Body clipping is its own trade. You show up with your clippers and blades, the horse is in a stall or on the cross ties, and a full clip can take hours. When you leave, the owner judges your work by what they see: the clip, where the lines fall, and how the skin and coat came through.
A lot of clippers end up on software made for dog salons or vet offices, because nothing was made for them. We built the WWC Body Clipping App with equine body clippers in mind. Here’s what to look for in any app before you switch.
The checklist
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Why doesn’t other software fit body clippers?
Short answer
Because it was made for different work. Dog salon software is built around pets and haircuts, and practice software is built around exams and treatments. Neither has a place for the clip you did, where you clipped, or how the coat looked before and after.
When the software doesn’t fit, you end up working around it. The clip goes in a notes box, the photos sit in your camera roll, and the owner gets a text instead of a report.
The test for any app is simple: can you finish a clip report before you leave the barn, and does it look like your business when the owner opens it? If either answer is no, keep looking.
What should a clip report include?
Short answer
The date and whether it’s the horse’s first clip with you, the clip, where you clipped, before and after photos, notes on the skin and coat, your plan and aftercare, and when the horse is due for the next clip.
Keep every report in the same order. Owners learn where to look, and you can read a horse’s history at a glance: a trace clip in October, a hunter clip before the first show.
Add more photos or a file when you need to, like a close-up of a rub you found under the girth.
With WWC: A clip report is eight short steps: visit, client, horse, clip, photos, notes, plan and review.
How should it record the clip?
Short answer
With one tap from your own list of clips, plus a horse picture you shade where you clipped. You should be able to rename, add and remove clips, so the list matches the way you work.
Most clippers do a handful of clips over and over: full, hunter, blanket, chaser, trace, Irish and bib cover a lot of horses. But a high trace isn’t a low trace, and many clippers have their own variations. Your list should say what you actually do.
The shaded picture shows the owner the clip at a glance and reminds you next time. It won’t draw a trace line to the inch. That’s what the photos are for.
With WWC: Your clip list starts with Full, Hunter, Blanket, Chaser, Trace, Irish, Bib and Other. Tap “Edit my list” to make it yours. Then shade where you clipped on 12 areas, left side and right.
Why do before and after photos matter?
Short answer
They show your work better than any description. Side by side on the owner’s report, a winter coat next to a clean clip says what you did in one look, and it gives you a record for the next clip.
Take the before photo when you walk up, from the same side and angle you’ll use for the after. Matching photos make the difference obvious.
Owners share good before and after photos with friends at the barn. That’s word of mouth with your name on it.
With WWC: The Photos step has a Before tile and an After tile. Each takes one photo, and they go side by side on the owner’s copy. Both are also saved to the client’s contact record.
What should stay private?
Short answer
Your working notes. The blade you used, how the horse stood for the clippers, and what to do differently next time help you, not the owner. They belong on your copy only.
Some notes are for the owner, like a nick you treated, a sensitive spot or a rub to watch. Others are for you. An app should keep the two apart, so you can write honestly without editing yourself for the owner.
With WWC: The Notes step has “Skin and coat” for the owner and “Just for you” for yourself. Notes just for you never go on the owner’s copy or in the email.
How should aftercare and the next clip work?
Short answer
Write each recommendation once, in your own words, and tap it onto any report. Then pick when the horse is due for the next clip.
A freshly clipped horse has lost its winter protection, so most owners need the same few reminders: blanketing at night, checking for rubs, and what to watch on the skin. Write those once with the detail an owner needs, and every owner gets the same clear instructions.
For the next clip, a quick pick like 4 or 6 weeks covers most horses. Leave room for your own words too, like “before the first show.”
With WWC: Keep your own aftercare list, each with your wording, an optional photo and an optional link. The next clip is one tap for 1, 2, 4 or 6 weeks, or a line you type yourself.
Does it need to work without signal?
Short answer
Yes. Plenty of barns have weak signal or none. The app should keep every change on your phone as you go and send it to your account when you’re back in range.
Ask what happens if you lose signal halfway through a report. If you lose the report, or the app won’t open, it wasn’t built for barn calls.
Ask what happens if your phone dies or you close the app by mistake, too. You should be able to pick up right where you left off.
With WWC: Everything is kept on your phone the moment you type it, and the report syncs on its own when you have signal again. Your clip list works with no signal too.
What should the horse owner get?
Short answer
A clean report with your logo and contact details that opens from a link, with no account to make and no app to download. You decide which reports get sent.
Owners don’t want another login. If they have to make an account to read your report, many won’t read it.
The report is part of how owners see your business. Your logo, the clip, the before and after photos and a tidy layout say more about your work than a text with two pictures attached.
With WWC: Turn on email on the last step. The owner gets “Scout’s body clipping report” from your business, with the clip and the next clip, and opens the full report from a link with no login.
Should it connect to your schedule and client list?
Short answer
Yes. Your clients, their horses and your upcoming clips should already be there when you start a report, so you’re not keeping two lists.
Separate apps for booking, client records and reports mean typing the same owner and horse into each one, then keeping them matched by hand.
When it’s all connected, a new client who books a clip on your website is already in your client list when you start their first report.
With WWC: The app’s home screen shows your next two weeks of appointments from Scheduling, and clients and horses come from your contacts.
Questions body clippers ask
Is the WWC Body Clipping App free?
Yes. It’s a free add-on for equine body clippers on WWC. All of WWC is $39.99/month, one price for everyone.1
Does it work on a tablet or computer too?
Yes. It opens in the browser on your phone, tablet or computer, so you can write at the barn and look things over at home.
Can I change a report after I save it?
Yes. Open the report and edit it. Saved reports stay on the horse’s history.
Is it only for horses?
Yes. The Body Clipping App is made for horses.
Who can see my reports?
Only you, unless you send one. A sent report opens only from its own link, and your notes just for you are never on it.
Written by the Western Web Co. team. We’re family owned and build WWC in Cave Creek, Arizona.
