Hair trigger: Horse hates clippers
September 06, 2009
My Morgan gelding, who is now a solid Level 4 (Colorado 4-H) Hunt Seat and Western horse with a nice show record, started life with us a bit crazed. One of the things he hated the worst was clippers. Even if we just turned the clippers on, he would raise his head out of our reach and roll his eyes at us.
This horse is 16.2+ hands tall, probably one of the tallest Morgans in the registry. When he decided he didn't want to do something, we had to figure out very creative work-arounds. We tried all sorts of bribery and even resorted to a twitch, but nothing worked. Clippings always ended in a violent contest with horse and people traumatized.
Finally, my veterinarian suggested creating positive associations with the clippers by making our horse very relaxed while clipping. He prescribed a tranquilizer for us to use the next three or four times we clipped our gelding. It worked. By the fifth clipping, we could gently clip our boy's bridle path, whiskers and legs without fearing for our lives.
We don't generally subscribe to the "better living through chemicals" approach, but this idea worked for a very tough case, and I would recommend it as long as you consult first with your veterinarian. We now keep this horse and others desensitized to clippers by making trimming with clippers a regular part of grooming, and we find the Wahl Pocket Pro ideal for this type of work.