Clippin and Blanketting...

Hey there... So I'm getting Sugar for sure and she'll be moving out to her boarding stable at the end of the month (hopefully and possibly sooner)... So I have an indoor arena to ride and and I'll be riding PLENTY...first I'll be conditioning her (she's kind of out of shape) and then we'll be schooling in English to begin with (she's bored of same ol' western etc...) I'm curious about Blanketting and clipping... I know we'll work up a sweat but how much of a sweat I just don't know... I have two blankets...a spring type weight one and a WINTER heavy quilted one... My question is how wise is it to clip a horse and blanket as oppposed to not clipping and cooling/drying naturally... Both seem kind of "dangerous" to me so I'm just not sure which I should go with... I'm thinking I'll have to just wait and see....I've not had this dilemma yet as my horses in the passed have all been on prairie and not ridden too seriously in the winter (no access to indoor riding)... So let me know of any thoughts... I have the October HI but that only helps a little...

Thanks in advance.

 

I would say it depends on how much and how hard you will be working her...if she'll consistently be working up a good sweat and getting pretty warm, I would clip her. It takes FOREVER to cool them out with long hair and getting chilled while drying or putting them up damp and warm in cold weather is not good at all. If i'm going to keep my horse up for the winter and in shape I always clip and blanket, light blanket for cooler weather, heavy for cold days, or i start blanketing early and keep him from growing a monstrous coat and then I don't have to clip. But if she's not going to work to hard, it's always nice to let them be natural. No driving out to take the blanket on and off every day. You could always not body clip though and just clip the chest and belly or do a hunter clip so she can keep most of her coat and still dry more quickly.

 

I think I'll start with just a low trace....then if she gets too hot and we work tooo hard I'll do a blanket clip... we'll see...if I just do a trace though...will she even need a blanket if kept indoors with a run???