Clipping the legs and underline

[oakie]

It has been a while since I have had to clip out legs and the calf I have has more hair than most. I was wondering what do people use as aides for clipping muscle into the rear leg? Also, how would you do an underline? This is the calf. He doesn't have a ton of hair but for only being out of the sun for 20 days, he seems to have quite a bit.

 

[The Show]

Take off a little at a time then look at it. Do that over and over because you can always take off more, but you can never put it back(unless your fitting  ;D)

Can you post a pic of the underline? Clipping underlines varies from calf to calf.

 

[oakie]

I have this one, it was hard to get a decent one, the light made his black look really really black

 

[BadgerFan]

clipping is a process, take your time.  Take it off in layers.  I like to clip a little on each calf each day.

In general- Take down the high spots, leave the hair longer in the low spots. 

That'll mean peel the brisket tight, might have to leave some at the heart girth, tighter but not scalped at the rib, and taper the flank back as much as the flank hair allows you to.  Ideally you end up with a straight to slightly curved belly line, but you can only work with what you have.

Same goes for the legs- tighter at the hock, longer where the bone is flat and blend into the foot.  Clip in a natural curvature to the leg- this really depends on how much set the animal actually has.

For aids, use time to your advantage (practice), be patient, use your knowledge of what a good one should look like as a guide.  Do your best and that's what matters.  Don't be afraid to call someone to ask for help or a second opinion.

 

[The Show]

Looking at the second pic I'd peel the brisket as tight as you can, leave the heart, and take down the area around the navel. All I would do to the flank is knock off the long guard hairs to give it a cleaner look, but unless you know you can do it I wouldn't touch it. After that you just need to taper the flank in, and roll the sides in. The best thing to do for an aid is like Badger said, be patient and look at the good ones. Get on Matt Lautner's website and look at his bulls, analyze them from nose to toe's and look at how they were clipped and fitted.

 

[oakie]

I did this one in 2008. I thought I took the back leg too high for the muscle, what do you think?

 

[oakie]

I didn't notice how much darker this dirty harry calf is in comparison to the 2008 one. wow

 

[The Show]

I did this one in 2008. I thought I took the back leg too high for the muscle, what do you think?

Eh a little, but not horribly bad. To me it's looks a little straight. Try to roll it in more at a downward angle.

 

[oakie]

it's really hard to explain and understand this without seeing it.  So do you think I should have blended it a little better rather than leaving long hair and short hair so obvious............If that makes any kind of sense

 

[The Show]

Here's the best I could do. I wouldn't go use this as an exact guide but I think you can get the idea.

 

[oakie]

that actually is really helpful, I made a somewhat straight-line before and it looks like I needed to make a--for lack of a better term-- "U" shape. Thanks a ton. When I get him all ready Ill post one up and maybe you guys can tell me what you think about it.  Thanks again for all of the help

 

[The Show]

No problem!