I know the picture is of a Zebra but… the point of this is Whiskers!
Do you think that a Zebra finds some rock or tree to rub off their vital sensory organs (whiskers)?
Wild horses they too don’t stop off at the local barbers for a trim so why does it matter that humans clip their domesticated horses whiskers? Well, it does…
Did you know that your horses whiskers act as a barrier and allow them to sense something that perhaps they can’t see due to it being dark and that their eyes are set on the side of their face causing a blind spot between the eyes and the nose?
Ever watched your horse go to smell something yet they seem quite away from the object?
Your moment of human vanity in removing whiskers, that are a vital sensory organ, which your horse needs. Stop It!!
Cutting those hairs can lead to injuries as a result of horses failing to avoid obstacles near their faces. Because horse’s eyes are set on the side of their heads. they have a blind spot in front of and right under their noses. So, their whiskers act as a sort of “third eye” helping them to negotiate objects close to their noses, such as food, water and the ground, avoiding injury and making sure they don’t eat the wrong thing.
Did you know: In some European countries it is against the law.
More Info: About Horse Sense & Touch
Further Reading External Links:
- Horse Daily – Don’t Cut Whiskers – In Germany
- German Federation – Not to Trim Whiskers & Ears
- Dr. Marty Becker – How Whiskers Help Horses
Did you know: Zebra is American slang.
Zebra is the American medical slang for arriving at an exotic medical diagnosis when a more commonplace explanation is more likely. It is shorthand for the aphorism coined in the late 1940s by Dr. Theodore Woodward, professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who instructed his medical interns: “When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras“. Since horses are common in Maryland while zebras are relatively rare, logically one could confidently guess that an animal making hoofbeats is probably a horse. By 1960, the aphorism was widely known in medical circles. Zebra means a rare, unusual, or surprising disease or condition.