New Mare won't let me clip her

Come on folks, how do you get them over the fear of the clippers?  I can't be the only one that has had trouble with this.  Should I put a twitch on her?  I really hate to do that. I have tried giving her treats to make her stand but she just goes right up in the air.  I can use sissors and that doesn't bother her.

Hi there welcome to the forum.
 
I worked with a young horse that had this problem a few years ago.  What I started out doing was after getting worked on the ground I would have the clippers in my pocket.  More often than not he was ready to stand still for a second so I would take them out of my pocket and start waving them around his face, shoulders, sides, just like desensitizing them to the blanket or a plastic bag.  Didn't turn them on just yet.  If he panicked and ran sideways I would let him move so long as his nose was facing me.  Takes a lot for a horse to run sideways for very long and would stop.  Then he would try and rear to get me to stop.  When he did I really went to his hip and had him hustle some serious cirlces.  then I would go back to waht I had been doing as though nothing had ever happened.  When he stood still and relaxed I stopped and put them back in my pocket.  After a few days I started touching him with them, but not on.  After about a week I turned them on and returned to working around him though just not touching him.  He was a tough colt though so it shouldn't take that long for your mare.
 
The idea was that when he reared I made it a lot of work and he learned that when he heard the clipers to relaxe and take a moment to stop and stand.  I never tied him just had the lead in hand so that he could move if he wanted.
 
Another thing to think about is that since she wasnot afraid of the clipers before that perhaps it is a learned response rather than a fear issue.  If it is learned it wont take very long to fix once she realizes that you mean business.  Really go to those hindquarters when she rears.  I would disengage her a full circle and then send her off and make her hustle on line a couple of circles, just so it gets ingrained on her mind that yeah she can rear but everytime she does it its going to mean work.  If it is a learned thing if its not nipped in the bud now she will adopt the idea for other things like saddling, trailer loading and things like that.
 
Good luck and keep us posted.  I hope that I gave you some good ideas. 

Thanks so much for the advice.  I hadn't thought of making her work when she rears at me.  I think that maybe I have been too easy on her, trying to be her freind and she has lost respect for me.
 
When she started this rearing business I sent her to a trainer and after 60 days she was no better when I got her back.  As a matter of fact I couldn't even get her to stand to mount her, she just went in circles. It took me a good 3 hours one day to get her to finally stand. I think I ripped off.
 
Love your avtar.

Your welcome.  Just dont forget that after you make her move a bit that you come right back and act as though nothing ever happened.  For the first couple of times she is going to have go on her mind everytime you raise your hand, just relaxe, take a deep breath and go right back to either rubbing her with them (not on yet) or waving them around her head.  Wait to stop till you see her lower her head a bit, lick and chew or blink, any of those shows that she is relaxing a bit.  Stick them in your pocket and come back to it later, don't try and cram it all into one session or she will most likely shut down.
 
thanks that was taken at the 2008 4-H clinic.  We do one for them every year but Ihave to say I think that year was the most fun dispite the horrible weather.  Good luck.

I'm really starting from ground zero with this mare. Whom ever was riding her must have been very heavy handed.  When you ask her to whoa her head goes straight up in the air. I am now riding her in a very light bosal (sp) hackamore and she seems to like that but I still can't get her to relax and drop her head.
 
I did try a snaffle with a running martingale but was told that was a bad idea. Any thoughts on getting her head down and relaxing.  She is very sensitive to any movement and I have to keep my legs and hands very quite.

Most of the time I will work on Lateral more than vertical for quite a long time.  I love to get on and flex them till I feel them get soft and the reins get spoungy.  I usually have them touch the toe of my boot and wait till they get soft and bring their nose in and soften then release.  Also at the walk or trot you can do this to help her soften her face and really supple her body.  Walk forward, make sure your hands are infront of the saddle horn and that there is float to the reins.  Defiantly don't want any pressue on her mouth at all at this point.  now pick up on the left rein bringing it up and out as though you were on the ground leading her around in a circle.  This is going to let her see your hand out to the side giving her the first signal prior to her feeling it in her mouth.  Now as she is walking the cirlce use your leg at the girth line or possition B to get her to round out around your leg.  If she gets spooky and wants to trot it, let her but bring her in tighter till she slows to a trot and relaxes again.  Gradually you will be able to bring her head in tighter and tighter with her nose tipped in not out.  You will want to make sure too as you are asking for the circle that your hands are mirror images of each other, when you apply pressue with one you release pressue with the other so that there is only pressue on her mouth one hand at a time.
When you get lateral then work on vertical because it will be easier for her to understand.
 
Sorry if that is hard to understand still on my first cup of coffee!  LOL  I have an article on her about this I think it was the March one.  I look and see if I can get it back up.  It has pictures and goes into detail where and how.

Ok there are a few of them I bumped them back up to the front here.  January goes over flexion from the ground and Aprils is the one I was talking about walking the circle.  The pictures are at the bottom several posts down as I had some trouble getting them to load.  Hope they help some.

So what's lateral and vertical?  Circles, straight lines?  Do you think I should put her back in a snaffle and what about the martingale.

Thanks for bumping those up.

Lateral refers to sideways (half-passes, etc.) and vertical referst to up-and-down.
When a horse collects and engages he's giving vertical flexion.  Took me forever to figure that out!
 
Also, about the clippers, once she gets used to them around her when they're off, try one of those vibrating massagers to get her used to the feel and the noise.  That way she'll learn to associate the noise with a nice massage!  Because she's really sensitive stay away from bony areas - try her shoulder first - and use light pressure and a low setting And don't forget to SMILE!  Horses know when you're tense, impatient, upset, or just mad!  It's almost a supernatural sense, but that's how they survive!  By being perceptive.  If you're not friendly in your mind, she'll sense that and it will delay any results you'll get. 

One more thing!  when she tenses, go back to a spot that she accepted the stimulus.  Approach and retreat until she accepts it everywhere.