The snow is almost gone and it’s starting to feel like spring. When I was out riding yesterday I saw a pair of swans fly down and land in the pond and the air is full of the music of bird song.

With the warmer weather comes the dilemma of spring weather: hair. The horses are starting to shed but not nearly fast enough. Freedom was foaming and sweaty after our relatively modest ride that I realized it was time for his spring body clip.

Even though I’d clipped Freedom in the fall, enough of his coat has grown back that he’s been overheating. Partly it’s his, well, enthusiasm. He’s been a bit bouncy of late. So much so that a lady in a car stopped to watch me riding in the field. As I rode by her, she told me how much she enjoyed watching my horse prance!

Some people believe that clipping in the spring can negatively impact a horse’s summer coat. I’ve never found that to be the case. It simply makes my horse more comfortable and it nips the shedding in the bud.

I hate bringing back a horse that wet after a ride — it’s too warm for a sheet but cool enough that he could get chilled.

So today I pulled out my trusty Wahl clippers and gave both Freedom and Sheldon a trace clip. Sheldon has a much thicker coat than Freedom so I think he’ll be a lot more comfortable.

Of course, I’ve never clipped Sheldon before. Freedom is no problem. Sometimes I’ll just put some hay in front of him and clip him outside. I wasn’t sure how he’d react. I used my small cordless clippers on him because they run very cool and they’re quiet. I love my Wahl clippers — I use them on the Ragdoll cat and my dog as well as the horses!

First, I let him sniff the clippers. So far, so good. It turned out he could have cared less. Chalk up another plus for Sheldon’s temperament.

I think he looks very handsome with his trace clip.

Freedom got a slightly higher clip as he gets worked harder than Sheldon.

In fact, I might body clip him later if it gets close to hunt season and he’s still not all shed out.