This month's column is all about surprises and lessons learned. It comes from a letter written by Nicole who just got a new horse and with that horse came a little surprise. There are many lessons to be learned from Nicole's situation. Below is a piece of her letter.
"Hello, I am 17 and purchased a Morgan mare just two weeks ago. I was told she had a small clipping problem but had no idea just what a problem it was until today. She is a very calm mare for the most part. Plastic bags, loud noises, or any other typically scary horse things don't bother her at all, but oh boy does she hate clippers! I went really slow with her today because as soon as I even turned them on she almost jumped through the roof. I can rub them all over her body when they are off, but as soon as they get clicked on she goes crazy. I thought we were improving when after a while she would touch them with her nose and then I would take them away as a reward. I could gradually do it for longer and longer and actually clipped a few of her hairs. Then, however, for some reason, instead of letting me rub her with them, she starting trying to bite the clippers and me a few times when ever they got near her! I patiently tried to rub them down her neck or side, but she won't let me bring them past her head without trying to break out of the cross ties. I know that this problem is going to take some time to solve, but after reading your article, I wanted to make sure that I wasn't just creating a bigger problem than I already have on my hands. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Nicole"
Lesson # 1. What most interested me about Nicole's letter was the fact that while shopping for the horse, she was warned about the "small clipping problem." I would like to suggest to everyone who is shopping for your next horse, car or husband, that when faced with that statement, or any statement that suggests any kind of a little problem, ask the horse owner to bring out a set of clippers Groundworks near me and turn them on so you are well informed about the "small clipping problem." So often, my definition of a small clipper problem is going to be radically different than your definition of a small clipper problem. I'm not suggesting that the clipper issue would or should be a deal breaker, but safety is everything and the better informed you are about the horse (car, husband, house, etc) you are considering spending 20 years with, the better.
Lesson # 2. Nicole is smart enough at 17, to have already figured out that you can't solve a problem if you don't understand what is causing it or if you don't have enough information to approach it with confidence. She also figured out very quickly that taking a stab at a solution when you are really unsure of what you are doing, not only doesn't solve the problem, but you can make it worse.
I sent Nicole a very detailed, very long, three-day program for solving the problem and if anyone is having a similar problem, shoot me an e-mail and I would be happy to e-mail the entire answer to you as well. Due to space constraints here, I can't include it in the column, but let me just say it worked. Below is a follow-up note from Nicole:
"Thanks a lot for your advice on my Morgan mare! After three days of slowly getting her used to them and their noise, she stood completely still for three hours today (with plenty of treats at hand) and let us body clip her everywhere besides her head. She has no other problems with head shyness, so I am assuming that whatever bad experience she had with clippers must have been on her face. Everyone at our barn was amazed to see the horse that wouldn't let clippers get within five feet of her last Sunday being sheared from head to tail like she had been doing it her whole life! She didn't fidget, nip anyone, or make a fuss about it at all. So once we can get her comfortable with them around her face, I think she will be a great horse to clip! Thanx again for your helpful advice! Nicole"
