I have been waiting for someone to jump in here and comment on the article by Bethany Caskey. ince no one has, I will attempt to be kind. First, I resent the implication that anyone who does believe in the relevance to Whorls and horse personality is following equine folklore. Having been around horses all my life I do believe there is a great connection between personality and Whorl location and type. I believe that Bethany has the illustration wrong, in that the high whorl is much higher than her lines indicating a very high Whorl. I have seen whorls as high as clear to the top of the forehead and I believe I can say without exception, a horse with a whorl that high is as hot as a firecracker. This is my own opinion and have have much experience to relate to this. When I see a high whorl, I don't discount the horse, just know it is going to be much more aggressive . Once I was working with a man in Salt lake that had some puller drafts and both his horses were "aggressive" and the whorls were about as high as they could get. I do raise Morgans and I can see what Whorl locations do to horses. I have a yearling right now that has a whorl about 3 inches below center and he is as calm and slow as I have ever seen. He probably will be a little bit difficult to break as he will be slower to catch on. I like a balance, center,eye level up or down a little doesn't make much difference but when you get an inch or more each way, things begin to happen. Once a was trying out a horse and they had trouble with her. I was thinking of buying her and she had a high double whorl and I could have worked her out of her issues, but it would have taken more time. I have right now a gelding with a mid high, (according to my adjustments) and he is quick to learn but you sure don't push him and we have suddenly worked through both sides.
Professor Jesse Berry in his books on horse training has some excellent advice, comments and cautions. I have found his illustrations to be right on. Don't take offense at my comments, but they are based on what I have have observed and what I now presently experience.

Read the article again, Harvey. You will find it closely matches your experience. And look at the illustration once more. The lines show zones. A very high whorl is above the top line in the illustration, just like you describe. There is no line limiting the upper-most area of the zone. And Bethany's position, clear throughout, is well-stated in the final paragraph:

"Swirls should not be read simply on their own but rather as one of numerous contributing factors. Finding and "reading" the whorls and swirls on a horse is fun and provocative, a combination of folklore and science, but I would not turn away any good horse for a "bad omen" or negative swirl without considering his many other qualities."

Hasn't Temple Grandin made similar observations in cattle?

Yes. And Grandin did an earlier study on horses, too. Bethany cited both in her article to support the scientific validity of the phenomenon.

Joe

We have a veterinary here in Colorado Springs that did his thesis on whorls. He is a strong believer.

I appreciate all the work that went into an article of this type. I have been around horses most of my life and never considered looking at whorls when purchasing horses either for myself or others. We have enough diversity in our barn, that I had to do a little homework. I would say you could judge the horses here very closely to what Bethany describes. Great article.

We have used whorl patterns for several years on cattle mainly, but also on horses and have found it to be reliable.

I have 6 coming yearlings and 3 coming two-year olds; they all have very different dispositions and 5 out of the 8 had never been touched two months ago. A couple bordered on what most people would call crazy, but actually learned faster than the others. A couple are naturally "grumpy", a couple kind of dull and slow to learn. Next time I do chores, I'm going to look at their whorls.

Our Brand Inspector has studied whorls and he also will tell you what the whorls on your horse mean. What better person to study whorls , he sees different ones every day. I dont know if he looks at whorls on bovines. I will have to ask him next time I see him.

Definitely agree that you can learn a lot about a horse by looking at the whorls. A young thoroughbred gelding that I handled a little had three whorls close together about centered a little above the eyes and he was definitely hot and spooky. Linda Tellington-Jones has a book that tells much about whorls and also head conformation, ears, eyes, and mouth on horses and the relationship to the horse's behavior.. Very interesting and educational. Do a search for her website and enjoy.

I have a whorl on the top of my head. Does that mean something?

Wally

Not much left of the whorl on top of my head wallyb.