Karlos Fandango

Karlos Fandango's wife here - he said it was the best place to ask as he had no idea!!

OK. I have just bought a pair of 12v battery clippers for my horse - they are obviously designed to work off a 12v battery but there are a couple of things I am unsure of. First, would it be safe to use them off a 4trak 18v battery, or would it melt them? Secondly, would any 12v battery do, or would the clippers specifically have to run off a car battery rather than a leisure battery? Thirdly and lastly, if it was best to use a car battery, would it be worth buying a new one, as I would only need to use it 2-3 times a year - how long does the charge last and would it knacker the battery if it wasnt used for 6-8 months?

Thank you for your help,

Christine.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Doesn't it tell you on the box what sort of power source you'd need?
I would have thought that:
1. 18V is a bit much for 12V clippers. If nothing else, they'll run 50% faster, which may not be good for them OR the poor horse!
2. My advice would be to look at a cheap LEISURE battery, such as are used in caravans. These batteries actually prefer to be charged, then ALMOST completely discharged, then charged, etc, unlike car batteries, which need to be kept fairly well charged, and defo don't take kindly to being discharged too far.
Leisure batteries can be had from Halfords, most high street car shops, and caravan/camping places amongst others.
Alcazar

Karlos Fandango

Thanks for the reply. I havent actually got the clippers yet - am anxiously waiting for them to be delivered!! Thought the 18v may be pushing it too far - but was also unsure of whether any 12v battery would do the job or if it had to be something specific - I take it car and leisure batteries run in the same way? I already have a leisure battery for my electric fencing though, so that's less expense for Karl!!

Thanks again,

Christine.

MooseRacer

Funny time of year to be clipping your horse?

Karlos Fandango

The whole idea of clipping a horse in the winter is to keep it from getting hot and sweating up, however you would only do this on a horse which is being worked regulary. There's no point to clippng in the summer as the coat is already short enough not to make this happen.

MooseRacer

Do you stable your horse (karl?) over the winter? Just wondering, I've got an old fella (25) who gets ridden at most twice a week in winter and am wondering if he should really be clipped.

BTW your electric fence battery will be fine!

Karlos Fandango

Hello Moose, Christine here (Karls' wife). My horse isnt stabled and lives out 24/7 in a range of different weight rugs depending on the weather. She is only four, but as her work is quite demanding, she is sweating up and taking a while to dry - it also means that I can't put her rug back on until she's dry which can take a while!!

If your horse is sweating up it may benefit from being clipped - but dont do it unnecessarily or take too much off - a bib clip may be enough. Being an older horse means that he/she would need a thicker rug both in the stable and field if you do decide to clip.

Hope this helps,

Christine.

MooseRacer

Aplogies to Karl LOL

It's a long story about 'my' horse. He used to belong to a girl I knew who just left him behind when she moved (shortly after she discovered he had tendon problems in both front legs)

The local horses home wouldn't have him, so I (with great help from the girls who keep horses at his stables) have taken him on temporarily until he moves down to Cornwall to be with my Sister.

He rarely sweats as he is only on limited exercise on the vets advice because of his legs. I've kicked one of the girl's horses out of his stable and he always has a thick rug on at night, and usually a thinner one in the day.

Was just concerned he may need clipping as he probably wont be moving for a month or so.

Thanks for your help


PS After 2 months of looking after him I have deepest respect for all horse owners! All the responsible ones that is, unlike the ones like Crispens owners.