Whiskers at the show! what DO I clip?

[tisor]

I’m going to take the side of leaving whiskers on my new boys. One is a jumper and looks never to have had his clipped, the other is young and was surely clipped at his sales barn but I’m happy to leave them be, even for eq and hunters.

Question: What then DO I trim?

Tidy ears but don’t empty them
leave whiskers on muzzle and around eyes?

What about under the jaw? I’d like to trim that but is that weird if I leave the whiskers on the muzzle?

Then just fetlocks and bridle path I guess?

Anyone else making the move to leave whiskers?

[poltroon]

Personally, for me it’s going to depend a bit on the horse. I don’t do whiskers any more (in Germany it’s illegal) and I also hardly ever do even the ear tidy move. I might do under the jaw if it looked really untidy, but for my horses it usually doesn’t. I don’t think it would look weird if you did - remember people will see your horse from a distance, not close up, and won’t see much of the whisker action.

But bridle path is mostly what my clippers get used for nowadays.

[North_Dakota]

I do fetlocks, bridle path, jaw line, and theoretically tidy the ears. My horse isn’t a fan of having his ears touched, so when he gets his teeth done in the spring his ears get clipped. His fluffy ears is how I justify my collection of bonnets.

[skipollo]

I do bridle path and jaw line (if he gets the long goat hairs.) I do his fetlocks once mud season is over, the big fluffs along the back. I don’t touch his whiskers or his ears. He lives out 24/7 and needs the protection more than I need him to look “tidy.”

[foursocks]

My jumper shows in a bonnet, so all I usually do is zip along the outside of his ears in the summer. I do under the chin for the goat hairs, and I do his feet because he looks like a cart horse if I don’t. Sometimes I do his nose, but I usually just leave it. Clip what you want. I am unconvinced that it is a big deal for the horse one way or the other, and the scientific evidence used to argue that it is detrimental to clip is from a study done on mice, if I recall correctly. On the other hand, a neat and tidy nose is about as much practical use to my horses as shaved legs are to me, so I usually leave them alone.

[mmeqcenter]

@poltroon

Personally, for me it’s going to depend a bit on the horse. I don’t do whiskers any more (in Germany it’s illegal) and I also hardly ever do even the ear tidy move. I might do under the jaw if it looked really untidy, but for my horses it usually doesn’t. I don’t think it would look weird if you did - remember people will see your horse from a distance, not close up, and won’t see much of the whisker action.

But bridle path is mostly what my clippers get used for nowadays.

Agreed

[merrygoround]

I was taught that it was permissible to fold ears vertically, and scissor trim anything long enough to protrude. Muzzles and eyes were left as is. The hairs on muzzles and around eyes act as distant early warning sensors for the horse.
Fuzzy fetlocks could be trimmed, and for a horse with a skimpy forelock, I carefully “borrow” some mane hair leaving a carefully trimmed bridle path.

[Gamma]

After watching gnats crawl in and out through thick, luxurious ear-fur…I trim anything that might interfere with a fly mask with ear pieces and use that instead. Longer bridle path (since the crown of the fly mask is long), anything that sticks out past the edge of the ears, guard lashes around the eyes at about 1 inch since if they are longer the fly mask presses them down towards the eyes, tidy up around the throat latch and sometimes while I’m there I clean up the rest of the goat-beard down to his chin. It doesn’t look weird to do just parts, if you do a neat job…but it is so much harder to do a neat job when you want short rather than off…I recommend trimming a little less than you think you want, since you will probably trim a little more tidying up, and try to do it further ahead of time so it has time to blend in and look natural.

(Oh, and I do fetlocks, not completely short but just shortened and shaped. Also very difficult to avoid lines.)

[GoodTimes]

I worked as a groom for years so it was hard to stop clipping, none of those horses ever seemed to have an issue without their whiskers. However, they weren’t out at night and they all had full fly masks with ears.

