LOVE THOSE LEGS

Trainer Karen Banister offers tips on clipping your horse's white legs for a stellar presentation this show season.

Those white stockings and socks can present a clipping challenge, especially when you're trying to seamlessly blend clipper marks with multi-colored hair and white markings. Pro Karen Banister offers tips for tidy transitions.

1. This horse is stabled indoors, so we can clip against the grain of his hair for a closer cut than on an outdoor horse. Use a number 10 blade, and smoothly and evenly clip all white hair up to the "bleed line"-that zone of mixed-colored hair where white hairs turn to dark hairs. Some Paint horses have very high bleed lines, so you'll need to be careful and patient to get smooth results. For a bleed line at, or below, the knee or hock, clip two or three days in advance of your class, but with a higher line, clip a couple of days earlier.

2. For safety, and smooth results with no missed patches or track lines, you'll need to work from a comfortable position, have plenty of electrical cord length, and your horse needs to stand on secure footing. Be prepared to change your grip on the clippers, and your angle of approach, as you maneuver around the bones of the leg. Knees, fetlocks, and tendon areas present a challenge. It may help to hold the leg (or have an assistant hold the opposite leg), as you would picking a hoof, to keep the horse from moving and disrupting your work.

3. Beyond show purposes, clip your horse's hind legs every couple of weeks for cleanliness. Both mares and geldings spatter urine on their hind legs, and keeping their hair short will prevent fungus and stains from setting in. Use an antibacterial soap, as well, to stave off fungus.

4. This horse in this photo is stabled outdoors. The photo shows a nicely clipped leg in the foreground, and a shaggy, unclipped leg in the background. For an outdoor horse, clip with the grain of the hair for a tidy look, with a less close cut. Horses kept outdoors need more hair on their legs to protect against cuts and abrasions; plus, hair drains moisture away from the fetlocks, which helps protect him from a bacterial infection, such as scratches.