Cold Weather Riding
Cooling down will take longer and is much more important during the winter months. It can be beneficial to offer your horse tepid water instead of ice cold water while cooling down from a really hard ride.
Clipping some of the horse’s winter coat will reduce cooling off time. This is a healthier alternative than heavy blanketing to keep a winter coat from growing, although you will still need to blanket once you clip. There are several different types of clips. The idea is to remove only the hair that is in the areas where the horse gets the sweatiest. If you have never done it before, you may want to hire someone for the first clip. If you have watched it being done before, and feel ready to try it on your own, make sure you have a good heavy-duty pair of clippers, newly sharpened (or better yet extra pair) of blades, and a lot of blade lubricant. Also make sure your horse is as clean as possible. It is useful to use chalk to mark your horse where you want to clip so that both sides will match.
Start with a minimal, or what is sometimes called a “Pony” clip. When doing a pony clip you clip the hair under the neck, the chest and just behind the elbows (where the front leg meets the body). Then try riding a few times and see if your horse gets less sweaty and easier to dry. Remember that you can always take more off later, but it will take a long time for the hair to re-grow.
If your horse is still a sweaty mess after riding, and rubbing him dry is taking as long as your ride, you may want to go to a “Trace” clip. A trace clip starts with a pony clip then continues under the belly and around the back legs. You can proceed from a low to high trace clip as needed. Some will need just the underbelly and a small band around the back legs (low clip). Others will need to be clipped halfway up the barrel (or belly) and high up around the flanks, almost to the hip (high clip).
Still a sweaty mess? The next step is a, “ blanket” clip. As the name implies this is where you clip everywhere that your turnout blanket covers. It is still preferable to heavy blanketing in an
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