It’s important to have a great trainer to learn the fundamentals of good horsemanship and riding, and also a good support team (farrier, veterinarian, et cetera) for a horse’s physical wellness. But what about a horse’s emotional wellness or spiritual connection?

Horses are great feelers. As sentient beings, they have emotions like we do, and feel love, joy, gratitude, and connection with each other and with us. They can also feel anger, frustration, fear, and sadness based on current life circumstances or past traumatic events.

As prey animals, we know they easily move between sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) states.

Clearing Stuck Emotions

As a trained animal communicator, I find it’s very helpful to be a part of a horse parent’s support team when it comes to enhancing their horse’s emotional fitness. We often focus on just the physical nature of the horse, and yet there is a great mind-body connection that also needs to be addressed.

I’ve found in many sessions that behavioral issues are linked to emotions that need to be acknowledged and released. I’m grateful for my training in various emotional clearing techniques that greatly benefit horses (and humans, too!) when they are used in communication and healing sessions.

Horses can have stuck emotions such as “lack of control” or “frustration,” and can be more governed by fear and past traumas rather than feeling grounded and connected to current reality.

When I first adopted my horse, she was guarded and had stuck emotions around abandonment that I helped her to clear, and then our bond grew through trust.

All animals, like humans, can also have heart walls. This is something Bradley Nelson, D.C., discovered in his Emotion Code work. These can prevent horses from receiving and experiencing the good that is here for them now. Sometimes horses also need to release emotions they still have from old barns and owners where they used to live and weren’t happy, so I’ve helped them release the past and start with a clean slate.

In addition, horses are often seen as incredible spiritual beings because they spend a lot of time in a meditative state and can be very still and loving. Many people feel safe crying around them and feel that they evoke awe and wonder.

A Voice and a Choice

These spiritual components are another part of good animal communication, and we can delve into what our horses truly want to be doing in their lives and with their humans. Some want to be great athletes and enjoy physical exercise and competition with their humans; some want to be teachers and healers in equine-assisted therapy or coaching; and others would prefer to be companions without specific work.

We can learn their unique preferences and purposes when we learn to speak with them. It helps them to feel understood, honored, and content when they are allowed to have a voice and a choice.

Many times, horses want to know our expectations for them in our riding relationships. They want to know if and when they will be moved or transported, and if a herd member will be coming or leaving.

They want to express their thoughts about the other members of their support team, such as their vet, farrier, trainer and rider. They also want us to know what bothers them and how they are feeling. All of that information can help their emotional fitness once we are able to understand them better and meet their needs.

What many horses love to communicate is their heart’s desires for their life (their “purpose work”) and how they want to help their humans. They want their humans to know how much they are loved and often want to share how they see their humans. They can have great guidance for how their humans can heal and improve all their relationships.

When animals can get messages across, it makes both their lives and ours easier. They can ask for what they need and want for themselves and for us as well. We don’t need to guess or become frustrated; we can learn how to be helpful to them.

Time after time, I have witnessed a horse’s relationship with his human grow stronger immediately after a session because he finally feels like he was able to fully express himself.

Try It Yourself

In addition to hiring a great animal communicator to be a part of your support team for your horse, you can also learn how to become one yourself. Whether you want to become a professional or you just want to use the skills personally, there are many benefits to animal communication.

At the core, it comes down to a horse feeling seen, heard, valued, and appreciated. Here are some of my top tips and tools to begin horse communication.

1. Permission: Ask your horse if you have permission to chat. I’ve found they always want to talk, as long as it’s a good time and they are in a restful state and not in the middle of playing with friends or taking a lesson, et cetera.

2. Space: Create a specific time and place where it’s quiet and you can bring a journal and really focus on listening and practicing.

3. Intention: Set an intention to connect from your heart space to theirs. You can even put one hand on your heart and the other on your horse’s heart and breathe for a minute. Feel how much you love your horse, then set an intention to receive information from him. Start with simple questions, such as, “How are you feeling today?” and “What are you enjoying today?”

4. Surrender: Let go of attachment to an outcome by staying curious and having fun. Keep it light, simple, and flowing. Assume you already know this skill and can do it! Stay open to how you might receive information, as we are all a bit different with our intuitive skills.

