When Should You Do The Last Clip? January? March? Never?
There are many theories about the best time to carry out the last clip of winter to avoid interfering with your horse’s new summer coat. Some equestrians stick rigid to the traditional rule of not clipping after January, while others continue clipping well into spring. The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer—it all depends on your horse’s breed, workload, competition requirements, and welfare.
Here’s what to consider when deciding when to do your final clip of the season:
Contents
Factors to Consider for Your Horse’s Last Clip
1. Coat Type and Growth Rate
- Every horse is different when it comes to coat growth. Some horses shed their coats early whilst others can hang onto their winter woolies well into spring. If your horse tends to hang onto its winter coat, you may need to clip later in the season to prevent overheating during work.
2. Workload and Comfort
- Horses in consistent work may require clipping until later in the season to prevent excessive sweating, particularly if they are stabled.
- Horses in lighter work or turned out for winter may not need additional clips after January, and their coats can be left naturally to shed.
3. Clipping Competition Horses
- Competition horses in fast or high-intensity work may be clipped right through the year to reduce energy loss from sweating. These hard working equines are clipped short to maximise cooling.
4. Clipping Horses with Cushing’s
- Horses with Cushing’s disease (PPID) often struggle with shedding, resulting in thick, curly coats that can cause overheating.
- Regular clipping all year round, including through the warmer months, helps these horses regulate their body temperature and stay comfortable.
5. Feathered Horses and Leg Clipping
- Clipping isn't just limited to the body. Horses with heavy feathering, such as cobs, may need to have their legs clipped throughout the year to manage skin conditions such as feathers mites or to help treat CPL.
- Keeping feathers shorter can help with hygiene and prevent build-up of moisture and dirt, particularly in wet conditions.
6. Clipping Horses With Light Coloured Coats & Show Horses
- Horses with lighter-coloured coats, such as greys, palominos, and duns, may benefit from a last clip early in the year last so that the true colour of their summer coat can come through.
- Late-season clipping for some native breeds may leave the coat looking dull or patchy, which could affect their turnout for the show ring, particularly if your horse or pony has a last partial clip, which can leave an obvious line between the two colours of the coat as it grows out. In this instance, its better to give your horse a full body clip to remove the lines from the coat so that is grows out evenly.
- If your horse competes in showing classes, aim for a final clip in late January or early February to allow time for coat regrowth for the summer show season.
- Longer cutting blades such as our A2 coarse blade that leave a clip length of 4.5mm offer a shorter length more akin to your horses natural summer coat to give a non clipped look - perfect for show horses such a maxi cobs and can be used all year round.
- Blending is a great technique for show horses to allow for seamless natural finish without an obvious clip. Blending essentially involves fading clipped areas of the body into non clipped areas off the legs such as just above the knees and hocks to give the overall impression of the horses natural full coat.This method, time just right before key show dates maintains a shorter length on the body to keep them more comfortable with a natural looking result.
When to Stop Clipping?
If you’re unsure when to stop clipping, a good rule of thumb is to consider when your horse’s natural summer coat starts coming through. Clipping too late into spring can sometimes result in patchy regrowth or a duller summer coat. However, for horses that require year-round clipping due to their workload or medical needs, regular maintenance may still be necessary.
When do you do your last clip? Share your thoughts and experiences with us on our social media pages. You can find us in Facebook, Instagram, Threads and YouTube.
Need some assistance in finding the clippers or blades to sit your horse's coat and time of year? Whether you need some help with finding the right heavy duty clippers or the best tools for blending, we've got you covered. Contact our friendly and experienced team today who will more than happy to help!
When is horse clipping season?
In the UK, the horse clipping season traditionally ran from September to the end of January/early February in order to avoid interfering the the growth of the summer coat in Spring. However, the old adage of 'late clipping will ruin the summer coat' has largely been disnmissed with many owners now choosing to clip until late spring with their horses still sporting a beautiful summer coat.
I've done the last clip for winter and my horse has long scruffy cat hairs. What can I do?
When the coat starts to grow out from the last clip of winter it can look a little untidy as the long guard hairs grow faster than the rest of the coat. If you don't want to clip the whole coat again, you can use a longer clipper blade to skim over the coat to tidy up those long whiskery guard hairs to neaten it up without re-clipping. The A2 coarse blades are brilliant for this task. Find out more in our blog here.
My horse is shedding, it is too late to clip?
Clipping during shedding is a great time to clip to remove the itchy shedding hair from hot horses. It also saves on grooming to rid the coat of these dead hairs! Shedding is the sign that the summer coat is going to start coming through in the next few weeks, so for some owners this is the perfect time to clip! It very much comes down to what you plan to do with your horse, whether they're in work or showing, and keeping them comfortable.
#masterclip #masterclipuk #lastclip #clippingtips #clippers #clip #horseclippers #horseclipping #horseclip #horse #horses #equestrian #groom #winterclip
