Clipping Your Horse
http://www.horsedir.com/articles/articles/52/1/Clipping-Your-Horse/Page1.html
Ed Thornton
Ed Thornton John Lyons Certified Horse Trainer
http://www.edthornton.com
Thornton Ranch & Learning Center
57980 Cortez Dr.
Yucca Valley, CA 92284
(760) 365-2269 By Ed Thornton
Published on 12/18/2005
Start out by building a lesson plan to clip your horse's ears with electric clippers. Remember to start with simple steps and work toward your goal. The more steps you put in the lesson plan the easier it will be for the horse to accept NOISY, VIBRATING CLIPPERS IN HIS/HER EARS.
Procedure
Start out by building a lesson plan to clip your horse's ears with electric clippers. Remember to start with simple steps and work toward your goal. The more steps you put in the lesson plan the easier it will be for the horse to accept NOISY, VIBRATING CLIPPERS IN HIS/HER EARS.
Step1. Select a number of items in your tack room that you might need to use for any reason on your horse's ears. For example:
YOUR HAND - You should be able to touch the ears all over, outside and inside with your fingers first, then with each of the items you have selected. A SMALL SOFT CLOTH - GAUZE - A SOFT BRUSH - A SMALL PLASTIC BAG -A SMALL PLASTIC TUBE (20 to 35 cc syringe) - BLOW ON EAR HAIRS - BUZZ YOUR LIPS AS YOU BLOW ON EACH EAR -
Step 2. If your horse stands tied to a hitching rail, tie him up and begin handling his face and ears. Here is where you will find out if your horse is ear shy. If so, here are two methods to work through that problem.
a. Go to the round pen and take all of your items with you. If the horse decides to leave, as you attempt to touch his ears, work on inside turns for 6 to 10 laps in each direction, with lots of direction changes. Repeat until the horse will stand and let you touch his ears and does not try to take his head away from you or run. Use lots of praise and soft rubs on his neck.
b . If you don't have a round pen or other space suitable to work, put a halter and lead rope on the horse and use the WESN LESSON for in-hand control.
To start with you should not try to handle the ears for too long. Just quickly run your hand over the ears from the forehead to his neck and back away a step or two. Your hand will have actually touched the ears for a millisecond. Approach again and again, slowing your hand down until you can finally stop it on the ear and the horse is comfortable with it. Now you can begin to handle the ears individually. Take the least frightening item of those that you have selected and rub the ears all over with it. Progress through all of the items including the clippers (NOT TURNED ON). Cup your hand around an ear and gently close it and rub the hairs that are connected inside the ear but are sticking out. Don't stay too long there either and repeat until this does not bother the horse at all. Then, as the ear is closed in your hand, blow air on the ear. Use the same step only open the ear a little and blow again. After he is ok with that make a buzzing sound with your mouth as you are blowing in his ear. This will probably take quite a few repetitions to get him comfortable. Then you are ready to start the clippers. Turn them on several feet away from the horse and slowly approach his nose. If you get a frightened reaction from the horse stop and back up. Once you can get up to his nose just start rubbing the clippers on his nose then step away as before. Repeat until you can clip his muzzle. Then work up to the bridle path, then the ears. The inside part of the horse's ear is very sensitive to touch and noise, so go slowly and gently. This lesson should go on for several sessions with lots and lots of steps repeated hundreds of times.
By the time you've done this lesson you will be clipping his ears and developing a connection BETWEEN THE HORSE'S EARS.
Step1. Select a number of items in your tack room that you might need to use for any reason on your horse's ears. For example:
YOUR HAND - You should be able to touch the ears all over, outside and inside with your fingers first, then with each of the items you have selected. A SMALL SOFT CLOTH - GAUZE - A SOFT BRUSH - A SMALL PLASTIC BAG -A SMALL PLASTIC TUBE (20 to 35 cc syringe) - BLOW ON EAR HAIRS - BUZZ YOUR LIPS AS YOU BLOW ON EACH EAR -
Step 2. If your horse stands tied to a hitching rail, tie him up and begin handling his face and ears. Here is where you will find out if your horse is ear shy. If so, here are two methods to work through that problem.
a. Go to the round pen and take all of your items with you. If the horse decides to leave, as you attempt to touch his ears, work on inside turns for 6 to 10 laps in each direction, with lots of direction changes. Repeat until the horse will stand and let you touch his ears and does not try to take his head away from you or run. Use lots of praise and soft rubs on his neck.
b . If you don't have a round pen or other space suitable to work, put a halter and lead rope on the horse and use the WESN LESSON for in-hand control.
To start with you should not try to handle the ears for too long. Just quickly run your hand over the ears from the forehead to his neck and back away a step or two. Your hand will have actually touched the ears for a millisecond. Approach again and again, slowing your hand down until you can finally stop it on the ear and the horse is comfortable with it. Now you can begin to handle the ears individually. Take the least frightening item of those that you have selected and rub the ears all over with it. Progress through all of the items including the clippers (NOT TURNED ON). Cup your hand around an ear and gently close it and rub the hairs that are connected inside the ear but are sticking out. Don't stay too long there either and repeat until this does not bother the horse at all. Then, as the ear is closed in your hand, blow air on the ear. Use the same step only open the ear a little and blow again. After he is ok with that make a buzzing sound with your mouth as you are blowing in his ear. This will probably take quite a few repetitions to get him comfortable. Then you are ready to start the clippers. Turn them on several feet away from the horse and slowly approach his nose. If you get a frightened reaction from the horse stop and back up. Once you can get up to his nose just start rubbing the clippers on his nose then step away as before. Repeat until you can clip his muzzle. Then work up to the bridle path, then the ears. The inside part of the horse's ear is very sensitive to touch and noise, so go slowly and gently. This lesson should go on for several sessions with lots and lots of steps repeated hundreds of times.
By the time you've done this lesson you will be clipping his ears and developing a connection BETWEEN THE HORSE'S EARS.