For instance, I am more clairaudient, so I hear what the horses say. If you feel and sense a lot, you may be more clairsentient, and if you see pictures or images, then you may be more clairvoyant.

5. Receive: Keep your body posture open and stay in your heart space. Breathe. Don’t overthink. Smile if you find yourself in your head. Go back to how much you love your horse. And allow your imagination to lead. Just write down whatever comes forward.

6. Gratitude: Thank yourself for trying and being willing to experiment. Thank your horse and share why this practice matters to you. Set another time with your horse for consistency and to improve over time.

How to Clear and Ground

In addition to communication, healing work is also important to offer horses. Equines are often at their safest, for themselves and others, when they feel grounded to their space and land. They feel their best when they are in their own energy signature and not carrying stuck energy.

Clearing: One of my favorite ways to help a horse is to clear his energy field by gently clapping around his body. First test the clap to make sure he doesn’t startle, then move around his body with the intention that stuck energy will leave. Watch to see how your horse likes this and if he is receiving (for example yawning, blinking, nodding, getting sleepy). I have a video demonstrating this on my YouTube channel.

Grounding: You can also put your hands around a horse’s hoof by the coronary band and gently press and imagine your horse connecting more fully to the ground below. Ask for healthy Earth energy to come up into your horse as well. Do this on each of the four hooves. This is great to add to a hoof picking routine or to do before you ride.

Enjoy these new experiences with him and you’ll grow your human-horse-heart connection. Your horse will thank you!

This article about using animal communication for a deeper connection with your horse appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Using Animal Communication for a Deeper Connection with Your Horse appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Have you ever wondered if your actions could be influencing your horse’s progress? Subtle changes can help promote the best possible partnership with your horse.

Kim Walnes is one such expert on the subject—you may remember her name as individual and team bronze medal winner at the 1982 World Three-Day Event Championships in Germany and the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event winner the same year.

But even more so, she’s known for her incredible bond with her mount, The Gray Goose, during their banner years from 1980 to 1986 as members of the United States Equestrian Team.

You might assume their star-studded career began as a walk in the park, but that’s not the case.

“When I started riding Gray, he already had a bad reputation. He bit, kicked, and threw people off. He also bolted. I could see in his eyes and in his attitude toward life that, in his mind, the best defense was a good offense,” recalls Walnes, who also is a coach and clinician with The Way of the Horse.

Channeling Compassion

Horses are excellent teachers. Before Walnes acquired the legendary Gray, she had a 3/4 Arabian named Hunraff (“Raffy”). Raffy taught her to recognize the signs of fear in a horse. Due to early life experiences, both Raffy and Gray started out distrustful of humans.

“I stopped trying to control [Gray’s] behavior and began letting him know I was a safe space to be around,” says Walnes. Channeling earlier learnings from Raffy, she understood that aggression can come from a base of fear. “I was compassionate toward [Gray], and everything shifted. The cool thing with horses is they forgive us once we understand.

“Listening ensures understanding,” Walnes continues. “What I see a lot is, ‘My horse has to be disciplined.’ He can’t stop when he says he needs to—it’s ‘one more lap.’ When we listen to the horse and say, ‘Sure, I understand how you might be more tired than I thought, let’s stop here,’ they will start working with us.”

Fear & Confidence

“If you’re anxious in any way, for any reason, all the horse will feel is fear,” says Walnes. “Safety is his No. 1 priority. We’re supposed to be their leaders and protecting them, and if they feel fear from us, they will be looking for what’s wrong in their environment. The horse picks up on your emotions immediately.”

Walnes recommends taking a moment to ground yourself with reassurance.

Try these steps:

1. Calm your nervous system by putting a hand on your heart or stomach.

2. Observe your surroundings to confirm there is no danger.

3. Reassure yourself by voicing, “In this moment, we’re safe.”

4. Express your desire to work together when approaching your horse. Voice your anxiety and request mutual patience.

“Explaining things to a horse is like a miracle,” says Walnes. “Because they’re like, ‘Oh, OK.’ Horses are highly intelligent, sentient beings; we just don’t speak their language. In order for your horse to trust you, he must know you trust yourself.”

Acknowledgement & Presence

Try to be aware of common under-saddle errors, says Esther Kuhlmann, coach at Northland Equine Lessons and Training just outside Kansas City, Mo.

