Clipping Yogi !!

After recieving an email off Barbara Stones re: help with clipping & also being invited to Cafe' John (bacon butties in the horsebox) how could i refuse!

Barbara explained that all she needed help with the tricky bits and legs, she had never clipped legs before, Yogi who already had a chaser type clip was now in for a real shock!!.

After thinking about it i decided to put my clippers and overalls in the car just in case! off i set to meet with Barb & John at 12.30 hoping the day had warmed up some what by then, when i arrived Yogi was waiting patiently not knowing he was going to be turned into a lean, mean atheletic machine.

After a quick cuppa at Cafe' John we set about discussing what he should wear, Barb wanted him fully clipped (nude) but with the weather being so awful this would take a lot of rugs etc to keep him warm. so after a short discussion we came up with, blanket clip with legs and head off, job decided!

Barb started on Yogi and i explained that 'start at the very bottom and work you way up and over the horse', so Barb started at the hoof and clipped up the leg, I could see she was a little nervous of how much pressure to apply and showed barb that you can press on and that you need a slight pressure between skin and blades otherwise you get an uneven hair effect.

I watched Barb clip for a while until we got to the Blanket clip, anyone who

knows me will know that i am fustidicle about straight lines and i will spend

ages getting them right. So i made a start on Yogi's blanket clip whilst Barb

kept on with the lower half.

As the clipping took shape, another cup of tea was called for and to let Yogi have a break Cafe' Johns opened for bacon butties. this also allowed the clippers to cool and Yogi to have a stretch in his stable . All to soon though we were back to it. in an effort to get him done now we both clipped him, Barb had her clippers and i got mine going and hey this is the way to clip, Yogi didn't mind one jot, he had his haynet and was more than happy to let two of us get the job done.

After i had done Yogi's lines for his blanket clip i started on his tail !! Barb had his tail quite long but to show off his nice bottom, i took a good 3-4" off it, and then shaped the top near the dock so it sat neatly into his bottom giving him a lovely shape. I am a devil for the little things and whiskers, tails etc all have to be done to get that polished look.

As we finished off all Yogi's body, i started to approach the top of the head near the ears, this he wasn't to happy with, Barb said 'lets leave his head' but i asked her just to hold his head and as she did i went from the ear straight down the front between his eyes (it was coming off). After a few faces from Yogi, he dicided to give in and let us do it, this was his first time letting us do his face and big clippers making horrid noises can be alarming to horses especially when your around their eyes etc. we all to easily expect them to let us do it, but would we be so sure if someone was weilding big noisy blades by our eyes ? so patiently i did some eye then some cheek then back then some chin and this way we gained Yogi's confidence. He however was not having a bar of big clippers by his ears, they were to valuable!! and we didn't have a nice quiet pair of little trimmers so the ears did get left till another day as we didn't want to upset him after he had done so well.