do u cut ur horses whiskers??

[ QUOTE ]
Mine always has hers trimmed, i disagree with it being said it 'blinds' them. They have other senses aswell..

[/ QUOTE ]

Well spotted. Horses do indeed have more than one sense.
grin.gif
But you obviously haven't given too much thought or consideration to the horse's vision to understand why the whiskers are necessary.
Incidentally, I used to work with a completely blind horse....it survived, was turned out, caught in, like any other horse. But it's not ideal, is it?
S
grin.gif
 
I take my boys off when he's showing, also I pluck a few when he's having his feet trimmed. I know it sounds evil but he loves it, he's a nibbler so when the fronts are being finished I stand and pluck a couple to keep him happy. I think he's into a bit of S&M!

For showing it meant to create clean lines, which it does up close but from a distance I'm not so sure sometimes!
 
I know, showing is just full of conflictions, hypocritcs and the like! Makes me wonder why I do it!

Supposedly they aren't meant to mark you down for having whiskers, but you never know! They aren't meant to mark down for frezze marks but how many top animals do you see with those!?
 
Nope, although the young AA mare has the odd few whiskery hairs growing from the middle of her cheeks and I do pull them out and one of the cobs would have them round his eyes about 10 inches long if I didn't trim them down to about 4 inches.
 
Never touch them.
shocked.gif
They are one of the horses senses. We have shown very succesfully with whiskers and barefoot
blush.gif
- and at county level
wink.gif
I must admit it must have been a fluke as i only take them to shows for the extra one to one attention, stimulation and to see if they can be rehomed to a pony club home etc
I know someone who plucks every hair out of the ponies ears as well as shaveing off every possible whisker etc. It always gets massive sores in its ears from bites and does seem to get more bumps on the face. Horses have whiskers and hair in their ears for a reason.
grin.gif
 
I never trim whiskers, they are one of the major senses for a horse, particularly when grazing at night.

I also will never trim the hair inside the ears. (I cut the dangly bits off though).
I do trim beards and legs (never too close though)
 
Never ever. And I hate seeing them with the insides of their ears clipped etc. If it mattered so much for showing I just wouldn't show. Although to be honest I don't see why judges should want the whiskers removed anyway. That's like saying that models should have their hair on their head, eyebrows etc shaved off to give "cleaner lines". It's daft.

Another thing that I get irritated at is when people on the yard with their horses with their inch long pulled mane say "oh I don't know how you can be bothered with that" pointing to Major's full mane and tail "I would have all that off right away"

I don't see why people object to hairy horses so much. They have it for a reason! If you're too lazy to groom a mane but you can spend hours shaving your horse's whiskers then I don't get it at all!
 
Oh and just to add, I'm not ranting about people pulling manes. If they want to then that's fine. I'm just saying I don't like when they look at me as if I'm a freak for leaving his mane full because it's "time consuming" when they probably have to pull theirs and shave them etc every few weeks!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Oh and just to add, I'm not ranting about people pulling manes. If they want to then that's fine. I'm just saying I don't like when they look at me as if I'm a freak for leaving his mane full because it's "time consuming" when they probably have to pull theirs and shave them etc every few weeks!

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on the horse and the mane...I'm currently giving Shire x TB a short back and sides (it's a lengthy process as she's a hairy woman) as she gets a bit hot with a long mane in the summer. My other two (mostly TB bred) have long fine hair, and don't seem to get hot under theirs.
Wish me luck - I've only about 6 inches til I reach her ears!
S
grin.gif
 
I only cut them for the biggest shows, because we do the Scottish equivalent of county level working hunters, and I so feel guilty doing it that I cut a bit off with scissors, then a few days later make them shorter so my mare has a chance to get used to them going, and then do them the night before for the show. I dont bother for the smaller shows at all. She does look an awful lot smarter with them cut off for showing though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top