“A horse is a flight animal,” explains Kuhlmann, who was part of the Danish Team as a young rider. “The more you pull on the reins, the more the horse pulls against you. And when he goes faster, you [grip with] your knees because you are nervous—that is just human reflex. If you come forward in your shoulders and you hang on your knees, then the horse is just gone. You have to remember to let go.”

To help, Kuhlmann suggests groundwork and longe line lessons. Longe lessons help you concentrate on your riding form. She also recommends a lesson on a schoolmaster to teach you how the horse is supposed to feel.

Riding with tension can contribute to a horse’s stiffness and tension.

“I always go to the horse first to make sure there is nothing wrong with him,” says Kuhlmann. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, it is the rider.”

For a more fluid connection with your horse, she recommends practicing yoga and Pilates.

Riding with clarity is important for horses, “rather than going out vaguely and riding circles,” says Walnes.

“Training is like playing ‘hotter or colder,’” she continues. “It’s helpful to have a clear yes/no signal with the horse. You need to give the horse signals that he is on the right track, such as using a word like ‘good’ or a rolled ‘R’ sound, rather than the old paradigm that no punishment means he’s doing great.”

Tone & Behavior

“Horses understand us and what we say,” says Walnes. “They pick up the thoughts behind your words. When we label them or call them demeaning names, they feel the same as a human would feel in that situation. They tend to live up to expectations, and it builds resentment.”

Do your best to speak kindly and to be mindful of your emotions and bad days, such as an off day at work. On such days, Kuhlmann asks that students opt for a trail ride or longeing instead of a lesson.

“Otherwise, the horse feels it immediately,” she says. “Horses are sensitive and can read your heartbeat from 5 feet away.”

Consider this guidance when looking to improve the bond with your horse.

This article about under-saddle communication appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Improving Under-Saddle Communication appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

“Remember, a horse doesn’t speak English.” 

The professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) was instructing students. The class is designed to teach how horses’ non-verbal communication can improve the doctor-patient relationship. Both horse and patient respond similarly to a quiet, focused, peaceful approach.

Studying how a horse responds to the manner, tone, touch, and eye contact of a human helps future doctors become sensitized to what contributes to rapport. The approach to the patient can improve their willingness to provide information, confidence in the doctor, patient satisfaction, and even their health outcome. 

All of those factors are important for patient-centered care.

Barnyard to Bedside

The course connecting the medical student to the horse for non-verbal skills was originally called “From Barnyard to Bedside Manner,” and began with Allan Hamilton, M.D., at the University of Arizona in 2000.

The inspiration struck during a medical round. Hamilton, a horse trainer, neurosurgeon, and professor at the University of Arizona had medical residents following him at the hospital when they rushed into a patient’s room following a series of stressful emergency conditions that had put them behind schedule.

The patient bolted out of her chair and shrieked. The atmosphere calmed with a smile from students and a handshake.

“But what if this had been a horse in a stall and we had stormed in without warning, like we had just done with this poor woman?” says Hamilton. “That horse would probably have kicked someone.”

Adaptations of this training have also been used at Stanford University and other healthcare colleges in the United States.

Hamilton considered what a horse needs when you’re approaching him to gain confidence and reduce fear; this is similar to what the patient needs. A human may be polite, but a horse will show you exactly how you affect his environmental sphere.

Beverley Kane, M.D., program director for Stanford University, expanded the Barnyard course foundation into training called “Medicine and Horsemanship,” an equine-assisted course for doctor-patient relationship. Its dual purpose is teaching a physician how to approach and communicate with a patient while also preserving the medical student’s well-being, since the stress of medical education with its long hours, urgent demands, and time pressures can affect patient care and the physician-patient relationship.

Part of the training is to set aside concerns and distractions before approaching the patient, the same state of mind needed to work with a horse.

Hands-On Horses

Maria Katsamanis, Psy.D., is a horse trainer, psychologist, scientist, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at RWJMS. She suggested a program similar to Hamilton’s to the department.

Rutgers formed a credit elective version of the Barnyard course in 2011, called “Horses for Healers: Improving Bedside Manners.” A new dimension was added, integrating psychiatry so medical students could hone their non-verbal skills, including gestures, touch, empathy, tone, attitude, and eye contact.

