We tend to think that faces of people and snouts of horses are symmetrical, but the pictures below show that they are not. In fact, they are sometimes very asymmetrical.
The right and left sides of horse’s snouts and nostrils can differ in size and shape.
Every horse is naturally asymmetrical. In the 17th century, Grandmaster in the art of riding Antoine de Pluvinel (1552 – 1620) already described the natural asymmetry of horses. Also, François Robichon de La Guérinière (1688 – 1751) and Gustav Steinbrecht (1808 – 1885) wrote about this phenomenon in their books.
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Almost every horse bends naturally more easily to one side than to the other. This is a result of the natural bending of the spine. The spine is bent from neck to tail, and can be bent to the left or to the right. Some horses have a continuous ‘’S’’-curve in their spine.
The right bended and the left bended horse have a:
Right-bended..
Concave side….
Left-bended
It’s likely that your horse is either right- or left-handed.
In the wild it makes sense to have a hoof preference, because in emergencies, one side of the body will take the lead.
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Step 1: Place some food about 5m in front of your horse.
Step 2: Encourage it to come forward and eat the food.
Step 3: When it begins to eat the food, note whether the left or right hoof is placed furthest forward.
Step 4: Do this twice more.
Just like people, horses can be left-handed or right-handed and asymmetrical.
This PDF gives you a checklist to find out if you have a right or left bended horse.
Click on the PDF or on the link to download the checklist.
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