# Hair Whorl Patterns Relating to Equine Behavior and Laterality in Hungarian Thoroughbred Racehorses

## TL;DR

This study shows that hair whorl patterns on horses can predict their behavior and leg preference, which could help in training and handling.

## Contribution

The study identifies new associations between hair whorl direction and equine temperament traits and laterality.

## Key findings

- Head whorl direction correlates with front leg preference in horses.
- More hair whorls are linked to higher affability and trainability scores.
- Linear whorls on the body are more common than previously reported.

## Abstract

This study explored the relationship between the number, position, and direction of hair whorls across the entire body of horses and their temperament traits (affability, trainability, anxiety) and front leg preference. It found that the direction of head whorls was linked to front leg preference during a paddock test. Furthermore, the total number of hair whorls on a horse correlated positively with scores for affability and trainability. These findings mean that observing hair whorl patterns, particularly their location, direction, and total count, might offer insights into a horse’s laterality and disposition regarding friendliness and ease of training. Such observations could potentially help predict behavior, aiding in management, training, and handling.

Hair whorl patterns are usually used as a predictor of equine laterality, temperament and reactions to various environmental stimuli. Thus, temperament and motor laterality may be deducted in order to ease the daily work, training, handling and transportation of Thoroughbreds. We aimed to identify the number, position and orientation of hair whorl patterns to find the association between environment stimuli and the laterality, affability, trainability and anxiety of 81 individuals. We analyzed hair whorls with SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) accompanied by a laterality paddock test and temperament questionnaire. All of our examined Thoroughbreds showed at least one circular whorl on their head. Mostly, the whorls were located on the top of the head. Compared to previous studies, the presence of linear whorls on the body was also high. We found that the counterclockwise head and clockwise whorls were associated with left and right front leg preference (p < 0.001).