In a nutshell-new mare (3 years old) cannot be clipped.. help!!
Backstory-- We bought this mare who is 1/2 sister to my wonderful mare, in June of this year. She was 3 years old and had been Amish broke. When we went to see/ride her she was smooth as silk (Gaited Spotted Saddle Horse) and pretty as can be. She had one fault.. a bad one.. She was EXTREMELY head shy. The man we bought her from gave us a deal because of the head shyness and my hubby is very patient so he took her on as a project.
We had her checked and she had ticks in her ears, when the vet came to check her he drug her in order to look at and clean her ears.. while she was drug we clipped her..
Since then, hubby has been very patient... he puts his hand on her ear/head/muzzle and when she stops stressing/fighting it he releases the pressure and moves hand away.. then repeats, repeats, and more repetitions. Now.. you can rub her ears, she loves to be rubbed on her forehead.. and we can put a bridle/halter on with no problem.. YEA!!!
THE PROBLEM... He has tried doing the same pressure/release with the clippers.. we have an old set that don't work and are louder than the good set.. so he uses them to put on her neck/forehead/muzzle/bridle path. She will barely stand it. BUT... when he actually tries to clip she goes nuts.... we have tried many tricks.... tied her next to a wall and tried to clip over the wall(so she wouldn't hurt us) he asked the vet for a shot to drug her so we could clip her.. last night the drug had her very, very sleepy, she could barely stand up. so we tried to clip.. she went ballistic.. and broke a lead line snap.
The clippers she will barely tolerate on her, but she will. He has done the lay on the neck and release the pressure.. that is getting somewhat better, BUT when we actually try to clip is when she goes crazy.
He is VERY discouraged... can someone give us some guidance.. We have never had a horse that couldn't be clipped. He has worked on her head with his hand/halter/bridle/clippers all summer. It is driving him nuts that he cannot clip her.. Please help!!
Rhonda
Backstory-- We bought this mare who is 1/2 sister to my wonderful mare, in June of this year. She was 3 years old and had been Amish broke. When we went to see/ride her she was smooth as silk (Gaited Spotted Saddle Horse) and pretty as can be. She had one fault.. a bad one.. She was EXTREMELY head shy. The man we bought her from gave us a deal because of the head shyness and my hubby is very patient so he took her on as a project.
We had her checked and she had ticks in her ears, when the vet came to check her he drug her in order to look at and clean her ears.. while she was drug we clipped her..
Since then, hubby has been very patient... he puts his hand on her ear/head/muzzle and when she stops stressing/fighting it he releases the pressure and moves hand away.. then repeats, repeats, and more repetitions. Now.. you can rub her ears, she loves to be rubbed on her forehead.. and we can put a bridle/halter on with no problem.. YEA!!!
THE PROBLEM... He has tried doing the same pressure/release with the clippers.. we have an old set that don't work and are louder than the good set.. so he uses them to put on her neck/forehead/muzzle/bridle path. She will barely stand it. BUT... when he actually tries to clip she goes nuts.... we have tried many tricks.... tied her next to a wall and tried to clip over the wall(so she wouldn't hurt us) he asked the vet for a shot to drug her so we could clip her.. last night the drug had her very, very sleepy, she could barely stand up. so we tried to clip.. she went ballistic.. and broke a lead line snap.
The clippers she will barely tolerate on her, but she will. He has done the lay on the neck and release the pressure.. that is getting somewhat better, BUT when we actually try to clip is when she goes crazy.
He is VERY discouraged... can someone give us some guidance.. We have never had a horse that couldn't be clipped. He has worked on her head with his hand/halter/bridle/clippers all summer. It is driving him nuts that he cannot clip her.. Please help!!
Rhonda