Introducing Clippers to Curio

I have a system for introducing clippers to horses.  I've seen it done many ways, with force, with chemical restraint, with negative and with positive reinforcement.  I definitely prefer to teach a horse to love the clippers, especially youngsters.  Then when they are older they won't end up in wrestling matches or heaven forbid knock-down-drag-out fights with humans over it.

 

To start with, I put the young horse in a stall or tie them nearby, while I clip an older horse who is accustomed to it so the youngster can watch.  In this case, Curio (2 years old) was in the paddock watching while I clipped Dewey (10 years old).  I have found over the years that horses learn huge amounts from watching other horses, so if Curio sees Dewey enjoying his barbershop treatment he's more likely to allow me to do the same to him.  This is also why I like having the training horses in paddocks near the arena, so that they can watch other horses' workouts and see how much fun they're having.

Dewey has been with me most of his life, and likes the clippers because he was trained the same way as I did with Curio today.  So Dewey stood quietly while I trimmed his billy-goats-gruff, clipping the long guard hairs that have come in with his winter coat under his chin, cheeks, and throatlatch.  Curio stood at the gate studying the experience with deep curiosity.

 

When I was finished with Dewey I put him back out in the paddock, haltered Curio, and brought him out for his grooming session.  I brushed him and untangled his tail, and then it was his turn for clipping.  He has very fine fur so there's not much that actually needs clipped, but being good for clippers is an important life skill for a sport horse so I want to make sure he's exposed to it.  

I held onto Curio's leadrope loosely, so that he could back up if he wanted to.  I gave him a cookie with my left hand, and while he was chewing I turned on my clippers with my right hand.  As soon as the noise started Curio jumped back, but when I didn't react and merely offered another cookie he returned to me to partake of this tasty snack that comes with the weird buzzing sound of the clippers.  When he was chewing I kept the clippers turned on, when he stopped chewing I turned them off.  

We repeated this several times, until Curio had made the association that clippers = cookies!  Before long he was touching the noisy clippers with his nose in an effort to get more treats.  I once taught a young haflinger this way, and for the rest of his life any time he'd see clippers he'd open his mouth wide and try to wrap his thick lips all the way around them!   I don't have trouble with the horses mugging me for treats when I do this, because they associate the treats with the clippers.  If the clippers are turned off there are no treats, if the clippers are on then they get something tasty.  They are never given treats if they rummage at my pockets, so they learn frisking humans is fruitless.  In this instance, they only get treats when clippers are turned on.  

Next I stood to Curio's left side, and placed the noisy clippers on his shoulder with my right hand as I gave him a cookie with my left.  He tensed up a little when I touched the clippers to his body, but was more interested in the cookie than in the clippers' location.  We repeated the same pattern of clippers on and touching his body while eating cookies, and clippers turned off when there were no cookies in his mouth.  I hadn't yet started to actually cut any hair with the clippers.  I just wanted him to get accustomed to the noise, vibration, and sensation of the clippers touching him. 

Once he was standing quietly for the clippers to be rubbed on his shoulder and neck while eating cookies, I started to move the clippers closer to his face.  I did this casually, always keeping one hand on his halter, and the other hand holding the clippers while they and my forearm were touching Curio.  This is important for a few reasons.  The hand holding the halter was not to keep his head still (horses are much stronger than I am and if he wants to move his head I certainly can't stop him).  That hand on the halter keeps me safe from him tossing his head around and hitting me if he got upset.  My forearm on him helped him know where the clippers actually were, and kept me safe by giving me notice in case he decided to move towards or away from me.

I took lots of breaks to give Curio a cookie before the clippers were turned off.  This works to desensitize him to the sound of clippers and how the vibrations feel, while at the same time creating that positive association of clippers = cookies.   Eventually I moved the clippers around his face, keeping them touching him the whole time as he chewed on his cookies.  This part is probably the most dangerous with clipper introductions, as the horse will often behave towards the buzzing clippers as he would towards a giant horsefly.  

Curio was no exception.  When the buzzing clippers moved around his chin on his left side, he struck out with his left front hoof just as he would if a giant buzzing horsefly were trying to land on him.   This is why it's so important to stand definitively to the side of the horse when doing this - if I'd been in front of him he would have clobbered me with that hard hoof and everyone knows how it hurts to get clocked in the shin!  When I moved the clippers to the right side of his chin he struck out with his right front hoof.  I quickly corrected him with a sharp "no" each time and then immediately resumed the process, taking care to keep myself to his side so that if he struck out again he would miss me.

This first session of touching him with clippers I just briefly ran them up and down his cheeks and chin while he ate cookies, again taking lots of breaks to turn off the clippers and let him relax when he stood quietly.  I also made a point of standing on his right side as well, and repeating the entire process.  This ensures that he understands that he'll be clipped from both sides, and it's the same whether I'm on his right or his left.

Before long he was nuzzling the clippers and looking for more goodies from them, so once he clearly had decided that the clippers are really great I turned them off and put him away.  Always leave them wanting more....  As a result, when we were done and he was loose again in his paddock, Curio ended up standing at the gate asking to come out for more clipping and cookies because it had been fun and tasty experience this first time!  

That's exactly how I want a first clipping experience to happen, with the horse in a happy head space and eager to do it again.  Later on we'll move towards actually clipping hair and even a body clip if he needs it for the winter, but today the groundwork was laid for a happy pony to stand for clipping.  I want that for him to not only make my life easier when I need to clip him in the future, but to make sure he never gets into arguments with humans over the clippers when he goes to his future home.