2014: Full Clip All the Way

What do you do when you get an unexpected 70 degree day in mid-October and you own a yak?

Headless yak, it's a special variety.

YOU TURN IT BACK INTO A HORSE!

There's a pony under there!

We got an unexpected 70 degree day yesterday, so I took a couple of hours off work in order to bathe:

Dry:

When I started the drying process, it looked like this and was quite warm.

10 minutes later, the clouds rolled in and it got chilly.  Perfect timing.

"Not sure why I got a bath, but I like grass."

And clip:

About half of the hair I took off today, which is about 1/3 of his total winter coat for the year.

(Remember this?  This is the "Hair Shelf" as Austen called it when we clipped him together the first time, with a fully grown in winter coat.)

Hardy northern breed = epic winter coat.

I always enjoy clipping, but this year I enjoyed it more than usual:

Partially a birthday present from my mom, partially thanks to Smartpak's 15% off sale.

I spent Nick's two un/under-employed years researching this decision while making non-body clippers work.  I knew it was going to be Listers after borrowing my trainer's Oster Clipmasters (loud, annoying fan, heavy) and reading all the good reviews for the Listers online.  Stacey almost had me convinced to buy the Lister Legends, but in the end, the extra cost plus the many reviews I read that talked about the heat, plus the fact that I just don't have that much surface area to clip, led me to the Lister Stars.

I went ahead and used the fine blades that come with the clipper, which cut really close.  I'm okay with this, because the rest of his winter coat comes in so fast, may as well take as much off as I can now.  I won't be able to get away with this for his third clip in early 2015 though, I'll need to get the medium blades before then.

"Hey, uh, I'm pretty naked."

The Stars were fantastic.  Pretty quiet for a body clipper, less vibrating than the Clipmasters, so light my arm didn't hurt when I was done, and POWERFUL.  They also got warm, as all clippers do, but never hot.  Two thumbs up.  

Besides bathing, I also used this on him after he was dry and before I started clipping:

Found it on clearance at Rural King for $3.99, why not?

It says it helps the clippers cut easier, stay cooler and makes clipping more pleasant for the animal.  My animal doesn't mind clipping, (I can even do his flanks and sheath area without a reaction) and the Listers cut his partially grown winter coat like butter anyway, but it could have helped.

In the end, it took me two hours to bathe, dry, and clip him.  Clipping itself took about 45 minutes, but I was clipping as sections of his body became dry (and stopping to oil the clippers), so he got two small breaks and one big break wearing a cooler, eating hay and peeing in his stall.

Dapples!

Oh and I got to clip in spandex shorts and a t-shirt, which when combined with clippers that don't blow hair at you, means zero itchiness.  I have found the holy grail of clipping!