The two-week experiential course takes place at Spring Reins of Hope & Growth, an equine-assisted therapy program in Three Bridges, N.J. The lecture (didactic) section was eventually removed from the two-week course and more in-person equine education was added, a change based on student course evaluations requesting more hands-on time with the horses. 

Katsamanis collected data to measure non-verbal skill for medical education both before and after instructive exercise in the course.

On the value of non-verbal communication, she says, “Without it, understanding is like an iceberg floating on water. You only see the surface of it; you are only getting 10 percent of the information.”

Taking a Pause

A course exercise called “Meet Your Patient” is based on meeting your patient where they are.

At a session, a third-year medical surgery student approached a horse with what is called “false confidence”: braced, not breathing naturally, and with an assertive energy. The horse walked away.

A psychiatry student, who was already well versed in clinical experience, went up to the horse, and the horse started following him. The third-year student observed others having success.

He asked the psychiatry student, “How did you do that?” He learned that he should try it a different way. Horses sense pressure and give feedback, and they can pull back and resist.

Students are encouraged to be introspective, to ask: “Did I really get there faster by pulling or pushing the horse?” They learn how to gently encourage the horse forward.

Part of the method is learning to “take a pause,” a concept Hamilton promoted as a horse trainer. The third-year student mentioned above took two or three minutes with the horse, in a softer approach, explaining to him, “Here’s what we’ll do. I’m going to be with you.” The method was the opposite of “We need to get here and do this.”

Not An Intellectual Exercise

The state of mind for gaining trust in the course applies to horse training as well. There is discussion about not approaching the horse—the patient—as an intellectual exercise.

Katsamanis explains that doctors are taught a mindset of “I am supposed to know everything.” Psychological self-disclosure is encouraged in the way doctors are trained.

Witnessing students’ successful solutions to working with horses and asking fellow students, “How did that work?” if they don’t know, is an important teaching tool in both the barnyard and the hospital environment.

Trustworthy Communication

The stress isn’t going to go away, Katsamanis says. But the students learn how to practice methods of reducing pressure. One way is called “adaptive breathing behavior.” Katsamanis instructs students to “breathe like a horse.” She asks them to whuffle, much like a horse when relaxed. 

“Breath is a very important non-verbal biomarker because it’s the one that animals recognize,” says Katsamanis. “The breath, like heart rate (another biomarker), signals to animals about danger or any shifts within the herd. Interestingly, patients at bedside act similarly to prey animals. They are less likely to believe your words. Breath will convey what emotion is truly occurring. Breathing also influences heart rate. Breath is the one variable that all mammals share as a common denominator when it comes to non-verbal communication. We teach students how to be aware of the influence of [breath] and other biomarkers so that what they say truly lines up with their body language. Doing so will help align their communication.” 

In an exercise called “billiards,” a horse enters the arena from his stall, moving freely. The student in the center goes to connect with the horse, approaching slowly, with a gentle voice, as they would need to do for a human patient.

Then he or she guides the horse towards the “pocket,” set up with a pole on the fence on one side and cones on the other side of the makeshift chute. There are groups of students that coordinate for this exercise, illustrating the team effect in a hospital setting. For example, if the receptionist, a nurse, or part of medical staff isn’t helpful, the patient experience and satisfaction with their doctor is further affected.

The exercise is analogous to contending with hospital-patient challenges. If something doesn’t work with a horse (patient) or a horse is nervous, the doctor can try different or less pressuring methods next time.

The Horses

The horses used for the medical program include a Lipizzan, an Appaloosa, a former reining champion Quarter Horse, a Thoroughbred ex-racehorse, and a gray mule. The equines all live in a herd and are only used for emotional therapy work, not riding.

Insights into personal relationships are drawn; for instance, the Quarter Horse may try to resist the direction of the student. The teacher says, “Where else in your life do you get pushed around?” and “You need to set boundaries.” 

Authentic Response

In order to set up this kind of academic training, a college must have a person who is knowledgeable about horses and medical education. A psychology background is also important, and the school needs to have access to a horse herd for therapeutic education.

