Blades aren't cutting properly

Caring for your blades is a key element of clipping, many people fall into the same habits of not maintaining them, meaning they require being sent off for sharpening more often. But there are many ways to prolong the life of your blades.

Many people assume that blades will continue to provide the same clip every time. Although they will do this for a while, soon they will need to be sharpened.

The culprit for your blades going blunt will normally be the grease from your horse’s coat or the thickness of their hair, which will cause your blades to blunt sooner than expected. With this, even a tiny particle of grit/dirt, when this makes contact with the teeth of the blades, it can dull the blades in a moment.

Prolonging the sharpness of your blades –

To make your blades last as long as possible before having to send them back in for sharpening, make sure to bathe your horse/pony the day before clipping. This will remove grease that blunts the blades, and also condition the coat, which will allow the blades to glide through the coat.

If your horse is well groomed, it is possible to get up to 6 – 7 clips out of one set of blades, so it is most definitely worthwhile.

Also helping the blades staying sharp, lubricating them with the correct oil will keep them cool, and keep the edge on! Do this every 5-10 minutes and before and after use. Remember, metal and metal always creates heat, so using oil is very important.

If the blades have been incorrectly tensioned, when turned on, this will immediately take the edge off the blades. Make sure to turn screw the tensioning nut as far as it will go, then turning the nut back 1 ½ turns using the markers on the clipper. 

Remember, using blunt blades can cause clipper shy horses – and that’s not what you want!

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