26/05/2021
UNDERSTANDING HORSE WHORLS 🤔 🐴
The whorls on a horse's body can give us great insight into the inner working of the horse.
When the fetus is developing in the womb, the skin and the brain develop at the same time, before the 18th week of gestation.
Because they develop simultaneously, changes in the fetus create corresponding changes in the skin and hair growth. These give us a window, an outside mark, that shows us what is happening on the inside.
Whorls on the forehead show us a horse's temperament. Whorls on the body show us how their muscles and conformation affect their movement.
🟣 HIGH WHORL
High whorled horses are extroverts. They are very invested in the external world and everything that is going on around them. They want to go and to be moving all the time. Emotional and sensitive, they will be as brave as they can be and eager to please with a sensitive, supportive rider or a nervous wreck with a harsh rider who doesn't give the support they need.
🟣 CENTER WHORL
A single-center whorl doesn't tell us much except that we don't see any extremes of temperament based on the whorl. To get a good idea of the temperament, we would need to look at the whole head to get clues from the rest of the features.
🟣 LOW WHORL
A low whorl shows an introvert — a horse who is content within themselves and thinking, processing the information around them. Sometimes people underestimate their intelligence because they don't respond immediately, which is a major mistake. Introverts can be extremely intelligent; they just don't run around telling everyone about it as an extrovert does. They have a quiet, droll sense of humor.
🟣 HIGH SIDE BY SIDE DOUBLE WHORLS
High double side by side whorls shows a horse who is a left-brain extrovert, with some right brain extrovert mixed in. They are sensitive and extremely quick learners. Bold, calm, curious, and confident, they can concentrate intently on a job but will get bored with repetition. You have to give them a reason to be interested. They can be a superpower in the right hands or completely run over a person.
🟣 STACKED DOUBLE WHORLS
Stacked double whorls show a horse with a double personality - quiet and excitable, spooky but trustworthy. They are sensitive and need a rider who understands them. In the right hands, they can make great horses whose quirks keep life interesting. In the wrong hands, they can be neurotic.
🟣 BODY WHORLS
When there is a single whorl on the body, without a matching whorl on the other side, the horse will prefer to bend in that direction, around the whorl.
🟣 THROATLATCH WHORLS
Large whorls in the throatlatch area will cause a horse to want to carry their head in front of the vertical. They won't want to tuck their nose down tightly and often carry extra muscle on the base of their neck.
Only looking at the whorls on a horse's forehead limits the wealth of information we can gather. What whorls does your horse have? On the forehead and all across their body? 🐎
