Horse Welfare, Laterality, Hair Whorls, Cognitive Bias The Paradox of Double Whorls Part III:

Kathleen:

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “There is no genius without a touch of madness.” This phenomenon has been verified repeatedly in studies in the past. Current neuroscience shows that the family lines that produce the most prominent creators also tend to be characterized by a higher rate and intensity of psychopathological (mental illness) symptoms. There are no animal models of creativity, but there are countless examples of genius animals. One example is Alex (1976-2007), an African gray parrot that was part of the Avian Learning Experiment by the animal psychologist Dr. Irene Pepperberg at the University of Arizona. A factor in the success of bringing out Alex’s genius was consistent, careful upbringing and general good handling nurtured many of Alex’s abilities.

What I say here is purely hypothetical, but it may be that horses with double whorls are the geniuses of the family Equus caballus. I developed this hypothesis through my experience handling both the genius of the double whorl horses and the environmentally induced psychopathological side of their nature. Nurturing a consistent, careful upbringing and general handling can bring out their genius talents; FORCED handling or cruelty brings out the madness.

After almost 15 years of developing my ideas, I decided it was time to determine if I was right through academia. I needed an animal behaviorist to help me sort this out. I started my search with a behaviorist locally at Utah State University who called my ideas “hair-brained.” The next behaviorist was at Cal Poly, San Louis Obispo, who dismissed me contemptuously. The next was at Texas, A&M; I prefer to forget this experience, but what was clear—all these scientists were men. Finally, I met Temple Grandin at Colorado State University, an autistic genius, and a woman animal scientist. Temple was the perfect person to help me validate my observations. (According to Facebook analytics on my page, only seven weeks old today; I have 1690 followers, 85% of whom are women. Draw your own conclusions). The following paragraph is from a forward to a chapter in a book Temple and I authored in 2014, eleven years after our first meeting;

In early 1993, the first author approached me (Temple Grandin) in my office at Colorado State University to discuss some observations he had made while working as a farrier and horse trainer. The anecdotal evidence he collected suggested a possible relationship between hair whorls on horses’ foreheads and temperament. I was, of course, skeptical; however, the story he told was compelling. All my years of working in the industry have taught me that people who work around cattle or horses daily often make valid observations that scientists working in the laboratory often miss. Before we met, Mark approached others in academia. Most said his ideas were too far-fetched to be worth consideration. We began by searching the literature for any evidence to support his observations. At the time, the only reference to horse hair whorls was a questionnaire survey of 1,500 horses collected in 1965 by Tellington-Jones and Taylor (1995); however, the authors’ conclusions offered no statistical evidence.

Temple’s first project for me was to go to the CSU library and learn everything about hair whorls I could find. I only had a high school diploma, reading ability, a $3.00 library card, and determination. Within the first year, I had a rudimentary education in developmental biology, psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience. The most essential advice Temple gave me was to learn about the brain. She said all behavior comes from the brain, and the brains in all mammals are fundamentally the same; they have a brain stem, a cerebellum, a limbic system, and the cerebral cortex. The only fundamental differences in mammals were in the size and complexity of the cortex, the brain’s thinking, reasoning, and higher learning centers. Another fundamental similarity between lower animals and us is that each side of the brain has specific functions. In the human brain, the right side controls emotions, motivation, and creativity, while the left controls functions such as language, reasoning, and logic. In horses, the right side contains motivations and emotions like fear (avoidance behavior), and the left controls food finding and social behaviors (approach behaviors). A product of intelligence lies in how well the two sides communicate and share information. Most brains have a dominant side, like left-brain analytical thinkers versus right-brain visual emotional thinkers. Similar functional differences exist in horses; the left side controls approach behaviors and the right controls avoidance behaviors.

My studies led me to conclude that the single hair whorl indicates the dominant side, and with the double whorls, there is no dominance, or if there is a “more” dominant side, it’s reflected by which hair whorl is higher. The pictures accompanying these posts were sent to me by two followers over the last few days. The higher sides differ, and the higher whorl side determines the double whorl preference. But remember, side preference is fear-motivated. If the animals are raised correctly and have no fears of what we teach them, there is no side preference. Same with the single-hair whorl horses.

In the late 1990s, Temple and I conducted a random population survey of hair whorls, which showed double whorls represented about 10% of all horses; a similar population survey conducted with Holstein cows was identical to the 10% in horses. A 1927 survey published in the science journal Heredity (now called the Journal Genetics) in human children showed the same result. In the survey I conducted at U.S. race tracks and Spruce Meadows, where the world’s best Warmbloods compete at the Masters, the percentages were 22% and 23%, respectively. That should perk the interest of everyone competing in these disciplines. I never conducted a formal survey of Cutting or Barrel racing horses, but the champions I’ve casually observed were overwhelmingly sporting double whorls.

What does all this mean from a practical standpoint? If you have a young horse with double whorls with little or no FORCED handling, you can overcome its resentment toward people and set it on the path to being a superior and talented horse with kindness and never using FORCE again. If the horse is older, all you can do is never use FORCE again and hope for the best. Remember, lateral behavior or side preference is FEAR. Any sign of lateral behavior INDICATES THE HORSE DOES NOT TRUST YOU.

Any theory about animal behavior must have its basis in evolution for evolutionary biologists to accept it. Here is my theory concerning horses: it makes sense for a herd in flight to have some members looking out for danger with the left eye and some herd members looking out with the right eye. The ambidextrous leaders look out for trouble with both eyes and are best suited to decide when to flee from predators and in which direction. Because lateralization in the nervous system is now known to exist in both vertebrate and invertebrate species, it may reflect a universal pattern formation mechanism in nervous system development that evolved in all species as a defense mechanism most evident in the collective behavior of herd or group animals. In horses, racing represents a herd in flight. When the double whorl emerges from the starting and takes the lead, the other horses recognize its leadership and dare not challenge it. The double whorl Show Jumping horse, being ambidextrous, is best suited to go from left to right through a course, and its naturally competitive nature compels it to do its best. The same can be said for the Cutting, Reigning, and Barrel horse.

Good luck!