by Marilyn Austin

Created on: April 13, 2009   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

Horses are highly intuitive creatures, and are masters of body language. Because they are prey animals, these abilities to size up another animal or human have been an important means to their survival. Being herd animals, they communicate their thoughts to others primarily using body language, along with certain verbal responses. Horses also have a keen sense of smell and hearing, and when they are out of sight from one another, they will call out to each other.

Understanding how horses communicate is important if you want to have a working relationship with one. Too often, people will attempt to handle or ride horses, yet have only vague ideas on how to tell a horse what you want, much less understand what the horse is thinking or feeling. Many people will say that horses are unpredictable, but I find that by understanding what a horse is trying to convey by his body language, it's not all that hard to know what is going on. Many people could avoid unpleasant experiences if they would learn to read a horse by looking at the horse's body language. It's also important to learn how your own body language is interpreted by the horse.

Most common signs observed is by how a horse positions its ears. Ears forward, they are interested in something, or they are alert to what is going on around them. Ears forward could mean they are interested in the apple that you are eating, or the mint that you are unwrapping. It could just as easily mean they have seen something that has caused them alarm, or heard something that has startled him. At the other end of the spectrum of "ear position" is the "ears pinned flat back". This means the horse is giving someone (often another horse) a warning. It could be a gesture the horse uses to tell you "Don't cinch me up so tight, so quickly. When a horse pins his ears back and lowers his head, then they are seriously offended. It also is used to warn a lower ranking horse in the herd to stay back. This visual cue is often all it takes to get the message across, at least to another equine.

Other common body language cues the horse gives involve his tail; when exhilarated and running freely, the horse almost always has its tail high in the air. When being asked to perform, the compliant horse holds its tail relaxed and down, the horse who is objecting to the request will swish and "crank" its tail. It could also mean boredom, or that he is uncomfortable. Of course, it could just mean that there is a pesky fly that is bothering him. Trying to understand what these signals mean will help a person to understand the horse, and hopefully learn to give signals back to the horse that it can easily understand.

Riding and handling a horse can be a great pleasure when you have learned to understand how the horse is feeling, or what he's thinking. Horses are not nearly as unpredictable as many would have you believe. They almost 100% of the time use body language to let others, human and other horses alike, know what their intentions are. Horses quickly observe what each other is feeling - aggressive, alert, alarmed. People who learn these signs shorten their learning curve in becoming a partner with a horse. It's not about control, it's about understanding communications.

Learn more about this author, Marilyn Austin.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.