Do Horses Have Whiskers?

I was out grooming our horses with my son the other day, and he asked me if horses had whiskers in the same way dogs and cats do.

I said I wasn’t sure, since I knew they have hairs on the ends of their mouths, but what exactly are whiskers anyway?

The term is a bit more specific than just having hairs on your face, so I thought I’d look into first before giving him an answer.

So, do horses have whiskers?

Yes, horses do have whiskers, horses have special, tactile hairs on the ends of their mouth and nose which play an important part in their sensory awareness. Just like cats or dogs using them to navigate tight passages, horse whiskers are used to navigate their surroundings and sense things in front of them.

Whiskers are really common in quadrupedal mammals, then, and horses are no exception.

A horse has its whiskers on the end of its face and though they’re usually quite a lot shorter than the whiskers you might see on a cat, they serve essentially the same purpose.

Let’s look at horse whiskers in more detail.

Why do horses have whiskers?

The simple answer is that they’re basically a sensory, tactile organ.

Horses don’t have fingers with many nerve endings to feel and touch the world around them and create a tactile response to understand and coordinate their surroundings.

Whiskers are their answer to this tactile organ, and they use them to understand the physical world.

And not just their environment, but food and water, too.

This is particularly why the whiskers are located at the end of the nose, near the mouth.

These sensory hairs can feel food items for as well as smelling them, to get a sense for their safety.

Horses have quite a lot of blind spots under their nose and face, and you’ll notice that a great many of the whiskers are directly beneath their nose, on the bottom.

This is a great way of dealing with the blind spot and getting around it.

It’s hard for us to imagine what the world looks like to a horse, since we have full view in front and below us and can move our heads much more freely.

A horse’s answer to this is whiskers.

One debate which has often cropped up surrounding whiskers is whether or not they should be cut. On some horses, they can become very long, and in horse racing in particular, many have in the past cut them to increase aerodynamism.

Can you cut a horse’s whiskers?

However, it is more or less universally agreed today that cutting a horse’s whiskers is cruel and unnecessary.

As I said, they play a really important role in the horse’s sense of its surroundings.

So, it becomes quite clear to see why you shouldn’t cut them.

Even in cases where they appear overgrown and unsightly, trust that the horse’s body knows what it is doing.

It will shed excess whiskers if they become a problem, and in the first place won’t typically grow longer than they need to.

As I mentioned, the main reason why a horse’s whiskers may have been clipped or cut in the past is for racing.

Horse racing is very competitive, and so breeders and trainers will take any advantage they can get.

This is generally considered bad practice now, and is not carried out as much.

Whatever your reason for wanting to cut your horse’s whiskers, just don’t do it.

It will make them confused and have poor coordination, they are more likely to injure themselves or someone else, and not to mention that the act of cutting them will be painful for the horse.

But, is it actually illegal to shave a horse’s whiskers?

Is it illegal to shave a horse’s whiskers?

Generally speaking, in most countries, there are no specific laws governing this kind of thing.

It’s simply too particular, and would likely come under broader animal cruelty laws, were such a thing to be brought to court.

The FEI, or International Federation for Equestrian Sports (the acronym is French) ruled in November of 2020 that clipping or shaving sensory hairs was prohibited by the racing board.

The FEI is a large organisation with far reaching influence on the horse racing world, and though many horse races do run outside of their jurisdiction, the practice has been largely brought out of common use.

So, it’s not illegal, and you won’t be arrested for it; you may, however, be banned from racing, or at least receive some form of penalty.

Horse’s whiskers are really important, then, and I think we can all agree it would be very cruel and pointless to remove them.

They serve an essential function, and your horse will have quite a hard time navigating without them.

They will most likely grow back if removed, but it will be strange and disorienting for the horse. all you need to know about a horse’s whiskers is that they have them, and they’re important.