Off-Center Forehead Whorl

The pinwheel-like hairs that swirl in an opposite direction on a horse’s face are called whorls. On other locations of the body, the whorls are also called swirls, crowns, angel kisses, cowlicks or trichoglyphs. (I’ve never heard of a trichoglyph, so that can be the Word of the Day). Each horse’s whorls are distinctive to them, like fingerprints, so recording the location and appearance of whorls is an old form of identifying horses, especially ones without white markings. Also, it has long been discussed that whorl placement is an indicator of temperament and potential in a horse. Hair whorl analysis to predict behavior? The science on this is shaky but intriguing. The nervous system and the skin, which contains the whorls, come from the same embryonic layer, so it’s plausible that whorl patterns, body characteristics and temperament could have shared relationships. The above-the-eye and to the left orientation of this filly’s irregular whorl may indicate a complicated but trustworthy disposition, according to whorl experts.