Horse Talk - How We Communicate with Horses

Yes, it’s possible to speak horse! Like learning any language, becoming fluent takes time and lots of study, but with a few basics on communicating with our saddle pals, it’s surprisingly easy! I could go on and on about this subject, so I’ll try to get this into blog post size!

All of the examples below often work together to build a large vocabulary in the world of horses.

1. Movement and Stance

Many people don’t realize how much your posture and how you move send messages to your horse! Body movement is the #1 means of communication in the horse world. We can harness this huge part of the language by imitating how horses interact when they are in groups or pairs.

‘Open’ or ‘Closed’ Shoulder:

When leading a horse or walking among horses in a pasture you can call a horse to follow you by ‘opening’ your shoulder. Rotate the shoulder and arm nearest them backward while walking gently forward. This is an invitation for them to join you in walking beside you. If you need your horse to not follow you, you can ‘close’ the shoulder by bringing it just past where it would normally rest. Remember, horses pick up on the slightest change in your body position and your movements don’t have to be very exaggerated.

1. Eye Contact

Horses, for all their strength and speed, are prey animals. Their fight-or-flight instinct is strong. And that means when we can’t tear our eyes away from a gorgeous horse we’ve just seen, we might be causing them anxiousness. Constant eye contact is a sign to a horse of a predator, like how a lion stares steadily before an attack. Horse etiquette calls for us to not hold eye contact for lengthy amounts of time. So when using our eyes, we need to do it as horses do among themselves. The lead mare of the herd uses her eyes to calm, correct, and direct the horses around her.

Directing Movement:

When training a horse in a round pen, you can control a horse’s speed with the use of eye contact. Through eye-on-eye contact, you are telling the horse to move forward at a fast speed; by moving your eyes down the horse’s body, you direct the horse to slow its speed, and when you move your eyes away from the horse to the ground behind it, you’re asking

the horse to stop.

1. Voice

Note, that I put this one at the bottom of the list. Horses are not extremely vocal creatures. But sound is still a part of their world. A mother horse might comfort her young foal through soft, low nickers or a herd leader could alert the others of an approaching danger through a short, loud, snort or squeal. Keep those pictures in your mind when choosing your tone while working around horses. They might not understand our every word, but you can be sure that horses understand our tone and our intent.

Correcting & Calming:

When you need to correct a horse, your actions should match the severity of their actions (Of course without ever resorting to any form of violence). Did your horse bump into you while you were leading it? A tug on the lead rope and a quick “Back.” might be all it takes. Did a horse bite at you? Use a loud and short “No!” followed up by moving the horse away from you through your eyes, and body movement. To calm an excited or fearful horse, low tones and a steady hand will communicate to the horse that you are in control and won’t let something hurt them. This is the reassurance all horses seek!

And there are three different ways you can easily and clearly communicate with horses! I’ve read thousands of pages and watched hundreds of videos on horse communication and we can glean amazing direction from those who’ve been studying the horse language long before us. But the best source for learning to talk horse will always be the horses themselves! They have so much they can teach us if we’ll only take the time to learn. So next time you find yourself around horses, pause. Simply watch and let your fluency in the language of horses grow!

*Stay tuned for Part 2 of Horse Talk coming soon!

Until next time,

Happy Trails!

Madison & Dolly