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Communicating With Horses Part 1

Unlike animals such as dogs and cats, where much of their behavior can be understood by the noises they make, horses communicate almost purely with body language. In this two part series we will first cover how the horse displays negative emotions through his body language.

Anger (Discomfort, Defensive) :

The horse’s ears will be pinned back almost flat against the neck, the face will tighten with a hard look in his eyes, and his lips tighten and may also be pulled back. He may swish his tail in a quick motion while keeping it tight against his body.  More noticeable signs of anger are bared teeth, lunging or running at another horse, and kicking.

Frustration/Impatience:

Pawing is the most common behavior horses exhibit when frustrated. You will see this a lot at feeding time when the horse feels like he hasn’t been fed quickly enough, or when standing tied. Individual horses may often have quirks that they do when stressed such as head tossing, mouthing the bit, chewing or licking objects around him, and swaying.

Irritation/ Discomfort:

Usually horses show irritation because of flies. They will shake their heads, stomp their feet and rapidly swish their tails to remove the pests. Horses will react in much the same way when they are irritated by their rider. They might shake their head or root on the bit if it’s hurting them. Sometimes a horse will not perform a certain maneuver or gait if they are sore from a piece of tack or the rider’s position. (Example: sticking the tongue out of the mouth to avoid the pain caused by the bit).

Worried/Nervous:

Horses showing nervous behavior will be very alert, looking around in all directions with their eyes wide. They may breathe out of their nose loudly, making a snorting noise. Worried horses will have their head and neck raised to take in their surroundings and spook at a lot more since their awareness is heightened. The tail may also be held up, clamped down, or bend in a “J” shape away from their body.  A nervous horse will also pace in a stall or paw if tied up. Under saddle a worried or nervous horse could buck, bolt, spook, and shy. Horses will also neigh or whinny when worried because they are searching for their buddies.