Noche Miller's Blog (43)

Donkey and Mule Whorls

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…

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Added by Noche Miller on January 11, 2022 at 11:30am — No Comments

Simple Whorls

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,…

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Added by Noche Miller on January 4, 2022 at 3:37pm — No Comments

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…

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.…

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Added by Noche Miller on December 14, 2021 at 5:32pm — No Comments

The Grey Mare

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…

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Added by Noche Miller on December 12, 2021 at 7:31pm — No Comments

Bad Luck?

According to tradition some whorls are bad luck.

That is such a broad term. What exactly does it mean? How did someone decide such a thing?

I’m not one for superstition so I enjoy breaking it down and looking at possible causes for such superstition. One of the most famous whorls, and one of the easiest to break down is the shredded collar, a…

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Added by Noche Miller on December 8, 2021 at 11:19am — No Comments

Whorl Bias

Every horse should be judged according to their own individual nature.
If we look at a horse’s…
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Added by Noche Miller on December 4, 2021 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Double Whorled Complications

The slightest change in the location of a horse’s whorls can make huge differences in temperament.

No where is that more difficult to figure out than in side by side and diagonal double whorls. These whorls show almost…

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Added by Noche Miller on November 22, 2021 at 1:55pm — 1 Comment

Double Trouble ?

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Added by Noche Miller on November 17, 2021 at 10:51am — No Comments

On The Radio!

I had a very big day yesterday.
It was a bit of a secret, I thought about mentioning it ahead of time but there was no way to share it in process. Besides, what if I messed the whole thing up? I didn't want to tell people ahead of time and have everyone know I did awful. So I waited.…
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Added by Noche Miller on October 27, 2021 at 11:31am — No Comments

Phrenology

phre·nol·o·gy
/frəˈnäləjē/
noun: phrenology
  1. the…
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Added by Noche Miller on October 20, 2021 at 10:46am — No Comments

Sight Unseen

We’ve all seen the pleas, about to ship, this horse needs saved now.

I know there are pitfalls and a definite dark side to the slaughter horse industry. Setting that aside for the moment, what if you decide that you can’t let the horse go? How do you decide to take the chance and pull that horse? There are many reasons horses end up in kill pens. Lameness and behavioral issues are two big ones. There are also many good horses who end up there through shear bad luck. What are the odds…

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Added by Noche Miller on October 13, 2021 at 10:30am — No Comments

Understanding Horse Whorls

Understanding Horse Whorls is now available in paperback!

Since its release as an ebook in April of 2021 Understanding Horse Whorls has sold around the whorl. Here in the US, next door in Canada, from England to Australia, and even Norway, Germany, Paraguay, South Africa, Bulgaria, Germany, and the Netherlands.

People kept asking when it would be available in paper form? An ebook is great but a book you can hold in your hands has a special appeal. After lots of work and with a…

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Added by Noche Miller on October 7, 2021 at 10:30am — 1 Comment

Strawberry Roan

Surely I’m not the only one who likes the old western songs? Yes, old country songs, but the western genre. Those cowboy songs about horses and cattle.
If we listen to them they give fascinating insight to the horses of the day.
They also tell us how subconsciously people have always used head…
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Added by Noche Miller on September 20, 2021 at 10:30am — No Comments

Righteous

So often it can be hard to tell what aspects of a horse they are born with an which ones they have developed from the handling they have received over time.

Righteous is one of those horses.

He came with a whole list of behavioral issues and phobias. Luckily for him he landed with one of the few people willing to put the time in to help him. Explosive and overly sensitive, getting him closer to being a ride-able horse who could be handled on the ground has been a long journey.…

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Added by Noche Miller on September 10, 2021 at 10:30am — No Comments

The Diagonal Double Whorl

This is the only high whorl that shows an introverted temperament.

This is also the hardest whorl for me to recognize. In fact it’s lack of definition and ease of recognition is one of the hallmarks of the whorl. It is usually a bit muddied with faint ghost whorls and feathering weaving between the two whorls.

It is the hardest whorl for me personally to work with. There are no bad whorls, just different ways horses need handled. This one needs handled with extreme care and…

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Added by Noche Miller on September 1, 2021 at 10:30am — No Comments

Playing games and riding

I’ve been taking the youngest out for rides on Coyote in the mornings while the oldest is at school. I’m glad he’s liking horses, I thought he’d be tractors and nothing else. One morning I went ahead and turned Rusty out in the yard to graze while we rode. We left him behind for the first part of our ride, fortunately he can’t really come with out through the corn field. But when we got back into the yard he started following us. I decided to have some fun with it and see what he would…

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Added by Noche Miller on May 24, 2017 at 7:00pm — No Comments

How we finally achived forward

Or playing with balls. But that seemed a little wrong.

This afternoon I got a chance to work Rusty. Yesterday I did not get a chance to work with him. We had a little weather related issue at the time I would have had a chance and I thought it might be best to abstain.…

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Added by Noche Miller on May 23, 2017 at 7:00pm — No Comments

First ride!

The wind was howling and the temp had gone from very comfortable all morning to nearly one hundred. It is still bone dry so the dust was kicking up everywhere.

We brought him in and saddled him, worked on a couple of little things that he has well down to get him paying attention and led him out to the pen we were using. No round penning or working him until he was paying attention (read dripping sweat and too tired to do anything) just a few cookies and simple cues and he was ready…

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Added by Noche Miller on May 10, 2017 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

What happened to my horse!

I was going to ride him, the weather was good, someone was home, the wind wasn’t howling and I had been working him regularly. The time was perfect.

I pulled him from their pen and he spooked his way through the gate. I saddled him and lead him to where I planned to ride him to start with some ground work. He took off running and bucking. Where was my horse? The one who responds willingly and happily, who doesn’t care about tarps and balls or anything else I could throw at…

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Added by Noche Miller on May 9, 2017 at 9:22pm — No Comments

Can it get any more fun than this?

My daughter chose a ball for us, pink and purple of course. We had been targeting a ball getting ready, now we had a ball specially for this, it had stopped snowing and I had a moment. He walked up to the ball and touched as soon as he got in the round pen. I clicked him but he didn’t want a treat, there was some grass. I guess that works. I left him to eat some grass so he wouldn’t be so desperate for it when we started working and got the rest of my stuff. When I came back we got down to…

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Added by Noche Miller on May 8, 2017 at 10:29pm — 1 Comment

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