Horses and their body language the beauty of these animals

It is essential to know the body language of horses, as they are extremely empathetic and sensitive animals.

These wonderful Equidae have been accompanying humans for millennia. Therefore, the body language of horses has a certain connection with our intuition: knowing it thoroughly is a guarantee of a clear and harmonious relationship with them.

In the following lines, you will be able to know the most typical signs of their language, which is not at all simple. If you have ever seen a herd of horses run, you can imagine that their almost millimeter harmony is the product of a fluid and detailed communication capacity.

The ethology of the horse and its notes

To know how to properly interpret the signals emitted by a horse, you have to start with the biological basis of its behavior.

Here are the most common:

• They are prey animals: horses have predators in the wild, so it is to be expected that they are shy, distrustful and skittish. Therefore, the approach to a horse should be calm and gradual, always letting the animal set the pace.
• They are gregarious: horses live in groups of many individuals, so communication between them must be effective in creating a stable hierarchy and responding to threats.
• Physical contact is a very important part of their communication: friction and light touches with the head transmit a lot of information in horses, so neck and head signals are very important when reading their behavior.
• They are extremely empathetic: their sociable character and intricate communication make equidae animals that easily recognize moods in other beings. Therefore, calm should not only be external when dealing with them: it should also go inside.

Horses and their body language

This section is divided in this way to facilitate the understanding of each of the parts of the horse and what they can transmit, but keep in mind that the attitudes are shown with the whole body, so it is necessary to integrate them into a general picture. We present the body language in horses by body sections.

The eyes

The eyes, although not as expressive as those of a human, do send signals about their mood. In general, the opening of the eyelids is the easiest thing to interpret: if you have squinted eyes the horse will be calm and, as you open them more, it indicates the level of alarm you feel.

When the sclera is clearly visible, the Equidae is experiencing dread.

The ears

The ears of horses are especially expressive, perhaps the part of their body that can give you the most information. They are the best indication of where the animal is directing attention, as they will always point them towards their point of interest.

However, through them you can read many other expressions, such as fear, aggressiveness, pain and even attraction.

Here are the most common examples of its expressiveness with the ears:

• Tension in the ears and orientation towards a point: muscle tension is almost always a sign of alert and / or expectation, so following the direction of the ears will tell you what is alarming your equine companion.
• Ears stuck to the head and oriented backwards: it is a sign of defensive aggressiveness or anger.
• Relaxed and loose ears, without pointing in a specific direction: it indicates relaxation or that the horse does not perceive any threat in its environment.

In the body language of horses is also the mouth

The lips are a flexible and continuously moving part in horses, so it is sometimes difficult to interpret.

Here are some of the most typical gestures:

• Retracted lips with bare teeth and gums: threat, desire to bite.
• Chewing without food in the mouth: release of tension due to discomfort.
• Relaxed and sagging lips: tranquility or drowsiness.
• Flehmen reflex: When the horse raises the upper lip exposing its teeth, it is showing sexual arousal.

Neck and head position

The neck and head are usually harmonized with the gestures of ears, eyes and mouth, so if you analyze all the signs of these parts together, you will have a clear idea of what the intentions and mood of the horse are.

In this list we present some of the most common neck and head postures in equidae:

• Sharp pushes with the head: this are a warning sign. If ignored, it can end in attack.
• Gentle pushes with the head: demand for attention.
• Neck and head hanging slightly towards the ground, without tension: relaxation.
• Neck totally droopy and flaccid: drowsiness.
• Neck and head raised and oriented towards some stimulus: the horse is active, excited and alert.
• Movement of the head to the sides repetitively: discomfort, attempt to avoid the situation or stimulus.
• He raises his head and pushes it away before a stimulus abruptly: he is not comfortable with it, do not insist.

In the body language of horses also this tail movements

The tail, although sometimes not paid much attention to it because of its habit of scaring insects with it, is a very expressive part of the body language of horses.

When you see a horse whipping its tail, this means that it is nervous, irritated or angry. If, on the other hand, he has his tail raised, it is that he is excited or excited. Like dogs, horses also hide their tails between their legs when they are frightened. In this way, they show fear and submission.

To conclude some final details about the body language of horses

As you can see, there are many details that must be taken into account when it comes to reading the expressions of an equine. In fact, there is even a project that aims to record every small facial gesture of horses to interpret it later through a computer program.

In any case, if you are dealing for the first time with these noble animals, trust your instinct and observe carefully: the signs of tension, fear and joy are very similar between our species.

Share on Facebook

Tweet