Experiential training with the horse can provide sensitivity to an animal who is direct in his response and not filtering through a polite manner. Since medical students practice with patients who are actors, they may not get to realize the breadth of necessary non-verbal skills. Future physicians learning from an authentic response discover how to respond both to humans and to the horse. 

This article about horses helping in the training of medical students appeared in the June 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Horses Helping in the Training of Medical Students appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

How the Study Worked

Using hidden speakers, the researchers played recordings of animal sounds and human voices talking gibberish to four species: domestic horses (Equus caballus), Przewalski’s horses (Equus przewalskii), domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica), and wild boars (Sus scrofa).

The study tested 12 pairs of domestic horses from 14 different breeds and 12 pairs of domestic pigs of the same breed in Switzerland, along with 12 groups of Przewalski’s horses and 10 groups of wild boars in various wildlife parks throughout France and Switzerland.

To prevent domesticated animals from reacting to specific words they had previously learned, the researchers hired professional voice actors to mimic positive and negative emotions by talking in a nonsensical way.

They would first play positively charged sounds (two to six sounds, depending on the species and the sound duration), pause for 1 minute, and then play negatively charged ones, or vice versa (in a random order).

Two important measurements of the animals’ reactions were valence (ranging from negative to positive) and arousal (ranging from calm to excited levels).

All sounds were played at the same intensity, ensuring that the differences were only in terms of species, valence, and the order of valence (positive or negative sounds played first).

To determine whether the animals had the ability to distinguish between positive and negative sounds, researchers recorded their behavioral reactions, including ear position and body movement.

How We Speak to Horses

Their results showed that both horse species had a stronger reaction to negative sounds than to positive ones; domestic horses would respond faster, and Przewalski’s horses would spend more time walking and less time standing. Such reactions were the same, regardless of the playbacks produced by their species, closely related species, or humans.

Speaking to Pigs

Pigs, just like domestic and Przewalski’s horses, could tell the difference between positive and negative sounds from their own kind, closely related species, and humans. However, wild boars reacted more to positive and negative pig calls than to human voices or calls from other wild boars.

Although all four species reacted less and were less attentive when human voices were played compared to calls of their species, they still showed some response. This might suggest that horses have some ability to distinguish whether you are talking positively or negatively to them.

The findings here also indicate that the evolutionary history and domestication of animals may have influenced their ability to understand and respond to emotions.

A Similar Study

This study ties well with another one from 2019, which showed that horses associate individual human voices with previous experiences they’ve had with them.

For example, when hearing voices they had positive previous experiences with, horses would react with increased attention and indicate a positive emotional state (hold their ears forward; their left brain hemisphere would get activated).

When they heard voices associated with previous negative experiences, horses would react negatively (hold their ears backward; their right hemisphere would get activated).

Such reactions are the result of the way horse brains work. Using the left eye and left ear activates the right brain hemisphere, which is responsible for processing sounds expressing negative emotions (like sadness or fear). Similarly, horses will use their right eye and activate the left hemisphere to process vocalizations expressing positive emotions (for example, happiness).

This research not only showed that horses can recognize different human voices, but can also remember the valence of past experiences with these voices. So, when they hear a human voice, their reaction is also influenced by the valence (positive or negative) of their prior interactions with that person.

The Takeaways

Both of these studies show that positive interactions with horses create positive expectations and a favorable attitude in animals. In contrast, negative experiences result in negative emotional states, and horses become less willing to interact.

If you approach and speak to animals in a more positive, friendly way, they should react less and become calmer and more relaxed around you.

This, of course, should be everyday practice, but these studies still provide an intriguing insight into the emotional intelligence of horses and gives interesting perspectives on communication between humans and animals that affects their welfare.

This article about how we speak to animals appeared in the May 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post How We Speak to Animals appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Equine Vocalization 1: Whinny

whin•ny; /(h)win/

a loud, high-pitched neigh.

What it is: The vocalization of a whinny is a horse’s social call. In the wild, the whinny is how horses find one another. Each horse has a unique whinny that you (and other horses) can tell apart.

What it Means: This call means, “Where are my friends?” Or, “Who is willing to be my friend?” The horse is lonely and looking for a herd he knows or any horse that is willing to be a herd with him.

