Naked Ponies

Well, they're not completely naked! Just partially :)

Yesterday I clipped Miss Katy. She was such a brat! Naughty girl, she's learning some bad habits... She was acting more like Jetta and just would not stand still in the cross ties. Though it was very bad timing to do it at dinner time... She got a semi-trace clip, sometimes called a chaser clip I believe? She looked pretty good and it only took me an hour and a half. She had such thick fur though! Of course I didn't get any pictures of it, but here's what it looks like.

Her owners were in a bit of a hurry so I didn't get to make it as nice as I'd like, but it still looked really good. She seriously lost a hundred pounds by getting clipped :)



My "after" picture. At least you can see all the hair
she lost! We could make a miniature pony out of all that!



Favoritest clippers ever!



The hardest part for me is definitely clipping the shoulder and the armpit. It just doesn't work very well! But I'm glad I was able to clip her, as it almost didn't work out. I showed up at their new barn (they moved, which was sad, but now I get to give them lessons!) and pulled out my clippers. The mom said that she didn't think that they were going to work, because they're not body clippers. I assured her that they'd be fine since I've used them the past two years to do body clips. I had charged both of the batteries the night before. I turn them on and put it to Katy... and it cuts a two inch square before refusing to do any thing else. Hm. This is not good. The mom kind of says "I told you so", but I switched batteries and tried again. Nada. So the last option is to switch the blades, luckily I had another set in my car. I put those on and voila! Who says these babies aren't body clippers???

So it all worked out and Katy got trimmed as planned.

Today, well, this morning, was Jetta's turn. I decided to leave her in her stall and tie her loosely so she could eat her hay while I trimmed. It would be harder to get her neck, but easier because she would actually stand still. I did a bit more of a clip on Jetta, though it still only took an hour and a half, probably because Jetta's hair isn't nearly as thick as Katy's, but it was almost a little bit harder because her skin was thinner and it got all wrinkled up more easily. Of course, I meant to do a high trace clip, but chickened out so she got a low trace clip. I like it though I may touch it up a bit tomorrow because I'm a bit of a perfectionist like that.



The worst "before" picture you have ever seen



"Why you do this to me?!"

"Ok, I'm going back to sleep now..."
But doesn't it look good?!

I think if I change anything, it will be that I clip about a blade's-width more higher along the whole length, and clip the hip portion so that it is more level on top instead of slanted. But not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

Afterwards, I put her other blanket on (she has two sets, spoiled pony) and it's the heavier of the two, plus it's actually clean so she should be nice and comfy tonight.

  



Noms?

So today was nice and productive and I now have a shiny new clipped pony! I'm excited to see how it looks with the saddle on and how she sweats with it now.

Sidenote, what do you think of the blog theme changes? I decided I needed something a bit more cheery since it's so gray and cold oustide, but after having it the same for so long it looks a little strange to me now!