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

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).