Moustachioed horse evades barbers

Moustachioed horse evades barbers

A horse which has grown a curly, golden moustache is refusing to let grooms shave it off.

by Ian Johnston
Last Updated: 11:21PM BST 26 Apr 2009


10-year-old Alfie refuses to have his 'moustache' trimmed. Photo: Eyecatch Pictures

Alfie, a 10-year-old Shire-cross, is said to flee if he thinks he is in danger of getting even a trim.

The horse also refuses to let staff at the stables in Bitton, Gloucestershire, into his stall there for fear that they will remove his whiskers.

The moustache may look somewhat incongruous given its fair colour compared to his black and white colouring and well-meaning staff thought he would rather be without it.

However Alfie clearly enjoys the look and groom Justine Greenslade said all efforts to clip it had been in vain.

"He's obviously rather proud of his facial hair," she said.

"He runs a mile if he thinks we're going to trim it."

Moustaches are relatively rare on horses although they are noted among Friesians, which are said to be able to grow ones to rival surrealist painter Salvador Dali's.

Earlier this month, photographer Wolkenstein unveiled a series of pictures of horses with different hairstyles by a professional hairdresser. Each equine styling session took about four hours and extensions were used to give a "big hair" look.

It is not known whether the photograpther was inspired by Alfie, but he said at the time he was planning another project, this time on facial hair.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5226950/Moustachioed-horse-evades-barbers.html