The glashtin is fabulous creature and a shapeshifter in the folklore of the Isle of Man.
Etymology
Also called cabyll-ushtey, howler, howly, cow-lug sprite.
Description/Morphology
The Glashtin most frequently will appear as either cows with horses’ heads or alternatively as horses with cows’ heads. The bovine headed Glashtin are considered generally harmless and stupid while the ones with the horse head and cow body are thought to be very clever and manipulative. They are generally of regular farmyard proportions, though may sometimes be smaller. In humanoid form the Glashtin either appear as a handsome young man with curly dark hair and sparkling eyes, or as a strange child-like being. Either way their ears will be pointed or like those of a cow or horse.
Behavior
The Glashtin is a shapeshifter that can appear as a man, an hybrid or an animal (cow or horse). In each form he is incredibly muscular and looking for someone to ride him, a journey which always leads back to the still waters he calls home, where his rider discovers they can't jump from his back, and they get pulled to their deaths. However, glashtins can be put to good use, as farm hands, if you can control them
Glashtin may often be heard rather than seen, however, hence their alternative name of ‘Howlers’. Their eerie cries may have the benefit of warning humans about approaching storms, however the Glashtins’ wailing is likely to arise out of joy not fear and some people suspect that these creatures may actually cause harsh weather. They get very riled up with thunderstorms, and locals do hear them howling as a storm approaches. They're scared of fire and vulnerable to burns.
See also
Quote
In 1859 it was reported that an animal of this kind was to be seen in a field near Ballure Glen, and hundreds of people left Ramsey in order to catch a sight of it, but they were doomed to disappointment. The people about Glen Meay believed that the glen below the wateffall was haunted by the spirit of a man who one day met the Glashtin, or Cabbyl-Ushtey, and, thinking it was an ordinary horse, got upon its back, when it ran off and disappeared in the sea, and the rider was drowned. from Folklore of The Isle of Man by A. W. Moore, 1891