Posted by QuickReadAbout.com Staff in Excluding “Mr. Ed,” horses can communicate only through body language. But they DO communicate. It is up to the owners and trainers of horses to learn to read that body language.
The first and foremost thing to remember is this: horses are herd animals. Horses don’t like to be alone. They don’t feel safe when they are alone. Horses want the company or other horses or, barring that, the company of their human. Horses that are left alone can and do develop mental and behavioral problems. When a horse is having behavioral problems, the first question to ask is if he is alone too much.
A horse almost always gives a body-language warning before he kicks or bucks. Look at the ears and the tail. When a horse’s ears are standing up, that means that the horse is happy and all is well. When a horse’s ears are laid back, that means that the horse is NOT a happy a camper; something is threatening him, or he is irritated by the behavior of another horse or a human. Heed the warning or get kicked or bucked off.
The horse’s tail is another indicator of what the horse is feeling. The tail tells the tale, so to speak. Unlike a dog, a horse doesn’t wag his tail when he is happy. A twitching or swishing horses’ tail is horse body language for “things aren’t going well.”
There isn’t space here to discuss all of a horse’s body language, but it is of the utmost importance for horse owners to learn to read that body language. A horse communicates when he is sick or just not feeling well with body language. Horses never behave badly out of spite or just to “get even,” and if the owner learns to read the horse’s body language, both the owner and the horse will be a lot happier.