I don’t exclusively use vertical splits - often I opt for a four-corner split if I need more than 2 panes at a time.

But your avoidance of vertical splits likely comes for the same reasons I have a rotated screen - shrinking the vertical space in a buffer by any amount on a horizontal display quickly hits some kind of ergonomic limit where you just can’t see enough of the file at a time. I find that not only splits, but also console output, search results , etc. take up too much vertical space.