Some whorls come with very specific ‘meanings’. The S shaped feathering is one of those.

When a horse has feathering on their forehead that twists and turns, sometimes in the shape of an S, others are just squiggly, it is said that horse will be accident prone.

While it does often hold true I think it’s important to look at what ‘accident prone’ actually means. It should be fairly obvious that the whorl doesn’t cause the horse to get hurt. Whorls are signs of what is going on…

Babying MJ Along

This week was frustrating as far as riding goes. It had rained throughout Saturday night and it was too wet for me to ride in Shannon's grass ring on Sunday, so I was really looking forward to my lesson on Wednesday.

We got to the stable and Darryl told me that MJ was sort of lame, and Debbie said I could…

Winter Gloominess

Since I have not been able to ride as much as I need to (riding is physical therapy for me) I have had a lot of time to read on-line and think about horse stuff.

I think we, in North America and the rest of the Western world, have come to the end of the time in which non-wealthy people can afford to support…

Cider Ignored the Gap

Last Sunday I got to ride Cider for the first time in a month. It was good to see her again!

The night before there had been a wind storm with gusts strong enough to move the livestock panels that make up the ring. Shannon and Nancy had gotten the panels fixed except for the gate panel which had been…

We Forgot His Hay Again

When Sam brought MJ to the wash stall his legs were muddy. Sam got the warm water going and spent several minutes spraying the mud off all four legs, and there was a good bit of mud.

Then came the cleaning of the hooves, and in between all of this we FORGOT TO GIVE MJ HIS HAY!…

A Subtle Change with Big Results

I was lucky this week, I got my lesson on MJ. Those wonderful weeks of riding three times are long gone, and I just hope I can get back to that soon!

When I got to the stable Mary, the young lady who helps me groom and tack up MJ, brought him in to the wash stall while I got my Haas brushes…

Whether choosing a steer to train or picking out a heifer or bull, we can gain clues to what they will be like by looking at the whorls on cattle’s head.

Whorls form in utero as the rest of the animal develops. When there is any abnormality in the cells, a whorl in the hair develops over it. As the brain forms, whorls develop where there is activity. Whorls on the outside of a cow give us a unique view to what is going on inside the cow. We can use them to judge temperament, health,…

Winter

This year we are getting a REAL winter down here in the mid-southern part of NC.

It snowed last night, over an inch. The lows have been in the lower 20sF to the upper teens, with maybe one night a week approaching the freezing mark. Luckily for me that one night was Tuesday night this week, and that one night will be…

Another year, another hiatus until Spring.

This time, it's my hip. Last summer, the hip which has always been a little 'off' got very sore, so I went to a physio yet again, but this time the treatment has vastly improved things.

What I noticed was that when I did the treatment, the pain lessened, but when I got astride a horse, the pain came back with a vengeance. It's a pretty quick realization that if I want the hip to heal more, I'd best give riding a break, so no being on…

Lots of horses have whorls down the underside of their necks. Most of them are small enough that they don’t make a lot of difference. A small whorl will be a small spot in the neck where the neck will be straighter. There will be a little bit of extra muscling there.

As the whorls get bigger the effect they have will grow. Long whorls the length of the neck will make a major difference in how the horse carries the neck. What that difference will be depends on the type of whorl. There…

Looking at the forehead whorls on horses is understood and there are fairly basic rules. High shows an extrovert. Low shows and introvert. That much is simple.

What happens when we start looking at some not so basic equines though?

Most mules and donkeys have low whorls. Those low whorls almost always have feathering. Does that mean that all donkeys and mules, I’ll call them long ears for ease of typing, are left brain introverts? Is there so little variation among…

A single center whorl doesn’t tell us anything about the horses temperament, except that we can’t see any extreme’s from the whorl itself. It is neutral. That doesn’t mean that the horses temperament will be neutral.

Single whorls have a reputation for showing a quiet, dependable horse. That can be true, but isn’t a rule.

Instead when we see a sing;e center whorl we need to look at the rest of the head for clues to the temperament. Often the heads will show that, a simple,…

Happy New Year!

May this year be much better than the last two years for all of us.

Sorry for the break the last few weeks, my sons and their families visited for the holidays. I did get to ride, weather permitting, and I got all my riding lessons in.

Not…

Sold at auction as a yearling, this horse sat in the feedlot until he was three. Luckily for him a loving family happened to drive by and spot him out there. They brought him home with them and he is now living the good life.  The first two pictures are him immediately after leaving the feedlot. The rest are later, after he had time to settle in.

He has a single whorl perfectly centered between the eyes. This only shows us that we don’t see any extremes of temperament from the whorl.…

This mare has a single center whorl. That doesn't make her simple. A single center whorl only shows that we can't see any extremes of temperament from the whorl. It is still completely possible to see extremes from the head shape. Not that we see any extremes here, we also don't see anything boring and simple.

From the front we can't get a true reading of her eyes. This is why it's so important to remember that pictures are only a moment in time. If the horse is in a normal state that…

Musing About Grooming

Fortunately we had rain this week and today, we have been in drought status so we need every drop of rain that falls. Of course it messes up my riding but we NEED this rain.

Lately I have been exploring the Haas brushes, researching all the descriptive blurbs the saddlers attach to their listings,…