[DreamingInColor]

I have 2 youngsters(1 and 2yrs) and they both hate having their ears clipped. They will let you play with them, but the 2yr old will only allow it for about a minute, and then shakes his head and flings it everywhere. the yearling is better though and will stand for a while. but if you get near there ears with ANYTHING, an I mean anything. I've tried using scissors(being very careful, of course) but before I can get them to cut any hair off she(the yearling) jerks her head away, and I do not want to keep risking that she may get herself cut from them. it doesn't work anyway. anyway, there is a Paint Show coming up here, and I would like to enter her in halter classes since she's good at it. I know they need to be well clipped for it, ears included, but there is just no way she is letting me clip them! and as for the 2yr old, I'm going to be entering him in arab halter classes within the week and need to get his clipping done! I've been working with them both for as long as they've been born(had them since they were born, obviously..) but it's just not working. anybody have any ideas?? please help me! thanks!

[imacowgirl2]

I would just keep working with them...ears are very ticklish, and sometimes I still have trouble clipping one or the other on my horses. The more you desensitize them, the better they will be, obviously. Unfortunately I don't have any tricks for the ears...once I got my horses allowing me to clip their bodies (I have a post about that somewhere around here) I just kept working up their neck, and they didn't throw too much of a fit about their ears. Of course, they are also used to me using rags to apply fly spray to the inside of their ears, so that may have something to do with it.

If worse comes to worse and you just CAN'T get them done any other way, you can always pick up a pair of those little kiddy scissors...they'll cut the hair, but not skin (usually) so they are a bit safer than regular scissors. I've used them a couple times before I taught my horses to allow me to clip, and I actually liked them better since they were safer and they were smaller than regular scissors -- which made them easier to use to get all the crazy little hairs.

Or as another last resort you can always have the vet out to tranq them to clip them...but it doesn't always calm them down enough to get the ears done, and its quite expensive.

[bluejay]

They make medical scissors for removing bandages and stuff like that, they're intentionally designed not to cut skin, you could try and find those too.

[Khumorah]

How do I start a new thread?

[DreamingInColor]

yea I keep working with them everyday, hoping for a miracle. nothings seeming to change still though.. The show is in 3 days, I'm pretty sure they won't let me be doing it, which really really sucks!!! we don't have the money to have the vet come out and tranq them just for clipping right now though. anyway, I think I need to clip no matter what tomorrow, because I don't want the clips looking like it was Just clipped when I am in the show. only problem is I still don't know what to do or how to go about getting them clipped! come on guys, you all have gotta have some ideas lol

[DreamingInColor]

oh, I can't use scissors(event he kind you guys mentioned, though that is a GREAT idea and I'm definitely going to use that on my older mare who hates having her ears clipped but is okay with scissors! thanks!!!) because if they see you have anything in your hand, and you reach up by their ear they lose it. like seriously come unglued.

[reiner girl]

my 2 year old is the same way i used cordless clippers he still freaked it the noise my horse hated so i just keep holding them up by his ears maybe by the futurity in sept he will let me clip his ears if you find anything that works let me know sorry that i was no help to you

[DesertBred]

Gabriel was very sensitive with having his ears clipped the first few times, and I used the "towel" technique with him, along with holding his ear. I would get a hand towel and desensitize him to it by throwing it in his face and twirling it around all over his head, then I would intentionally put it over his ears and hold them with my hand. Sometimes I would hold them tight and then loose...kind of like you would if you were holding them to clip them. Eventually he got a lot better about it. I do hold his ears when he wont cooperate, but as soon as he does, I release them...he gets what I am asking for in just a few minutes. You could always try a humane twitch too. I know some people dont like to use them, but when they are used correctly, they can be very effective.

[Quick2Skip01]

Originally Posted by imacowgirl2

Or as another last resort you can always have the vet out to tranq them to clip them...but it doesn't always calm them down enough to get the ears done, and its quite expensive.

If you absolutely have to get it done, and don't mind using a twitch, then I would try a twitch. It isn't a permanent fix or anything, but at least you will be able to get it done, and I would rather twitch a horse than pay to have a vet tranq it. Been there and done that, I used to have a mare that you could NOT get anywhere near with the clippers turned on. She had to be tranqed the strongest they could without her falling over, and she still fought the clippers, and had to be twitched while tranqed!!!

[EmazingCasper]

My old horse hated his ears clipped, and it made me some mad, cuz we looked weird at shows. but keep working on it.