Q: My coach beneficial I physique clip my horse to assist with cooling off after using and forestall her from staying sweaty as lengthy (which I do know can result in pores and skin points), however after I clipped her final 12 months she turned tremendous delicate to the whole lot. She acquired pores and skin funk extra simply and acquired rubs on the clipped areas from her saddle pad and even the place the reins touched her neck. Do you will have any recommendation to assist counteract her extra-sensitive pores and skin or options to clipping if she is just too delicate for that to be an possibility?
A: The reply to this query will rely so much on seasonality, location, and out there assets. I’m undoubtedly a fan of clipping horses which might be in work in the course of the winter in colder climates when baths are much less accessible and a coat staying moist might be harmful. Blanketing a moist horse can even entice moisture and be damaging to the pores and skin barrier. If physique clipping is just not an possibility in the course of the winter, making use of a cooler and towel drying as a lot as potential is essential. During the hotter months or in hotter locales, I’m not essentially an advocate for physique clipping and would as a substitute push for a superb rinse off following every journey with a medicated tub each seven to 10 days.
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If your delicate horse have to be clipped, I’d suggest utilizing a hint clip that leaves extra hair in areas of contact equivalent to the place your saddle pad sits and the highest half of the neck the place the reins relaxation. This will help with a number of the irritation brought on by rubbing. I’d additionally suggest including a leave-on topical antimicrobial spray for after your rides and/or a weekly medicated tub to assist stop overgrowth of micro organism or yeast which may be inflicting the “skin funk” famous at house. Products containing a focus of three% or increased of chlorhexidine are greatest. Ensuring your saddle pads are washed and altered out usually will assist scale back bacterial and yeast load and restrict sweat and grime which may be irritating.
Horses clipped in the summertime or when winter blankets aren’t in use, particularly these with much less pigmented pores and skin, may additionally have extra UV ray publicity and may gain advantage from UV-rated fly sheets, which could have the added bonus of safety from bugs whose bites could make the pores and skin extra delicate. Good fly management, together with permethrin-containing fly sprays and spot-ons, altered turnout schedules to keep away from the extra buggy occasions of day, and followers of their stalls to discourage a number of the flying bugs, may even assist horses with delicate pores and skin by decreasing insect bites.
