Equido Articles:

ITS ALL IN THE DETAIL…..?

We have discussed the subtleties of body language used by horses in previous articles and how most of us either consciously or unconsciously read this language when we are working with our horses. We instinctively know when our horse is annoyed, anxious, upset, calm or happy even though others may not be able to see the subtle signs that we have grown to know and understand.

Even the best of us though have only begun to see the very basic and exaggerated communications from our horses and totally miss the absolute subtleties that they use on each other. In other words we can only speak baby language as far as the horse is concerned. We may be able to understand the “words” the horse is using but can’t see the “interpretation or emphasis or infliction” that can totally change the meaning of what is being said. For example, take the following sentence:-

“I will eat the cake.” If I put into italics the word that is emphasised then the meaning of the sentence and how I should interpret it changes:-

“I will eat the cake.” - this could mean that I and no one else in the near vicinity will eat the cake and I am stamping my authority on this.

“I will eat the cake.” - this could mean that I am being prevented from eating the cake and I am underlining my determination that I will eat it, or I may be reassuring someone that I will eat the cake eventually.

“I will eat the cake.” - this could mean that I intend to eat the cake and not throw it away (or at anyone!)

“I will eat the cake.” - this indicates that the cake is important somehow or draws attention to the actual cake itself.

“I will eat the cake.” - this indicates that there may be more than one thing that is edible and that I am making a choice as to what I am going to eat.

So you can see immediately that a simple sentence of five words can have at least 5 different meanings by simply emphasising a particular word. Now try to imagine how many more meanings could be given by the volume, tone or emotion put into each of the different interpretations and we could have at least 10 more versions.

The same can no doubt be said of the complex body language used by horses and we are only beginning to be able to see and understand this deep and subtle form of communication. Like words or the alphabet used by us, postures or gestures used by the horse can be built up into complex methods of communication by combining lots of different individual expressions. This means that in order to understand clearly what is actually being said by a horse we must consider a whole range of signals not just the obvious one that the horse is presenting to us. I was working with a particularly troubled horse through an issue he was having and we had been “discussing” his problem for some time with out either of us giving or listening fully to the other. I totally misinterpreted his state of mind resulting in me being injured in the process. At one point of the training session the horse “switched off” and stood still with one hind leg resting, his eyes half shut and his head lowered. This stance taken up by horses in a field would instantly have been recognised as the horse dozing, relaxed and at rest and this is exactly what I “read” this horse was doing. However (to this day I am still not sure exactly what I missed) I couldn’t have been more wrong. This horse was finding himself in a really stressful situation and instead of listening to what I was saying he had simply decided that he could not possible do as I asked. He was becoming more and more upset in his mind but was not projecting any extreme behaviour to let me know how upset he was. His apparently relaxed switched off stance would have been a clear warning to other horses that he was at the end of his tether and needed to rest and if pushed once more would explode. Of course I did not see this and “pushed” this resulted in the explosion happening as he went from 0 - 30mph bolting straight at me throwing me through the air as he hit me square on. Another horse would have understood his behaviour but it has taken me quite a few years and lots of experience to see now that he was warning me as clearly as he could. I had already used “basic” body language to communicate with him and so he simply assumed that I understood the depth of this language.

A friend was telling me of an incident that happened recently as she was collecting electric fencing from her field. He arms were full of equipment as she made her way up the field and the horses decided at that moment to charge up the hill after her in a “fun” gallop. Of course my friend shouted her warning to them as the careered towards her and they immediately backed off looking rather ashamed. The dominant lead mare then walked beside her following her up the field, staying a few feet to the side of her parallel to her line. The horse had lowered her head as though she were rolling a ball along the floor and was licking and chewing.

My friend asked me what this meant and I replied that the head lowered position could be interpreted as either a gesture of submission given by a subordinate to a superior or a threat gesture. If combined with licking and chewing and passive expression with the body positioned parallel or just ahead of the other horse then it was a clear apology for some type of behaviour and acknowledgement of the other horse’s authority. If however the neck was lowered with a stiff snaking movement from the head, curled back nostrils or lips with a snapping motion of the mouth and laid back ears then this was exactly the opposite. The horse behaving like this would be underlining their authority on the other horse and would take up the position of either directly behind or slightly to the side and behind the subordinate in what would be called the “driving” position. This is often seen in stallions that are driving mares or a mare driving a foal but is often seen in our own domestic herds by both mares and geldings if a dominant horse is hindered or annoyed by a subordinate horse.

In the case of my friend’s horse she was definitely being “apologetic” to her and showing deference to her authority (no doubt she felt a little guilty about charging up the field at her mum!).

Recently I have been trying to take note of as many signals a horse is giving me and not just assuming that if a horse does so and so then it means so and so. I have begun to realise that one body position or expression can mean many different things and that sometimes a horse cannot help but give out the wrong message due to psychological problems. For example, we have a horse on our yard who, if you were to meet him for the first time, you would assume was a very vicious biter who will savage you as soon as look at you. He will lay back his ears, wrinkle up his nose and curl his lips tight in a grimace as you approach, he looks to all intents and purposes as though he means to bite your head off. However, if you talk to him and give him a pat he immediately flips his ears forwards and becomes the sweetest tempered and most patient and forgiving horse I have had the pleasure to meet. His “tough guy” image is just that, a defence against people who have hurt him in the past. He has learned that if he looks fierce then the bad people will go away but the nice people will talk to him and be friends with him. How did I figure this out? I simply read the rest of his body language, he was not tense, he did not give any other warning signs such as tail swishing or foot stamping, he did not look away for a split second prior to a lunge or charge, instead he was showing a passive, almost nervous body posture.

There is also a train of thought that begins to emerge as one observes equine body language and that is can horses lie? One of the greatest ethos’s for all natural horsemanship systems is that horses are honest and open and never lie about their intent and I totally agree with this ethos when we are dealing with normal mentally balanced individuals. However there have been certain instances where a horse has deliberately displayed passive, submissive gestures to a human and when the human returns the compliment by becoming passive themselves the horse switches to an aggressive and on one occasion a full blown attack on the human. I am still not certain if the horse deliberately lied or if there was a far more complex and deep communication going on the subtleties of which we stupid humans totally missed. I will continue to study this theory and perhaps come back to it in a later article.

I am by no means fluent in equine language and I still have a lot to learn but I am slowly but surely beginning to see so much more going on between individuals. I suggest that anyone who has the opportunity to do so should sit for a few hours just watching a herd relaxing and grazing together. It is fascinating to watch the politics of herd society being played out before you like a mini soap opera. It is even more fun to try to interpret what is being said and how each individual will reply. Horses like apes are very political animals whose herd society is an intricate web of alliances between influential friends and animosity between rivals. There is a constant juggling of positions and networking going on, even in very stable social groups that hardly change. Individuals can squabble and make up in the blink of an eye with barely a twitch of an ear. Interchanges can be almost invisible to us but if we take the time to observe and try to understand we will begin to see so much more and understand just what our horses are actually saying.