# help! my horse is terrified of the clippers



## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

well i tried to clip my horses bridle path and shes okay with the buzzing noise but is TERRIFIED of the sound that it makes when your shaving the hair. shes freaks when i try to clip her bridle path or whiskers. help!!


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## Supermane (Sep 23, 2007)

Was the horse always afraid of the clippers, or is this a new thing?


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

this was my first time trying this with her because i just got her. she was a show horse so i thought she would be great with it. but shes a rescue so i guess it hadn't been done in awhile with her?


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## Supermane (Sep 23, 2007)

Well, I know a ton of people are going to disagree with this, but possible trying earplugs or very light sedatives which you can wean her off slowly. My horse was totally fine with everything until you got to her ears, where she would rear up and the whites of her eyes would show. She was never trained as a foal so she was pretty terrified of the buzzing noise in her ears. We decided to put her on a light sedative and every time we clipped her she would get a little less. After only a few times she was totally fine being clipped. I would only recommend it for really bad cases, but I've found that it works and it much less stressful on the horse.

Please nobody yell at me...


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

well its only for a quick job. i don't show or nothing i just want to clean her up a bit since shes kinda starting to look like a wild mustang. lol does anyone have tips on having her calm down more. i put the clips everywhere near her face. i even rubbed it on her face and shes okay with that but as soon as i try to clip her whiskers or her bridle path shes terrified of the noise it makes. and yes the whites of her eyes show


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## Supermane (Sep 23, 2007)

Earplugs then, they won't completely block out the noise completely, but it will muffle it and it will relax her a little. Maybe even try distracting her with some treats. That's what I did when I was trying to get my horse use to the vacuum, I'm not sure if will work with clipping, but it could.


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## AKPaintLover (May 26, 2007)

I would say, just calmly try every day. Probably start trying with the muzzle, as the ears are closer to the bridle path (and they usually really like the feel on their muzzles once they let it happen). It sort of sounds like she had something bad happen with the clippers that traumatized her - hard to say though. I would make sure she is not tied, and just hold her lead, and then slowly try. She will pull away, but just bring her back to where you had her, and slowly try again. Just spend 5 minutes or so on it each day, and end with you rubbing the buzzing clippers (but not shaving) on her somewhere. Eventually, you will have success. Earplugs might not be a bad idea.

Normally, I take a bit more assertive approach when teaching horses about clippers, but seeing that she is a rescue, not a babe, and you don't know her history, it seems like slowly earning her trust with it might be best.


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## HoneyBun (Jan 22, 2008)

what i like to do is, 
(sorry if sombody said this already, didnt read all of them )
turn on the clippers and start rubbing my horse with my HAND
so it will calm her down a little bit
i do this a couple of times and so i start getting closer with the clippers but yet not touching her
so i keep talking to her to calm her down a pat on the neck
and well this wat happend to MY horse, i just did this a couple of times and she alowed me to let me clip her 
but heres the thing, my horse isnt THAT affraid of the clippers


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## Cheval (Jan 1, 2008)

My horse is terrified of the clippers.
What I did was just take her over to the clippers, get some grain, and just keep them buzzing on the ground. Over time, take the clippers up to his/her face and then just rub around, and talk calmly, while they're eating grain. Then see if they'll accept the clippers.
One thing is that it might tickle a bit.


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

Twitch.


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

okay my old horse was ruined because he was twitched by his trainer...you couldnt even touch his ears and he would flip. i think twitchs are cruel and evil. id never twitch a horse ever..


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## Supermane (Sep 23, 2007)

I think twitches are fine as long as they are used correctly. I'd be afraid of messing up though...


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## Abby (Nov 26, 2007)

When you bring him in to feed or whatever start by clipping the ends of her mane so that way she can get used to the sound without freaking out too bad and the food will be an incentive to stay calm and just stuff your face while I work. It worked for my horse when I tried to clip his bridle path.


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## LadyDreamer (Jan 25, 2008)

If she is new to clipping, then it is probably not the sound, but the feel that is freaking her out. I'm sure it tickles something fierce. I don't know, I've never buzzed my head.

***There are several ways that we at our farm desensitize ours to clippers. The main way is the clipper stick. We have a set of clippers that do not clip but the motor still runs and makes normal loud clipper sounds taped to a stick, and we just work with them in thier stalls everyday. We work a little at a time, just seeing how far we can get, first desensitizing the air, and eventually working up to petting them all over with the clipper stick. Down the back, on the shoulders, down the legs, up the neck....everywhere. Little bits at a time, what we can get for free. Unless we are planning on showing them soon, we aren't in any rush. 

The reason the above clipper is taped to a stick is so that if the horse, who doesn't know yet what is going on, gets defensive and strikes, you are not going to be in range. 