How to Respond: He’s feeling insecure, so don’t punish him. It’s common for horse handlers to feel embarrassed or frustrated when their horses are whinnying constantly. Resist your frustration and calmly ask the horse to work. Here’s how:

1. In the moment that your horse is whinnying, put him to work and engage him in an activity, so he has something to focus on. Keep his mind engaged in a positive and effective way. Don’t be harsh or rushed, but provide direction.

2. Ask your horse to turn right, turn left, back up. Provide kind and constant direction until he focuses his attention on you. Once he relaxes, allow him to rest. If he whinnies again, repeat.

3. If you can get your horse to feel the same sense of comfort he feels with the herd, then he won’t feel alone anymore. As you build your relationship over time, the horse will feel safe and no longer need to whinny when he is with you.

Vocalization 2: Nicker

nick•er; /nikr/
a soft, low, breathy whinny.

What it is: The soft purring sound your horse makes implies “Come to me.” It can also mean “Look at me” when a stallion is showing off to a mare.

What it Means: It’s most purposeful between a mare and foal; if the foal wanders off, the mare will nicker to the youngster to call him back. It’s also the sound you hear each day at feeding time which translates to “Come bring me the food.”

How to Respond: When a horse in a wild herd orders around another horse and takes away food, he is the dominant horse. If your horse nickers at you to ask for individual treats, he may think he’s dominant, and that can impact all aspects of your relationship. Here’s what to do:

1. Don’t let the nicker be a signal that you should go give your horse extra food or a treat.

2. If the nicker only happens when you’re feeding all the horses at a regular feeding time, that’s acceptable.

3. Don’t feed a horse in the moment that he is showing aggressive behavior. Wait for him to calm down and only feed when he is calm—even if it’s just for a moment.

Vocalization 3: Snort

snort; /snrt/

an explosive sound made by the sudden forcing of breath through the nose.

What it is: A horse’s snort is an alarm. If a horse does it and holds his head high, he has detected a threat.

What it Means:  When extremely alarmed, the horse may add a rattling sound to the snort, or he may just blow as a milder warning. The snort may also be used during play; when he wants to practice his flight response, he’ll often snort first, and then run. You may hear your horse snort on a trail ride if he detects a strange scent. Here, in the Rocky Mountains, the horses will often snort when we approach elk on the trail.

How to Respond: If you hear a horse snort, stop and make an assessment. It could be one of two things:

1. Look where the snorting horse is looking. There may be something in the distance that is a legitimate threat, or it could be that the horse is fearful of something benign.

2. The horse could be snorting at you if you’re doing new groundwork or establishing boundaries with a previously unhandled horse. The horse needs to have some deference for the handler (and he will come to trust you in time). However, remember that a snorting horse is feeling threatened and may be willing to act out.

(Editor’s Note: This abrupt type of alarm snort is different from the relaxed snorting that is associated with horses in a contented state. Read more about the meaning of horse snorts here.)

Equine Vocalization 4: Squeal

squeal; skwl

a long, high-pitched cry or noise.

What it is: Most often heard from mares, but any horse may squeal. When horses squeal, it is usually a warning of horse-on-horse violence.

What it Means: A mare will squeal to repel the advances of a stallion, but it may also indicate two horses meeting for the first time. They will sniff one another, then one will squeal as a threat of aggression. Often one horse will back down after a squeal, but if they both remain engaged, a strike or kick can come next. If a person is in the middle of horses as they become aggressive, it can be very dangerous.

How to Respond:

1. Make sure to get any people away from horses that are squealing.

2. If horses are loose in a field and getting used to one another and you hear squealing, you don’t have to break it up, but it’s a good idea to supervise.

3. Evaluate the situation, use your best judgment, and make sure that all horses and people are safe.

Key Takeaways

In this article, you’ve learned about horse sounds and vocalizations, including the whinny, nicker, snort, and squeal, as well as what each sound is, what it means, and how to respond.

This article about equine vocalizations originally appeared in the July 2017 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post A Glossary of Equine Vocalizations appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Obvious signs such as biting, bucking suddenly, not wanting to be saddled, reluctance to go forward under saddle, or short strides we can often interpret, but there are times when we have to dig a little deeper and keep our spidey senses alert for other signs of pain.

Case Studies

My three horses have all communicated pain to me in different ways, some obvious and others harder to detect. Bailey Girl, my American Paint Horse mare, is extremely thin-skinned—a field of long grass tickles her belly and makes her uneasy.

