Don't Be Afraid To Talk About Horse WHISKERS

In 2021, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) introduced a ban on shaving or trimming the hair of a horse’s whiskers. Germany, Sweden, and Austria. already established those rules 20 years ago.

In 2021, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) introduced a ban on shaving or trimming the hair of a horse’s whiskers. Those rules were already established 20 years ago in Germany, Sweden, and Austria.

Where do they get this idea from? And why are many riders and coaches in North America still clipping horses’ whiskers?

Keep reading to find out...

The rationale for banning this practice by FEI is that horses avoid bumping their heads into objects thanks to their whiskers’ hair. In addition, as equine scientists have pointed out, a horse’s whiskers are the first organ that comes into contact with food. This makes whiskers a vital tool of the equine senses.

Horse whiskers are considered a completely superfluous body part outside of Europe, especially in North America. They are cut “to zero” to avoid disturbing the pattern of “beauty” of the horse’s head.

I learned that the most common argument behind this practice is that the horses live in a controlled environment - in the barn or stable, so the whiskers that would be useful in the wild are no longer needed or necessary.

I fundamentally disagree with this approach!

The bulbs of the sensory whiskers are in contact with the neural endings to transmit receptive stimuli. Thanks to them, the horse can “see” in the dark. Horses also need whiskers to judge how far an object is from its mouth. They must use sensory hair because their line of sight does not cover things in their immediate vicinity.

The horse in the barn drinks water ( whiskers help feel the surface and the depth) and eats from the ground or bucket ( whiskers are telling where and what kind of food is lined up as horses cannot see directly below their nose). In the paddock, whiskers help them feel the immediate environment and detect the placement of the hotwire, so they will not get unnecessarily zapped by a fence.

Losing this sense of feeling causes much stress and unpleasant experiences for horses. This loss of sensation might make them less trusting and more cautious.