Reading the Horse How to listen to communitcate horse through their language

Horses don't speak but they communicate through their body. If you look very closely, you'll find out your horse has been trying to talk to every day -Sheikha Hissa Hamdan Al Maktoum

Most every species of animal have a ´body language.´ This includes Humans of course. With humans, understanding how to read body language can open a whole other world of understanding and reading peoples true intentions and emotions.

Learning to read the equine body language is beneficial in improving communication in training. It improves relationships between horse and person if you listen to what your horse is telling you via their body language. And you can detect you when a horse is in pain or in discomfort.

Ears

Most equestrians know how to read where a horses attention and how they're felling based on the orientation of their ears. Or at the very least, they simply know that horses communicate information through the position of their ears. If you are an equestrian, this will probably be review for you.

Essentially, the rotation and angle of the ear tells you a lot of information about a horses mood and where their attention is.

Depending on the intensity of rotation and downward angle, the ears present different information. I will present a few examples below to show you what each intensity typically means.

Quiz Time!

Now try determining horses moods based off the position of their ears. There are more than one correct answers so if your answer is similar than you are correct.

Answer: this horse is annoyed. Because you can see the front whites of its eyes, it is looking behind it. It might be angry at another horse(s) that got too close for comfort. Possible answers: angry, upset, mad, aggressive, etc.

Answer: this horse is also angry. Based on the shadow to the left --suggesting another horse out of frame-- and the downward position of the neck, and forward movement, I would guess that this horse is ¨herding¨ another horse away from a resource such as another horse, food, water, etc. Possible answers: angry, upset, mad, aggressive, etc.

Answer: this horse is mostly content, mildly concerned. The slight tension above the eyes likely has something to do with where its attention is directed. It´s safe to say this horse is paying attention to something behind with its right ear, and something in front of it with its left ear.

EYES

Eyes are the window to the soul" - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Understanding the body language behind horses ears is just once piece of the puzzle. Interestingly enough, eyes play the biggest role in conveying information about how a horse feels.

Some equestrians will be surprised to hear that horses also communicate their mood through their eyes and the muscles just above their eyeball. If you can differentiate between a tense eyes and a relaxed horse eyes, you can confidently determine the mood of the horse.

It is very important to note that horses who have a constant concerned facial expression that appears void of emotion, usually means that they are emotionally closed off or mentally shut down. This can be because of drastic reasons such as abuse in training, or because they have been in a lot of pain for a very long time. But the all to common reason is that they have been ignored by humans so much that they stop trying to communicate to them all. This is a tell-tale sign of a horse that is on the path of shutting down mentally, if it is not already.

Now look at what a relaxed eye looks like.

Quiz Time Again!

Try and read horses eyes by yourself now!

Try to determine which emotion(s) each of the horses in the images below are expressing: mainly through their eyes. Feel free to also look at their ears, muzzle, and neck for help in determining their mood.

If you want to quiz yourself one step further, hypothesize what the horse is looking at. For instance, if they look concerned, what do you suggest they are concerned about? There is no right or wrong answers for this question.

I will reveal the correct answer(s) italicized right below the images so don´t scroll too far past each image until you have an answer in mind.

Answer: this horse is scared about something. Other possible answers include: nervous, anxious, tense, scared, alert, startled, on edge, etc.

Answer: this horse is relaxed but still alert. If it were not alert, there would be no tension around the eye, and its eyelid would be more closed.

Answer: The tension in the muscles around this horses eye in suggests that it´s concerned about something or someone. Other possible correct answers: nervous, tense, unsure, etc.

If you take any information away from this, I hope you take the knowledge of how to read a horses eyes. As well as knowing what its shape means in correlation to horses mood and health. I think it is the easiest body language to learn because you likely already know how to read peoples eyes. And horses eyes can be a lot more expressive than humans!

Horses are very keen on body language, and what I refer to as “presence”, and expression. They know quite a bit about you before you ever get to ‘em. They can read things about you clear across an arena. -Buck Brannaman

Muzzle/Mouth

The muzzle/mouth communicate information as well.

