BODY CLIPPER DANETTE PHILPOT
Blade oil, engine exhaust and loose flying gritty hair… the dirty job of body clipping horses is fodder for an episode of Mike Rowe’s Somebody’s Gotta Do it. By session’s end, the horse looks a lot better than the groom holding the shears. Educator and Southeastern Livestock Association board member Danette Philpot is highly respected within the horse community for her ability to ‘turn out’ a horse using low stress techniques.
Clipping horses can be pointblank dangerous at times. Ticking off a high strung colt is a risky proposition which might be answered with a glancing hoof; or worse. Abiding by her own sensible rules, with caution Danette takes a few minutes to acquaint herself with her next horse and to have his mind focused on her alone. The trust that she has built is rewarded with patience, necessary for the two to three hour session ahead.
“Some people just want to get it done.” She advises, “Don’t make it so uncomfortable that the next time is worse.”
An Ag Vocation teacher by trade, Danette turns the chore into training time. She holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Media Design and Technology, yet she finds the often mundane task of clipping to be quite enjoyable. She laughs as she compares it to a transcendental experience, “It’s like mowing grass. It’s just me and the horse. Plus,” she added, “It’s a great workout.” Danette keeps her body centered. With one hand on the horse, she ambidextrously balances the whirring trimmer in the other. She can shave up to three horses in a day.
Growing up in rural Kissimmee surrounded by cattle fields and orange groves, Danette was a carefree spirit, whether blissfully riding her imaginary horse or climbing aboard the mineral feeder in the middle of a Brahman herd. By eleven, she had a horse of her own. Participation in Future Farmers of America helped set her on a course towards her college studies. As a 4-H student, she spent hours blocking show cattle – blowing up their hair and cutting it all to one length which gives the animal the appearance of having much rounder muscle tone and the illusion of more volume in its hind end.
In the 1980’s, Danette groomed and showed Arabians for a trainer in Orlando. Sleeping in the barn area the night before a big show at the equestrian complex is one of her earliest memories of Ocala. After gaining a degree at University of Florida, Agriculture Education, she taught agricultural science at North Marion High School for nine years, including six years as a Vocational Instructional Support Administrator.
In 2007, Danette had what she described as “a rebirth.” After walking away from a life situation that left her strapped for cash, she seriously considered selling one of her few remaining possessions, a box of equipment that she used to teach students about the art of clipping heifers and sheep. She intended to write “For Sale” on a single piece of lined paper; but paused as an inaudible voice reminded her of her own resourcefulness. “You used to clip horses,” she sensed.
She boldly wrote instead, “GOT HAIRY HORSES. $100 TO CLIP”
Within one weekend, she was asked to clip five horses. Danette matched exactly the amount that she had thought to sell the lot for.
Written by Julie K. Castro for Unbridled Living
REAL ESTATE & MARKETING 