***One of my favorite tools, because it is cheap, lightweight, and very handy, is a Pulsar Toothbrush. It makes a nice buzz, it vibrates tickle-ing-ly and you aren't going to want to kill your horse if you break it while working with him. It can easily get in and around the ears, you can play around and try to brush their teeth, lots of fun. I need to go find mine. 

***The problems with distracting with food that I see are: *A)* you can't get to the muzzle; *B)* If you sneak up and surprise him with his head in a bucket, that head is going to fly up and might smack you in the mouth. OUCH!!!!! *insert expletive here* ; *C)* Food may run out/ may not be available/ the horse may get wise and/or the effect may wear off.

***Sedatives are often used, I've found, but in a lot of cases, do not work. They tend to make them sleepy, but thier ears still work, and so though they may be drowsy, you are going to get about as much done as without them. In SOME cases of clipper training, mind. I know some trainers who will lightly sedate the first so-many times they clip, and supposedly they claim that as two year olds are perfectly mannered clippers.

***Something you can do, or have done, to help ease with bridlepath clipping: With someone holding your horse, if he is good with the sound and so forth, have that person just put his/her hand behind his eye, like the blinkers on a driving bridle. Don't cover the eye completely, just block what is going on behind him. 

When I was getting ready to show my yearling in hand and it came time to trim him, he tried to get scared and silly, and mom just blocked his view, and he was clipped with no problem. 

***I'm usre it is common sense, but we never cut the hairs around the eyes. I know a lot of people who when they go to a show, EVERYTHING comes off. We always leave the foretops(for looks) and the eye hairs(for safety).


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## tim (Dec 31, 2007)

Gingerrrrr said:


> okay my old horse was ruined because he was twitched by his trainer...you couldnt even touch his ears and he would flip. i think twitchs are cruel and evil. id never twitch a horse ever..


His _ears_? Your trainer twitched the horse on the ears? No wonder. They are not for use anywhere other than the upper lip. And then only in short doses.


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

tim said:


> Gingerrrrr said:
> 
> 
> > okay my old horse was ruined because he was twitched by his trainer...you couldnt even touch his ears and he would flip. i think twitchs are cruel and evil. id never twitch a horse ever..
> ...



yea we figured he was twitched because there were scars all over his ears and he would barely let us touch them but my friend told me that hes finally letting people touching his ears.


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## tim (Dec 31, 2007)

Gingerrrrr said:


> tim said:
> 
> 
> > yea we figured he was twitched because there were scars all over his ears and he would barely let us touch them but my friend told me that hes finally letting people touching his ears.
> ...


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

tim said:


> Gingerrrrr said:
> 
> 
> > tim said:
> ...


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## Supermane (Sep 23, 2007)

My horse was twitched on the ears when he was on the track; he hardly lets you touch them. I think it's fairly common actually. I'm against it, but I know it gets done a lot.


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

i honestly classify it as abuse but thats just my opinion...


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## tim (Dec 31, 2007)

I think if the nose twitch doesn't work, then rather than twitching something else, you should just drug them.


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

tim said:


> I think if the nose twitch doesn't work, then rather than twitching something else, you should just drug them.



IMO if its really neccisary to clip your horse right at that moment and it cant wait then id drug them but i would never use a twitch period.

im jsut asking for tips to get my horse use to the clippers so i can clip her, but its not an emergency.


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## Supermane (Sep 23, 2007)

I think they ear twitch race horses because they don't want to drug them. Disgusting practice.


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

Supermane said:


> I think they ear twitch race horses because they don't want to drug them. Disgusting practice.


or becuase it costs more then twitching and they want a way to do it without having to go through a whole process with injecting them. people like that make me sick...


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## Deb (Feb 12, 2008)

Gingerrrrr said:


> okay my old horse was ruined because he was twitched by his trainer...you couldnt even touch his ears and he would flip. i think twitchs are cruel and evil. id never twitch a horse ever..


I'm in agreement with you Ginger, twitches are evil. My one horse was not too bad about being clipped, but the other one just couldn't take it. So the trainer that I took lessons from, twitched her and got the job done. When I quit taking lessons and came to a point where I thought I wanted to just clean her up, the anxiety problem came up. And because I want her to trust me, and respond to me in confidence, I couldn't rationalize "twitching/hurting" her to get the job done. Particularly since she was so head-shy and that took such a long time to get over. Just didn't make sense. Sort of like telling your little kids not to take candy from strangers, but then sending them to the door of strangers to ask for candy.

So now I use a little pair of scissors for the bridle path and I leave her ears alone because the hair keeps the flies from getting in there.


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## drop_your_reins (Nov 4, 2007)

Twitches are not evil if used correctly! They actually have a calming effect on many horses (well not my filly, but that's because she's a weirdo) which usually helps for what you are twitching them for. You shouldn't twitch a horse inappropriately or who doesn't need it, but otherwise they tend to be a very effective tool in handling a 1000lbs of pure muscle.

