HAIR WHORLS – Practical Applications for Horse Training

In 1994, I conducted a preliminary study of hair whorl patterns and racing performance on 290 Thoroughbred horses during the racing season at Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California. Performance data was collected from The Daily Racing Form, a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States. Back at Colorado State University, Temple Grandin and I sorted the hair whorl patterns into four categories: single hair whorls high, middle, low, and side-by-side double whorls, then compared the hair whorl patterns to the statistical information on starts, wins, and money earnings from the Daily Racing Form. The horses were all registered Thoroughbreds, stabled at the track in 11 separate barns, and managed by 26 different trainers, each with their own training, handling, and nutritional practices. We never published the results, but what I learned from the experience was very interesting.

There were 62 individual barns at Santa Anita, with about 20 horse stalls in each barns. The barns closest to the track were assigned to the top trainers with the most successful horses. Like a hierarchy, the barns furthest from the race track were reserved for the trainers with less valuable and less successful horses. The management at Santa Anita gave me a security pass and access to the barns. Still, I had to approach each trainer in each barn individually for permission to photograph their horses. In each case, I had to explain to the trainers the purpose of my study. This is where the study got interesting.

I immediately noticed that the most successful trainers had more horses with high-hair whorls or double whorls. Even more interesting were the trainers’ attitudes toward my study and the gentle way they handled their horses as I photographed them. Their attitudes were in stark contrast to the trainers in the barns furthest from the race track, who were skeptical of my study or refused to allow me to photograph their horses. When they did let me photograph their horses, their handling was less gentle and, in some cases, mean-spirited.

I conducted similar observations at the Master’s Show Jumping Event at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Canada, the following year. With Temple Grandin’s help, the Spruce Meadows management allowed me access to the barns where Olympic team horses from several countries were stabled. I had to ask permission from the owners or riders, just like at the race track and found the same attitudes from the riders and grooms. The riders and owners who were more open to talking with me and letting me photograph the horses had the best-performing horses, and the horse’s behavior was reflected in their attitudes. I compared the hair whorls and these attitudes with Performance data and rankings provided by the Fe ́de ́ration Equestre Internationale (FEI), the international governing body for all Olympic equestrian disciplines.

The results were unambiguous. The horses at both the track and at the Master’s, handled with more force, showed more signs of stress when held for photographs. They were more restless when led from the stalls, held their heads higher, and showed the whites of their eyes more than the gently managed horses. Showing the whites of the eyes is a well-known scientific fact and is regarded as a graded response to stress. A graded response means “a little white, a little stress, a lot of white, a lot of stress.” The white showing in the eyes also correlates with circulating stress hormones in the blood. The more white showing, the more circulating stress hormones.

These two experiences confirmed what I already knew. You can train a horse two ways: through patience and kindness and gaining their cooperation through mutual trust and respect, or you can force them and make them too afraid to do anything wrong. I suspect the latter caused Christopher Reeve to fall off a “dirty stopper” show-jumper horse and break his neck. A “dirty stopper” is a horse that approaches a jump but, at the last second, stops or makes a sharp turn to avoid the jump. An experienced rider who uses forced training methods learns to anticipate a “dirty stopper” and firmly grip the reins before every jump. Christopher Reeve was an amateur who should have never been put on a known-to-dirty stop horse.

Using force or cooperation is only half the equation. Individual differences in temperament, as shown by the hair whorls, are the other half. Almost every well-known trainer and clinician has one way of training all horses, regardless of their temperamental differences or the effects of previous experiences on the horses they work with or school people who use their methods. Sometimes, the methods work, but when they don’t, the blame usually falls on the horse owner, who is accused of not following their instructions. Most trainers appeal to people’s emotions and claim their way helps build strong bonds through communication and understanding horse language. The most popular trend they call “Natural Horsemanship.” As a scientist, I can say with certainty that nothing is “natural” in our relationship with horses. Humans were horses’ primary and most dangerous predators in early history. Horses were first domesticated a mere 6000 years ago, a mere blink of time compared to the tens of thousands of years humans hunted horses as food. The environments we provide for horses are also unnatural, from pastures confined by barbed wire fences to the fanciest show barn stalls. Most horses would take to the wilds like their ancestors did for millions of years if given a choice.

Working effectively with horses should focus on recognizing individual differences in reactivity and temperament and understanding motivation. Those two components are the keys to dealing with problems and building a relationship based on trust and respect. If a horse won’t stand for a farrier, there is only one of two motivations: the horse is afraid or stubborn. Horses with a high-hair whorl are motivated mainly by fear, and horses with low whorls are primarily motivated by stubborn laziness. If a horse won’t load in a trailer, the motivation is fear or stubbornness.

Using the hair whorl as a guide is the first step people should take to understand motivation and deal effectively with their horses. If anyone has a problem with their horse and can’t find a solution, send me a picture of the horse’s hair whorls, a description, and what has been tried to fix it. I will post the problem with the photograph and give my insights into getting to the root of the problem and helping you find a solution.