Study: Majority of Horses Considered ‘Lefties’

Wither measurements of 490 horses taken with a flexible tracing tool have shown that the majority of horses have larger measurements on the left side of their withers as compared to their right, suggesting they are “lefties.” Dr. Katrina Merkies, with the University of Guelph, and a team of undergraduate students digitized and compared years of measurement data to come to this conclusion.

The study included a variety of breeds, including finer-boned breeds like Thoroughbreds and Arabians to heavier breeds like Warmbloods and draft horses. Overall, 60 percent of study horses had larger muscles on the left sides of their withers.

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Merkies and her team considered laterality as a possibility for why horses have a tendency to build muscle on the left. Laterality refers to a horse's preference for using one side of his body. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and this is where fearful stimuli are processed, the team reported. Merkies noted that horses will often look at an object they are afraid of out of their left eye or step off trailers with their left front leg first, both of which reinforce the notion that these horses are “lefties.”

While examining differences in body sizes and shapes, the scientists also found that horses of medium height were more likely to have more-curved backs than their brethren of other sizes. The team hypothesize that this is because medium-sized horses are often ridden by adults, whose saddle might not properly fit, being too long in the seat and applying pressure to the lumbar region.

Pressure from an ill-fitting saddle can cause pain and affect performance, as well as prevent the muscles from building in a symmetrical way. Merkies stated that proper and twice-yearly saddle fittings are imperative for equine comfort and the development of balanced muscles.

Read more at Equine Guelph.

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 A Little To The Left: Does “Sidedness” Indicate Stress?

German researchers have completed a study that shows horses tend to become more “left-eyed” and “left-legged” when they are in stressful situations. This shift suggests that horses may be using the right side of their brains when confronting challenges; the right side of the brain deals with emotions. When the horse learns to handle the stress, they tend to revert back to left-brain hemisphere processing. The left side of a horse's brain deals with routine, reports The Horse.

Researcher Isabell Marr suggests that changes in laterality could be an effective tool in monitoring how horses are handling changes in their management or training. A shift to the left suggests a horse is stressed. Observations should be made about how often the horse uses his left side compared to his use of the right.

Sensory laterality is a horse's tendency to use one side of his face more than the other; using one side of the body more than the other is motor laterality. A stressed horse may shift left, but when he learns to cope with the stress, he will generally shift back to the right. Laterality is also associated with personality. Horses that tend to step forward with their right front, which indicates left brain dominance, tend to be more optimistic toward new stimuli.

The researchers followed 12 3-year-old sport horses as the geldings were shifted from being field-kept in a herd with no work regimen to box stalls and the beginning of under-saddle training. The scientists looked for correlations in laterality shifts and fecal stress indicators.

They found that when the horses were first moved into the box stalls that they preferred to use their left eye and ear for exploring and listening. By the second week they preferred the left leg over the right, observed by which leg they placed forward while eating.

The scientists conclude that laterality could be used to monitor how a horse is handling environmental changes; ongoing laterality may indicate a negative effect on his welfare.

Read more at The Horse.

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