purplefdu

Most people completely shave/trim their horse's facial hair. Bridle path, whiskers, throatlatch, jawline, etc. I've always thought the whiskers serve some purpose (although probably not as much as a cat's) but its frowned upon to not clip in bigger shows. How do you feel?

Estelle

That like you say they serve a purpose. Just like the tail is used to swat flies and keep the horse comfortable I think that that facial hairs serve a purpose. You're horse might not walk into things because of them being gone but it will have some affect.

dreamer

I really don't know. I mean, there are more than one body part on different animals that don't serve much purpose, think appendix in humans, and the curly tail in a pig. Maybe the whiskers were at one point useful but are no longer. Or maybe they are still. They could detect air particles like a snake or something like that. I would rather just leave them, just in case.

SaddleSore

Sure the appendix isn't needed but the comparison seems a little redundant. The issue is more like cat's whiskers, which we know are useful to them.

Snap

A pig's tail does serve a purpose, it covers the anus and girl-bits (if it is a girl) so that they're protected from wind, sun, hail etc. They get cut off in factory farms because bored pigs tend to chew each other.

I think the horse can manage without its whiskers, but I think they do have a purpose. A horse has a great big nose, do you think it can see things directly in front of its mouth? It might need those whiskers to feel what it cant see.

Estelle

That's a very good point-the shape and size of the horse's nose could make it very hard to see around. The whiskers would be a good warning system that they were about to bosh the nose on something.