The Best Horse Clippers for First Time Buyers

Victoria Goody | October 24, 2022

Clipping for the first time can be a daunting prospect, but it’s well worth it in terms of money saved and flexibility. There are many brands of horse clippers to choose from, so when you’re choosing clippers for the first time it can be difficult to make the right choice.

We have put together a checklist of considerations to give you all the information you will need to ensure you do make the right choice for your and your horse.

What to consider when buying Clippers for the first time

Would you prefer a mains operated horse clipper or would you like the convenience of a re-chargeable battery-operated clipper, that has no trailing leads or cables.
How many horses are you going to be clipping on a regular basis throughout the year? If it’s just one or two, then a light duty or medium duty horse clipper would be the most suitable.
If you’re aiming to clip more regularly or for other people, a heavier duty horse clipper will be more robust and powerful to cope with varying types of coats and conditions.
Is your horse nervous, young, or sensitive? If so, choose from the range of Light Duty battery operated Horse Clippers (link) as these are quiet and have less vibration.
Do you have small hands or weak wrists? If so, look at the weight of the horse clippers with blades connected. There can be quite a difference in the weight, and generally the heavier duty horse clippers with the more powerful motors tend to be the heaviest.
If you are a one-horse owner, but the horse has a thick, coarse coat, a medium duty horse clipper would be a good choice.
Check out the warranty that is being offered. Most reputable horse clipper brands will offer at least a one-year warranty and sometimes this can extend to two or three years.
Ask if spare parts are readily available. This can be a problem when it comes to servicing and maintenance, so check before purchasing.

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The Best Clippers for First Time Buyers

Let's dive in. Here we've rounded up the clippers that we would recommend for First Time Buyers. Any questions? Contact us today.

Heiniger Saphir Horse

A top quality horse clipper manufactured in Switzerland by specialists. They are classed as lightweight and use the A5 snap on blade system. They measure 21cm from the tip of the clipper to the base with the main grip point measuring 13cm in circumference. Their weight is 425g.

Why do we think these are the best horse clippers for first time buyers?

They are VERY quiet
Supplied with 2 Lithium-ion batteries, each battery will clip for 120 minutes and recharges in 45 minutes.
Exceptionally powerful for its type and is built to a high specification

What do you need to consider when buying these clippers?

If you’re looking to clip something with thick or coarse hair such as cobs or horses with cushings, you may need heavier weight clippers.

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Aesculap Durati

The Aesculap Durati has a fantastic price / performance ratio. It is a lightweight cordless clipper that uses the A5 snap on blade system Their weight is 400g.

Why do we think these are the best horse clippers for first time buyers?

Exceptional runtime of 4 hours
Very light to hold
A high cutting speed via a high stroke rate of 3500 strokes per minute for optimal cutting results

What do you need to consider when buying these clippers?

If you’re looking to clip something with thick or coarse hair such as cobs or horses with cushings, you may need heavier weight clippers.

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Lister Star

The Lister Star is suitable for first time users and professionals alike. This mains powered machine is powerful, fast, and efficient due to its advanced motor design. They measure 24cm from the tip of the clipper to the base with the main grip point measuring 17cm in circumference. Their weight is 760g.

Why do we think these are the best horse clippers for first time buyers?

The enclosed gearbox ensures low maintenance and longer life
Medium Duty Clippers are ideal if you’re clipping more than one horse, or you have a horse with thicker or coarser hair.
Clever technology to keep the blades cool
Access to specialist blades: The Covercote blade that leaves 5mm of hair (unique to Lister), and Lister Wizard sheep shearing blade.

What do you need to consider when buying these clippers?

There are a wide range of blades to choose from but they will require tensioning. It’s simple with Lister clippers, find out how here.

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Lister Eclipse

The Lister Eclipse is an all new compact cordless clipper. It is a medium duty cordless clipper. The ultra slim body makes for easy manoeuvrability and greater control around the horse’s body. They measure 21.4cm from the tip of the clipper to the base with the main grip point measuring 13cm in circumference. Their weight is 845g.

Why do we think these are the best horse clippers for first time buyers?

One of the smallest and lightest medium duty cordless clippers available
Medium Duty Clippers are ideal if you’re clipping more than one horse, or you have a horse with thicker or coarser hair.
130 minute run time with a 130 minute charge time
Access to specialist blades: The Covercote blade that leaves 5mm of hair (unique to Lister), and Lister Wizard sheep shearing blade

What do you need to consider when buying these clippers?

There are a wide range of blades to choose from but they will require tensioning. It’s simple with Lister clippers, find out how here.

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What's the Difference?

Technical Specifications

A table comparing the facets of 3 products
Facet	Heiniger Saphir Horse Clipper View details	Aesculap Durati Special View details	Lister Star Clipper - No frills - Great Price View details
Price
Price	£345.00 ~~£355.00~~	£270.00 ~~£275.00~~	£220.00
Description
Description	The Heiniger Saphir Horse is a versatile top-of-the-range light-duty clipper. Ideally suited for fully clipping young...	This lightweight cordless clipper has the proven German engineering you expect from Aesculap, in an ergonomic...	The Lister Star is lightweight so you can clip for longer with a slim, balanced handpiece...
Blade Type
Blade Type	Snap-on A5	Snap-on A5	Lister
Power Type
Power Type	Battery	Battery	Mains
Motor Power
Motor Power	2650 rpm	3500 rpm	-
Weight
Weight	0.43 kg	0.4 kg	1.25 kg
Handpiece Length
Handpiece Length	20.4 cm	19 cm	24 cm
Time to Full Charge
Time to Full Charge	1 Hour	4 Hours	-
Run Time
Run Time	2 Hours	4 Hours	-
Noise Level (dB)
Noise Level (dB)	-	63	77
Warranty
Warranty	2 Years	2 Years	2 Years

What Else is There to Consider?

All About Clipper Tensioning

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from first time buyers is about clipper tensioning.

Clippers need to be tensioned correctly to ensure that they give their optimum performance. Each brand of horse clipper will be designed in a different way, which means the tensioning system will also be different. This can often be the trickiest part of clipping.

For most medium and heavy-duty horse clippers, the blades are kept together with a tension set. This consists of a nut, bolt, and spring. When the clipper blade is tensioned correctly, ie not too loose or too tight, it will then cut the hair efficiently and without pulling the hair.

Some brands of horse clippers are easier to tension than others, if you are new to horse clipping, we would suggest using one of the more straight forward tensioning systems. Lister horse clippers have the easiest means of tensioning for the medium and heavy-duty horse clippers.

Light Duty horse clippers use a snap on blade system (link to light duty horse clippers ) which means no tensioning is required by the user. When the blades are sharpened and assembled, they are tensioned and set up by an engineer. They just need sliding onto a latch which is situated in the horse clipper head, and then snapped on to secure before clipping.