For my own two it depends.
One lives outside where the bugs are bad. Fly masks and sheets don’t work because the black flies crawl under and the deer flies just bite through. He gets to keep most of his ear hair and all his whiskers since he’s out 24/7. Fetlocks get clipped during show season.
The other one gets his ears clipped once the black flies have subsided. He’s in at night so the mosquitoes aren’t an issue. He also gets goat hairs so his jaw line and throatlatch have to be tidied. He gets a full clip at the beginning of the summer and then the fetlocks get trimmed before every show.

I don’t really touch the whiskers on the muzzle unless they get really, really long. Then they’ll get trimmed to about an inch.

[jhg140]

For a horse that does not live out 24/7, I always kept legs clipped up to the knee, under the chin (goat hairs), ears and whiskers for the hunters.

My jumper hates his ears being touched, so he gets to keep his ear hair and just wear bonnets.

[Night_Flight]

I took a hunter to a show yesterday and received a long stream of compliments on our turnout despite her full set of whiskers and untrimmed ears.

I did lightly trim under the jaw and trimmed her bridle path and fetlocks, but the whiskers and ears were left au naturel.

[tisor]

Mine has a full beard, like his whiskers have never been trimmed. Still took a blue in flat eq and got some nice compliments ringside on his whiskers! You can’t really see them here… https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10214033968023191&set=pcb.10214033969543229&type=3&theater

[Mukluk]

I used to clip whiskers but after learning of the associated evils, quit. I don’t do bridle path because my mare has a skimpy forelock and needs a “comb over.” If she needs to look spiffy, I trim any long hair under her jaw (not muzzle), and fetlocks (though she doesn’t usually grow much hair), and sometimes trim what sticks out if I “fold” her ear. Otherwise I leave her alone. She’s very cute with or without extra hair.

[GoneAway]

I clip the jawline, outside of the ears (any hair protruding when folded), and bridlepath. Horse keeps inside ear hair and all whiskers. For any turnout freaks: the King of Neat 'n Tidy (GHM) had a good look and didn’t say a thing about it.

I also clip fetlocks because my little TB must be 0.12% Clydesdale, and it’s all in the fetlock feathers.

[PNWjumper]

I clip fetlocks and bridlepaths. I trim the ears (fold in half and trim with scissors) less frequently. And I trim the muzzle so that the hairs are maybe an inch (ish) long. I am a master clipper killer, so it’s easier for me when I can do everything with scissors (which I don’t kill nearly as often). Same story with the guard hairs on the eyes - I trim those so that they’re only a couple of inches long. I don’t like the long hairs both because they look messier and occasionally grow long enough to get in the horses’ eyes, which I figure can’t be great either!

Oh, and I sometimes still clip noses. If I get the clippers out at home I’ll often just clip all of the noses. Never noticed any difference whatsoever for any of my horses.

The only difference between now (where some people don’t clip at all) and a decade ago (when pretty much everyone clipped) is that now I don’t feel guilty when I forget to clip before shows! :lol:

[Montanas_Girl]

Blame it on my breed show roots, but I can’t stand furry faces. I clip all whiskers, ears (not fully “scooped” out but close), fetlocks, and white leg markings. I’ve had horses experience more trouble from leaving hair than clipping it - you haven’t lived until you’ve been mounted on an ear shy horse with a bee STUCK in his ear hair!

[ktm_here]

I do fetlocks, coronet bands, bridlepath. Whiskers I only get if I remember or have time.

[M_O_Connor]

I have also stopped clipping whiskers. After the stubble grows out, it looks perfectly normal and not at all bad. We do the jawline, fetlocks, and tidy up the ears (on the outside, not the inside). We have never done bridle paths. We are jumpers so bang off the tails.

[ACountingRider]

I was always of the mindset to clip everything; I thought it looked clean and presentable. However, after Germany banned trimming ears and whiskers entirely I really had to take a look at my reasons and why Germany did what it did. For me, I’m still not completely knowledgeable or understand that welfare factor of trimming whiskers and ears, but from a horsemanship standpoint now err on the side of caution and leave them.
Ive also never been judged differently for leaving them, so it makes no difference in competition.

[kcmel]

My horse has a goat beard so I trim under his jaw. Other than that I leave the facial hair alone. I might clean up the ears if he would let me :lol:.