Hair Whorls and Temperament

HAIR WHORLS, also known as "cowlicks", or "wigworms" by some horsemen, are a patch of hair swirling in the opposite to the surrounding hair, every horse (and cattle) has at least one hair whorl located on their forehead.




Since the 1800's many horsemen and ranchers would determine a horse or cattle's temperament by the location of the hair whorl on the forehead. If it was high they tended to be more nervous or high strung, the lower the hair whorl, the more calm or docile they where. The observation that hair whorl patterns were related to temperament was first observed hundreds of years ago in Arabian horses which traditionally have higher placed hair whorls on the forehead.

I've personally used and relied on this observation or technique for over 30 years to determine a horse's general temperament, and it's always provided me with a relatively high degree of accuracy. Many people would look at me with uncertainty and that I was either just pulling their leg or it was something I just made up. Many people including scientists believed that these observations or theories by horsemen and cattle ranchers were pure rubbish and was just some old folk lore or wives tale. However I came across an article a few years ago where the Department of Animal Science at Colorado State University did a study on this and came to a conclusion that there was indeed a relation between the position of the hair whorl and the temperament in cattle and horses. The results of their study clearly showed that those with hair whorls above the eyes became significantly more agitated during restraint than those with hair whorls below the eyes.

Most horsemen that use this technique determine the ideal location for the hair whorl is "even" with the eyes, or just slightly above the top of the eyes. This usually means a more even tempered animal with just enough spirit. One that is too low can often mean they will be too docile or have a short attention span, which can sometimes even be to a degree where they appear to be lazy or less intelligent.




In most cattle and horses, the lean fine-boned, slender-bodied animals tend to have a nervous temperament and a high hair whorl. The heavy-boned, muscular animals are more likely to have a calm temperament and a lower hair whorl. A case example would be Arabian horses which are lean, reactive, fine-boned, spirited, and usually have a high hair whorl, whereas Draft horses are muscular and heavy boned with mostly calm temperaments and usually have a low hair whorl.

You will sometimes find horses that have a double hair whorl, I've worked with a few that had one that was high and one that was even with the eyes. My own personal observation and experience with these horses, is that they had dual temperaments, meaning one day they were just calm and sweet as can be to work with, and another day they acted flighty and high strung.

This is an article I originally wrote and submitted to the tips section over at the TheHitchingPost.net