To Clip or Not to Clip

I am thinking about body clipping my quarter horse for the summer and am wondering what you all think about body clipping. I love the way it looks and it would keep him cooler in the summer and save me a lot of grooming time. I have never body clipped before and don't even have clippers. So any tips would be greatly appreciated. Also, I know clippers are pretty pricey but do you guys know of any that are less than $100? Thanks! :)

I hate the look of clipped horses in summer. A summer coat looks so much better and is no more maintenance than a clipped coat.

I clip mine in winter only if I absolutly have to as it means that you then have to rug the horse heavily to keep them warm

If you're going to body clip for the summer, do it before your horse starts shedding its winter coat. It can take up to a year for the coat to look nice and shiny like a natural summer coat. I clipped my little girl for a show at the start of spring (I am in australia) and now 6 months later she's only just getting her shine back.

I clip in the winter time because I jump and event, and it takes so much longer to dry them off if they have a long coat. Monty's in pretty hard work and he needs to be pretty heavily rugged anyway because he's a horse that needs to be hot (yes he is quite over-rugged, but he loses weight if he isn't), so one more rug isn't all that much. Last winter I only did a hunter clip, this year I will probably clip him all over because I prefer the look of cleanly clipped legs. If I can fix my trimmers that is! Can't clip legs with large clippers.

Theres not alot of quater horses in Ireland, I know of one stud and Iv only ever seen 2 in my life.. so this might seem silly but do they not have a fairly fine coat anyway??
I don't have to clip my dutch mare because her coats lovely in the summer but I have to clip my cob because he just looks like a wooly mammoth lol
If youv never clipped before it might just be easier to pay someone to do it for you.. clippers can be very dear (no point buying a cheap set that wont last) and aswell I remember last winter when the cob was getting done the man said here have a go, I was terrified that I was going to cut through the skin lol So might be best if your competing and want your horse to look tip top to get some1 that knows what their doing.. just a thought.. good luck

^ QH can be like teddy bears! My mother's QH is the fuzziest of all the horses on our place, he springs his coat earlier and he grows a thicker coat than either of my two. Nothing on the coat of a Welsh, or a traditional cob, or any native English breed for that matter - but still, they can be very fluffy. Usually their coats are nice in the summer though.

Edit; also, I hate to correct your spelling, but it's quaRter horse, not quater horse. The first is said quarter, the second would be said kwayter! It's a common mistake in Aus and the UK, but it irritates me :P

Lucky am in Ireland then lol sorry..purely down to me just typing and watching the telly at the same time lol

Lol I do that too don't worry! My mother changed internet providers a few years ago and they offered her an email that was SUPPOSED to go quarterhorse... took us ages to figure out that the silly person who'd set up the account had spelled it wrong!

I know this has nothing to do with the subject but will replying to this thread the carrot bandit just stole all but 1 carrot!! Ahhh

Lol the carrot bandit is the reason I never have any more than one! Someone needs to catch that hooligan.

If you do decide to clip your horse place your horse on a good coat suppliment like either Mirra Coat Calf manna or Super 14 and do alot of rub downs with towel to get the natural oils going. This will help with getting the shine back.