It's Not What They Do, It's How They Do It!

There are a few subtle things that I look for before deciding what something may or may not mean. I think the horse’s facial expression and his general posture are very important. It is partly the look in his eye and partly the position of his ears. A horse can look mad or playful or scared and it is often a reflection of how he feels and should not be brushed off as unimportant. When his head is up with a large wild eye and he is doing a lot of very blatant posturing he is certainly relaying a challenge.

When his head is up and he bolts with a frightened look in his eye, this is often a scared reaction not a challenge. When his head is down with a soft kind eye and his movements more comfortable and deliberate he is telling me that he is relaxed and willing to try.

When we have an idea about how the horse feels towards us we can use this information to help us respond accordingly in our training methods. If he is doing a lot of posturing we need to work on developing respect before he will be prepared to learn efficiently from us. If he is scared we may need to slow down or change what we are doing to be less intimidating before he starts to lose ground. If he is comfortable and learning what we ask then we can reward him for doing so and carry on.

The next time you work with your horse take a few minutes to see what he is feeling. Try not to overlook anything he does. Does he look happy, bored or confused? When you ride him does he swish his tail because of the flies or because you are bothering him? Watch his ears as you ride. Are they forward and alert, cocked toward you in concern or flat back in anger? When you are aware of what your horse is saying to you, you are more capable of diffusing a potential wreck or offering a comforting hand when it is needed and not resented. If you are not sure what something means, try to see a bigger picture. Watch his eyes, ears and tail, if the eyes are scared and the ears half back and the tail clamped he is probably scared. Putting his signals together will help form a clearer vision of how he feels. Individually the eyes, ears or tail may be inconclusive.