Horse Grooming Supplies - What You Need For Trimming Around the Eyes and Ears

 

Should I trim around my horse's eyes and ears?

Clipping the hairs of the horse's eyes and ears is a controversial topic. There's no doubt that a horse with close clipped ears and eyes has a pretty face, but those hairs are there for a reason. Before trimming these sensitive areas, decide what you need to clip, and then make sure you have the best tools for the job in your horse grooming supplies.

The ears

The horse's ears have two kinds of hairs- soft fluffy coat hairs that run along the edges of the ears, and thicker, more wiry hairs that grow inside the ears. The soft external hairs can easily be clipped away, and that's a good choice to make the horse's head look neater without losing the protection of the thicker internal hairs. To clip these soft hairs out, a good set of hand clippers are ideal.

To trim the soft external hairs of your horse's ears, start by folding the ears over in half lengthways and just trimming the long hairs that poke out. Run the trimmers with the lay of the hair to prevent getting rough edges, and simply smooth out the long stray hairs that stick out. This will be enough to give most horses a neat and tidy appearance for all but the most demanding show rings, and still give your horse's ears the protection they need from flies, dust, and dirt.

The hairs inside are essential to keep out dust and flies. Unless you are showing and the rules demand it, don't trim inside your horse's ears. If you absolutely have to, choose the quietest horse clippers you can find. Hold some tissue over the base of the ear to keep the hairs from falling inside the ear, and carefully trim along the surface of the ear. Once done, you will have to protect your horse's ears yourself - this means keeping your horse's ears protected from flies and dust, and even from stable bedding which can get inside and cause infection or injury. As the hairs grow back, your horse will be prone to minor infections; you need to make a regular practice of rubbing your horse's ears with a gentle antibiotic cream to keep them healthy.

The eyes

Like the ears, the eyes have two kinds of hairs. This time though, the long, wiry hairs are less significant. These can be clipped back to tidy up the horse's face, and most horse's won't miss them. The short, soft hairs around the eyes - the horse's 'eyelashes' are essential to protect the horse's eyes from dust and dirt. Like with the hairs inside the ears, don't clip these off unless you are absolutely required to for show ring standards.

In any case, clipping around the eyes needs to be done carefully - it's not something that should ever be done with scissors. A good pair of hand clippers is an essential part of your equine supplies to prevent any risk of injury to the horse's eyes.

Which clippers should I use?

If your horse is sensitive about its face. choose a battery powered or rechargeable model for quiet operation, and so you don't have the cord flapping around your horse's face. If your horse is pretty good about clippers, the benefit of a corded model is that you don't need to replace batteries or remember to recharge it. You'll want a model that is light and fits your hand well, because you need to be accurate when clipping around the eyes and ears. Choose one that has a small blade, for a neat and careful finish.

As always, choose clippers from a reliable manufacturer like Wahl, Oster, or Andis. You want to be sure your clippers are safe to use, have a good warranty, and that you can easily get replacement blades - dull blades are dangerous when clipping sensitive areas like eyes and ears!

Here's some good choices for precision clipping from the top manufacturers:

If you do trim the hairs of your horse's face, you will need to take extra precautions to protect him from pests and dust. Keep the eyes and ears clean with a damp sponge, and make sure you apply a gentle insect repellent or use a fly net to protect your horse from flies and other annoying insects. Keep a watchful eye for any infections, injuries, or ingrown hairs, and treat these quickly. And remember to look after your horse clippers - keeping the blades clean and sharp will keep your clippers one of the most useful tools in your horse grooming supplies!