Luckily Horses Sleep Standing Up

Today was Johnny's very first EVER clip. Most horses in UK are clipped in the winter to allow them to still be worked without getting too hot and sweaty and to stop them getting a chill afterwards. Johnny, being an ex-racehorse and a not very tough thoroughbred has never needed to be clipped as he has never grown a thick winter coat. This year, however, he has got quite 'woolly' under his neck and belly (probably due to him having more neck muscle and getting older) and so a clip was in order, courtesy of 'equine hairdresser' Tracy. As the vet was due today anyway, I decided that as we didn't know how Johnny would react to the clippers that we would sedate him to keep him calm. None of us expected that a small amount of sedative would send him straight to sleep and I ended up having to hold his very heavy head up for Tracy to reach underneath..luckily horses sleep standing up.

He soon woke up and is now happily munching his tea, probably wondering why he has a draft around his nether regions!