POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Stewart horse clipping machine

Object No. B2152

This is a hand operated horse clipping machine made by the Chicago Flexible Shaft Co. of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Horse clipping machines were used to mechanically clip a horse's coat. It features a stand and a flexible shaft at the end of which is a clipper. Horse clipping machines were developed in the early part of the twentieth century. The practice of clipping horses is thought to have begun at the beginning of the nineteenth century when war horses were first clipped. This was an expensive and time consuming operation when undertaken with hand clippers. Throughout the late nineteenth and first decades of the twentieth centuries there was considerable debate over the usefulness of clipping both horses and cattle for their well being. Horses were usually clipped in winter when extra hair growth occurred while some horses were also clipped in summer to keep them cool. The reasons for clipping were to prevent excess sweating, especially in winter, when the coat was long and thick; to prevent the horse getting cold because a heavy coat held sweat, after working, and dried slowly in cold weather; to keep the horse clean; to enable the horse to dry more quickly after working; and to enable a horse to work harder, faster and longer without getting too hot. Margaret Simpson Curator January 2015