems like a silly thing to be excited over but I figured my fellow Ht'ians would understand.

[ahabarabs]

Wow.....congrats!!! mastering getting the ears done peacefully/quietly, is a nice accomplishment..... one which takes lots of patience....LOL ( which I'm sure you've found out, and overcome )

[Horselady44]

Great job! It is something to be happy about Its great when you accomplish something and master it. So, KUDOS to you for keeping at it and not giving up! Patience is a key thing when dealing with training. Good job

[ruffian]

Way to go, you have every right to be proud. I'm still at the must twitch stage, and all other ground handling is good and I can scratch her ears, just can't get the clippers near them. Oh well I have time and an endless supply of cookies!

[singing tree]

While I am quite impressed with the ear clipping, I am wondering why you do it if the horse is not being shown. I never do mine because in the summer I want the protection of the hair because of bugs, and in the winter for warmth.
But please understand that I still think it is a great accomplishment!!!

[greygirls]

Originally Posted by singing tree

While I am quite impressed with the ear clipping, I am wondering why you do it if the horse is not being shown. I never do mine because in the summer I want the protection of the hair because of bugs, and in the winter for warmth.
But please understand that I still think it is a great accomplishment!!!

I'm not trimming the inside of the ear, just the outside bits, so they still have ample protection from bugs & the cold.

The reason I do it, is because I believe it's an important part of a horses training to be able to be clipped. I may not show, but what if someday, I had to sell them or lease them out to someone who'd like to do shows with them. The way I see it, the more a horse knows, experiences & tolerates, the better the chances of it finding a good home. That's why I took Celista in a show this fall. So I can say, she's done it & did it well. If she had misbehaved, I would have continued showing her till she did it right.

You never know what the future holds & if I ever have to sell them, I want to give them the best chance possible of going to a good home.

No offense taken. I've only been clipping them for about a year. I used to go with the all natural look also, until I had to deal with the flip side of that decision. My boss had a mare come in that had never been clipped (but now has to be as she's a broodmare & has to accompany her foals at breed inspections every year) & it was a dangerous situation for us when clipping time came.

That's the "what if" scenario I'm talking about. A new home may have new expectations & not everybody would handle that type of situation kindly. They may beat the horse or simply "get rid of it" (aka slaughter). I know, I seem pretty paranoid here, but it's up to me to look out for them. That's my job & I take it seriously...they're my babies after all.

Anyway, I hope that answers your question & as I said, no offense taken...I do understand the shaggy look .

[Shes Mouse Gray]

Oh my gosh, congratulations! It is always nice when you have a breakthrough with your horse

[mingiz]

Congrats on the ear clipping. I'm still working on that with my TWH. When I first got him,I couldn't touch his ears let alone clip them. I can now so anything with his ears except clip them. I didn't really want to twitch him because he has been abused and I'm basically thinking he will freak..So when his teeth were floated this year I took advantage of it and clipped them while his was in his stupor. But he still pushed on me resisting...Just couldn't move his feet or he would have fell over.....But the ears did look good..

[singing tree]

Originally Posted by greygirls

I'm not trimming the inside of the ear, just the outside bits, so they still have ample protection from bugs & the cold.

The reason I do it, is because I believe it's an important part of a horses training to be able to be clipped. I may not show, but what if someday, I had to sell them or lease them out to someone who'd like to do shows with them. The way I see it, the more a horse knows, experiences & tolerates, the better the chances of it finding a good home. That's why I took Celista in a show this fall. So I can say, she's done it & did it well. If she had misbehaved, I would have continued showing her till she did it right.

You never know what the future holds & if I ever have to sell them, I want to give them the best chance possible of going to a good home.

No offense taken. I've only been clipping them for about a year. I used to go with the all natural look also, until I had to deal with the flip side of that decision. My boss had a mare come in that had never been clipped (but now has to be as she's a broodmare & has to accompany her foals at breed inspections every year) & it was a dangerous situation for us when clipping time came.

That's the "what if" scenario I'm talking about. A new home may have new expectations & not everybody would handle that type of situation kindly. They may beat the horse or simply "get rid of it" (aka slaughter). I know, I seem pretty paranoid here, but it's up to me to look out for them. That's my job & I take it seriously...they're my babies after all.

Anyway, I hope that answers your question & as I said, no offense taken...I do understand the shaggy look .

I had not really thought of it that way, but you are exactly right. I somehow think that my horses will always be my horses, but that is really not being proactive. I should really start working on this issue with mine. Good job and congrats again!

[greygirls]

Originally Posted by singing tree

I somehow think that my horses will always be my horses

Me too! I have absolutely no intentions of selling my mares but you never know what the future holds financially.