My filly doesn't clip, but not for lack of trying. For a month, I would bring the clippers out every day and turn them on and treat her with food if she let me get close to her. She broke about three cross ties and two or three stall corner ties. She would just have enough at some point (without much warning) and lean back on the cross ties (or corner tie) until one or both popped out. We thought she came without even being introduced to clippers, but we found out that she saw them regularly and was okay with them.. So we decided to twitch her (after literally a month of no improvement? why waste time treading water?). She was clearly scared, but let us touch her neck with the clippers turned on, when we tried to touch her muzzle she reared. We haven't tried anything since.. but I think we're going to try to put a blanket on backwards so she can't rear. If not we'll have to sedate her, since she must clip. (She's a future show horse)

Since that day, she took rearing up as a habit she did to try and intimidate me. what a witch, right? =p
She also does plenty of other naughty things my gelding wouldn't dream of doing. 

Part of the problem is I don't know her well enough yet, I don't trust her, and I haven't bonded with her. She feels the same about me, so why should she let me clip her? 
My gelding on the other hand, I know everything about him, I trust him with my life, and I've got an incredible bond with him, he'd follow me off a cliff if I asked him to. =]


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

well shes going to be shown but not anytime soon. but 
IMO i still do not like twitches


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

My QH was terrified of the clippers. What I did was buy a cheap pair of those hand held, cordless clippers (by Wahl, I think). I worked with him daily until he got used to them. I didn't use treats, but rather used a round pen. That way if he broke away from me he couldn't get far or do any damage. Also, sometimes we would take a break from the clippers and do a little work to keep his mind in the right place. ;-) 

If you don't show, the only thing I'd be clipping is his bridle path. The hair on the ears and the whiskers on the muzzle and around the eyes are there for a reason. ;-)

Until your horse gets used to the clippers, use a pair of scissors to trim the bridle path. Just be careful in case your horse is afraid of the snipping noise, too! (mine was :lol: )


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## drop_your_reins (Nov 4, 2007)

I use a pair of scissors on her bridle path when she eats her dinner, otherwise she won't let me near her face with scissors. I trimmed her legs a little bit with scissors, and she was fine, but she was pretty head shy, and clearly still is in the way of clippers and vacuuming. 

I also try to touch her muzzle whiskers or gently tug at them as much as possible, but she consistantly throws her head back and if I insist she threatens to rear. She obviously doesn't like the pinching feeling of the hairs but there's not much else I can do with her right now. I'm tired of whipping out the clippers, because no matter how much I baby her, feed her, praise her, it always ends negatively and I like to end on a positive note. 

And no, she is not showing too soon (June or July the earliest), but I would still like her to clip for the sake of clipping and being a good horse. But she is hot, and when she's decided she doesn't want to do something, she won't. Clipping, Vacuuming and Crossing Water all fall into this category. I'm determined to make her do all three.


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

This is going to be one of those things where you are going to have to expose her every day until she gets used to it. One of the old barns I boarded at always used twitches when clipping horses which I completely disagree with.

You might want to consider getting a smaller set that is less loud and use them where she is less responsive and cooperative. Once she is used to those, go back to your regular pair.


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

Well if your unwilling to use a twitch, then your just going to have to work and work on using clippers.


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## drop_your_reins (Nov 4, 2007)

Well with my filly, I exposed them to her every day (without touching her) for 5 or 6 weeks and she showed no signs of improvement. I've used food, praise, I've clipped my gelding in front of her pretty much every one of those days.. She went from better to worse. The first few days I could rub her on her neck/head with the clippers turned off to toward the end I couldn't even bring the clippers within sight of her without her being tense. We finally twitched her, which also didn't end well. I'm going to try a few more things, but if not.. the next time the vet comes out, I'll probably tranq her and just get it over with. 

I know I'm not the most experienced horse person here, but hey anyone who wants to try to clip her.. come out here and tell me what I've been doing wrong ;]. 

Although, I do have to say that the first couple months I've had her, she had little to no respect for me.. only tolerance. Lately she's been in for a few surprises and is slowly learning respect. So she might be better once we set boundaries for one another. I've only had her since the beginning Janurary. 

Quieter clippers I don't think will work, she doesn't like the vibration. She barely lets me touch her whiskers, much less bring any "tools" toward them. She let me cut her leg hairs with scissors, so I think she's just head shy, despite the fact that I've rubbed her head and ears consistantly for the past two months. 
_________________


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## Horse_Chick (Mar 27, 2008)

I would just take it very very slow with her as you don't want her to be dreading it every time you turn them on. What i would do is......
* turn the clippers on away from her head but so she can still hear them.
* rub them along her neck (while they are on) until she is not worried about it.
* then take them slowly closer to her poll and away again keep repeating this until she is not worried about it anymore

It may take a few days to get her there but always finish on a good note and remember there is no rush.
Let me know how you go.
xx


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