I recently went to a schooling show that offered hunter/ jumper and dressage classes. I am thinking of trying some dressage so I went to watch. There was a very fancy horse doing 4th level. I talked with the rider after and noticed the horse’s whiskers weren’t clipped. I asked if she didn’t clip because it was a schooling show and she told me she had stopped clipping years ago and really didn’t know anyone who clipped whiskers or ears anymore. Is this ok in dressage??

BILL— It is more than totally OK in dressage, even at the biggest recognized shows. At the moment there is no specific FEI rule, but in some European countries where dressage obviously is very popular, it is literally against the law to trim whiskers or inside your horse’s ears. This is a horse welfare issue, not an aesthetic one. A horse’s whiskers are part of his tactile sensory apparatus, and to deprive him of them seems unfair and unkind. Many top trainers in the US have a European background, so it seems perfectly normal for them to allow the whiskers to be natural. In the dressage world you won’t get a sideways look.