The Ritual of Grooming the Winter Horse
Getting creative with clippers and a short history of horses with funny haircuts.
When days shorten and temperatures drop, most horses grow a dense layer of fuzz to insulate against the cold. Even the most finely bred horses end up looking a bit like a shaggy Shetland pony.
Traditionally, horses are clipped in the late fall and again in the early spring, especially those in regular training. A sweaty winter coat can lead to chills post-ride, and clipping helps them dry more efficiently while staying comfortable. A horse in heavy training tend to have more hair clipped and are usually seen turned out with a thick blanket to keep warm. All working horses, as in, those that don’t get to frolic in paddocks all winter long, are generally seen with a haircut (especially the Irish clip!) that looks a bit like a groom left for lunch break and forgot to finish the cut.
Hunters, with their clean lines and emphasis on polished turnout, often sport a “hunter clip,” where everything but the saddle patch, legs, and face is shaved. Eventers and jumpers might wear a “blanket clip,” which leaves a square-ish patch on the back and loins—like an invisible cooler—while others go for a “trace clip,” shaving only the areas most prone to sweating along the neck, chest, and flanks. Then there’s the full-body clip, where everything goes save perhaps a dignified bridle path.
But as we’re in the age of TikTok and Instagram, creativity gets a stage and we are seeing more and more groomers—and even human barbers—with a steady hand etching hearts, stars, chevrons, lightning bolts, and entire mandalas into horses’ coats. Some are bold enough to clip entire portraits or geometric designs across a horse’s hindquarters, like a walking tapestry.
I unfortunately (or fortunately) have a very thin-skinned French Thoroughbred who gleams with a shiny short coat year round here in southern California, but Aurélie has a Zangersheide who grows a delightfully thick winter coat. If it were up to me, we would all be riding winged-dragon-horses.