She is typically girthy, but at one point she tried to bite me when doing up her girth. In addition, when I lifted her front legs to pull the skin out from under the girth, she reared.

I touched her girth area, she was fine; ran my fingers down her back, no response. Was she just being cranky? Did she not want to be ridden, and if so, why?

An appointment with my equine massage therapist revealed she had sore shoulders, a place I didn’t even think to look. Her saddle was custom made for her, but as she aged, her shape changed. But arthritis in her knees was the No. 1 culprit.

The diagnosis from my equine masseuse, in consultation with the veterinarian:

Due to Bailey Girl’s arthritis in her knees, and lack of flexion in them, she has to lift more from the shoulders (trapezius and rhomboids) to clear the ground with her feet. This resulted in very tight shoulders and lower neck, which in turn caused rearing when the front feet were picked up too high and the knees flexed too much.

My Appaloosa gelding, Bailey Boy (yes, I ended up with two horses named Bailey), had a completely different way of communicating pain. On a typical day on the trails, Bailey wouldn’t mind if the herd was quite a distance ahead of him. Yet all of a sudden, he began to get anxious when they were more than three horse lengths away.

It turns out he was very sore in the spine and neck, an injury caused by a previous trailer accident. Now when he starts to worry about being with the herd out on a trail, I know it is time for his massage and/or chiropractic appointment, depending on the severity of the soreness.

Then there’s my big-boned guy Major, a Paint/Belgian-cross. Nothing seemed to bother him. He is thick-skinned and never cranky as long as his belly is full.

One day while being groomed, he began to nip or head-butt me whenever I walked in front of his chest area. I knew he was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t figure it out.
After a visit from the massage therapist, it was revealed that he was sore in the sternum area. We had recently started him on small cavalletti training and cross-rails, which was causing muscle strain in that area.

The diagnosis from my equine masseuse, in consultation with the veterinarian:
Major’s snappiness around his sternum originated from the pectoralis and belly muscles being torn slightly from jumping. Due to his size and conformation, these muscles were over-taxed when he stretched out to clear the jumps.

A follow up with my equine chiropractor revealed the following:

Musculoskeletal variations, spinal misalignments. Tight bilateral pectorals. Decreased lateral flexion of the cervical spine right. Sternocostal ribs restricted left 4 and right 3.

Communicating Pain Under Saddle

This made me think about how many other ways horses communicate pain. Signs under saddle, like tail swishing, head tossing, skin twitching, hesitating or refusing fences, trouble bending in one direction, or trouble picking up or holding a lead can be construed as stubbornness, but perhaps we need to slow down and take a deeper look.

Linda Hauck, a lifelong horse woman and designer of the patented Spursuader Spur and Tapestry Comfort Girth, took pain in horses seriously.

“I invented the products to make horses more comfortable when being ridden,” she says. “They are ‘talking’ all the time about what we do with them and what we put on them. I thought about how to make the spur kinder but still effective, and how to make the girth more comfortable than a tight, leather belt so it could breathe with the horse but hold the saddle on securely.

“When a horse dances at the cross-ties or mounting block, he is anticipating pain,” Hauck continues. “Holding his head and neck higher than usual helps with the discomfort. Choppy, uneven movement throughout the ride, holding their breath at a canter, and having difficulty picking up a lead are all ways of communicating pain or discomfort. Rushing is often a key that they are running away from the discomfort of a saddle or girth.”

Keeping an Eye Out for Horses Communicating Pain

When not under saddle, horses can communicate pain by pacing, pawing, rolling or kicking at their sides, but less obvious signals, such as an unusual posture, depressed facial expression, pinched nostrils, sunken eyes or blinking or staring at a particular area can all be signs of pain.

In order to realize your horse’s early attempts to communicate pain, it’s a good idea to study his daily activity and normal routine. If your horse stops rolling in his favorite dirt pile, stands in the paddock with a lowered head, and decreases his normal activity, these can all be early signs of discomfort.

Go online for exercises to help sore or girthy horses with a certified neuromovement trainer at www.horseillustrated.com/working-with-pain.

This article about how horses communicate pain appeared in the July 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post How Horses Communicate Pain appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.