A great example of this: foals will sometimes raise their neck, push their head forward, curl their lips and click their teeth together to other horses and sometimes people. This is called clacking. They do this to communicate that they are submissive and mean no harm or trouble. Essentially they are relaying, ¨I am just a harmless foal. Please don´t hurt me!¨

On the other side of the scale, you have biting which is an aggressive behavior.

And switching the scale back again, you have yawning: one of the better known body language behaviors that mean a horse is releasing stress. They are returning to a state of relaxation. Don´t get confused though. A horse has to have been stressed in order to release stress via yawning for example. Other examples would include release through aggression or movement. This is the answer to why lunging, if done correctly, works in calming a horse down.

If you watched the video linked above, you probably noticed that the horse had their nose close to the ground; almost touching the dirt. This was a behavior that was rewarded by the person multiple times so the horse would do this on the lunge line. You might be wondering why would she want to have her horse lunge with their head so low to the ground? The answer is this: lowering of a horses neck is another behavior in which horses release stress . And as she mentions towards the end of the video, is also a fantastic way to engage the horses core muscles and get them to lift their back. This, over time, will build muscle over the back of the horse. This is referred to as the top line. A well developed top line is essential to the longevity and health of the horses back/spine if they are to be ridden frequently.

Tail

The tail is one part of the horse you might of not thought of as an instrument in body language.

An active swishing tail can just be a horse swatting at flies or it can mean that a horse is discomfort/pain. Usually if a horse is excessively swishing its tail under saddle, it is in pain because of poor saddle fit, poor rider balance, or the pressure on their mouth from a bit/harsh hands. There are many other factors as well.

NECK

The amount of tension in neck muscles, and the height/extension of the neck determine the level or relaxation or tension/excitement in a horse.

A high a tense neck, fixed ears, and wide eyes communicate that a horse is freaked out (ie. sees a plastic bag or tarp flapping in the wind) or exited by something (ie. another horse)

"You cannot train a horse with shouts and expect it to obey a whisper" - Dagobert D. Runes

Legs

The weight distribution and position of the legs offer information on the horses level of relaxation as well as if they have pain in their legs or hooves.

A resting hind leg usually suggests that a horse is relaxed because horses will do this when they don´t feel they need to make a quick get away. In other words, when they feel safe. But this does not always mean that they are relaxed. It can actually mean the opposite when in combination with conflicting body language. For example, a rested hind leg in combination with a tense neck, eyes, and muzzle strongly suggest that a horse is anxious/nervous. This behavior is usually seen when overloading a horse with stimuli being used in desensitization. So be mindful when desensitizing your horse because a resting hind leg can mean the opposite of relaxation.

Excessive swishing tail: tail swishing is a normal horse behavior that they use daily just to swat away fly's. But excessive tail swishing in combination with other signs of pain or discomfort in the face usually mean that a horse is irritated.

Put Your Knowledge to the Test!

What is the horse closest to the camera communicating?

Answer: this horse is sadly communicating that it is in a lot of pain. From the gaping of the mouth, the pain is coming from the bit in its mouth. It is opening its mouth in an attempt to lessen the painful or uncomfortable pressure from the bit. Further question: What could be done to prevent/reduce the amount of pain this horse feels in its mouth? Answer: softer hands, softer bit, go back to basic reign cues--flexion.

Conclusion

Reading only one part of a horse to understand their body language can give inaccurate readings. But in combination with each other: the eyes, muzzle, ears, neck, position of feet, and tail; you can accurately determine what that horse is communicating to you. The better you get at reading body language, the better your relationship with horses will be and the smoother training them will go. Horses are often subtle in their communication. But with the right knowledge and a trained eye, you will strengthen your relationship with horses and unlock new possibilities.

"A good rider can hear his horse speak to him, a great rider can hear his horse whisper, but a bad rider won’t hear his horse even if it screams at him."