In this two part series I’ll continue to describe how horses express their positive emotions through body language and occasional vocalizing.
Curiosity:
A curious horse will have all of his attention on something. He will have his ears up, or his head down if the object of his curiosity is on the ground. He may spend a lot of time sniffing it and he will explore the object with his mouth. He will lick, bite, move his lips on, and may paw at it. A curious horse is the opposite of a scared horse. Curious horses will approach objects and follow them around with a calm look on their face and their ears up.
Relaxation:
When a horse is relaxed he will have his head lowered, holding it level with or below his withers. (However, horses will sometimes have their heads held slightly up as when resting or sleeping). He will have a hind leg cocked, resting his weight on his toe. His tail may occasionally swish side to side in a relaxed manner. He won’t have any tightness in his body. Horses will also lick their lips and blink their eyes, especially during training. When they do this it means that they are thinking about something. As far as licking goes the horse could be thinking about something that you just taught him, but he could have been thinking about something that was not good. Such as if the horse gets worried in the cross ties, pulls back, breaks the ties, and gets free. He has just gotten himself out of a situation that he didn’t want to be in. So in his mind he just figured something good out, but for you he has not learned something good. When horses blink their eyes they are thinking and relaxed. Worried horses don’t blink their eyes, instead their eyes get wide as they stare at what is worrying them. Blowing the nose is another sign a relaxation. Horses will blow during a ride usually once you have warmed them up and they are feeling comfortable with their surroundings.
Excitement:
Horses will often play together in the pasture especially during a temperature change. For example, horses are more excitable when it’s rainy or the temperature has dropped lower then it normally is. Horses will show their excitement by running around, kicking out, bucking, nipping, and rearing. They will prance around with their heads held high, nostrils flared, and their tails held up.
Playfulness:
Playful horses are usually full of energy and they will buck, rear, prance, and run around. But when they do this they will be relaxed and have a good expression. Horses that are tight and have their eyes wide when bucking and running are afraid of something. When playing with a buddy they will nip each other and kick out, but not in a mean way. Usually horses will play with another horse but they will also play by themselves.
Contentment/Happiness:
A happy horse will have a nice expression on his face. He will be relaxed and have his head down or lowered. The best example of a happy horse is one that is eating. He will have his ears up or slightly dropped to the sides of his head. Sometimes he will relax so much that the bottom lip will hang down from his mouth. Occasionally horses will sigh as well, telling us that they are completely relaxed.