The Science of Hair Whorls and Laterality Part 5, Lateralization in the Nervous System

Horses are one-sided and prefer to use one eye over another under certain circumstances. Science attributes sensory laterality to processing different information types in one or other of the two brain hemispheres. Generally, horses prefer using the left eye to observe novel objects and humans, and the preference is more marked in emotional situations and when confronted with unknown persons or experiences. Once thought to be a uniquely human trait, the specialized function of the cerebral hemispheres is common in both vertebrate and invertebrate species. The left side of the brain focuses on social interaction and food finding (approach behavior); the right focuses on detecting danger (avoidance behavior). Since the visual pathway cross in the brain, the left eye sends input to the right side of the brain and visa-versa. For simplicity’s sake, I refer to the left eye as the “look out for danger” eye and the right eye as the “look for food and friends eye.”

While working as a farrier and trainer and studying hair whorls and laterality in the late 1980s, I advertised that I specialized in problem horses. This work allowed me access to every kind of behavior problem imaginable. One time this girl called me about her mare that would not turn to the left. They tried everything and hired more than one trainer before me who used every trick in the book to force the mare to turn left. The more they tried, the worse she got. Her Grandpa was an old-school horseman who got on the phone and asked me what methods I used. I beat around the bush without telling him what I thought and convinced him to let me try by saying, “Bring her to my place for a few days, and if I can’t help train her, it won’t cost you anything.” He liked the idea and scheduled to drop her off the next day with his granddaughter.

When we met, and he looked at me, sporting a ponytail and cowboy clothes, I could see the skepticism in his eyes as he said rather rudely, “You don’t wear spurs?” I replied, “No, Sir,” and he said, “You don’t train with spurs?” When I replied, ” No sir,” he scoffed and pulled his granddaughter off to the side for a few moments. She returned and asked, “No charge if you can’t fix her?” I said, “Yup”

The mare was a beautiful dapple gray QH that looked like the horse Clint Eastman rode in High Plains Drifter, lean, impeccably groomed with a bright, intelligent look. Still, I could see the worry in her eyes, so when they left, I turned her out with the rest of the horses on my pasture and let her be a horse for a day. The next day I brought her to the barn, groomed her, fed her a whole bag of carrots, then turned her back out to pasture. I did the same thing the following morning.

Later that afternoon, I caught her and walked her to the arena.

I remembered what they told me other people had tried. The girl said that one trainer used a riding crop on her and whipped her ass when she didn’t turn left. Another used spurs brutally and got her to turn left a little, but the more he tried, the worse she got. When she started to rear up, her Grandpa braided her tail so he could tie a short piece of rope to her tail, then pulled her head around to the left and tied her tail to the halter on her head. He left her like that for two days without food or water. All the mare could do was walk in a circle to the left.

I took her into the arena without a saddle or a bridle, just a halter and lead rope. I looped the lead rope over her neck and tied it to the halter-like reigns. I used to ride my horse like that as a kid. Gently I eased myself onto her bareback and sat for a few minutes while I sweet-talked her and stroked her neck. When I felt she was calm, I lightly pulled the lead rope to the left; well, she did something I didn’t fully expect; she turned so far to the left that her nose touched my knee and held it there. God Almighty, I thought to myself, you poor horse!

She knew how to turn to the left, but her fear made her resist when people forced her. When I did the opposite of what everyone had done before, she knew I understood her fear and showed me she knew how to turn left. I almost cried when I thought about what she’d been through. I teared up a little just remembering this 40 years later.

My job for the next two days was to “unbend” her from turning too far to the left. I saddled and bridled her in her familiar gear and rode her around the pasture in figure eights until she was smooth and fluid in her movements, then I called the girl to come and take her home the next day.

I was loping her around the arena in circles when she arrived. She was delighted as she ran out to the arena, so I took her and her horse out to the pasture and told her Grandpa to stay put. For the next hour, I showed her how to ride her horse while Grandpa tried getting close enough to hear what I was telling her. I explained that her horse was afraid and that she should never force her to do anything ever again.

She asked how much she owed me when we were done, and I said, “All I want is for you to promise to keep your Grandpa away from your horse.”

Sensory Laterality is FEAR. I’ll let this excellent review article fill in the gaps and finish this story. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9028236/?fbclid=IwAR3G7roUq0ont1Agzw06ghPqwxZswbJmlUS_YHfRCjcCBtQyPvkT0LN121k