17/01/2024
Comprehensive information about how to read & identity signs of relaxation and stress / concern / fear in horses
Working with a range of horses over the years, from top bred jumpers to wild horses around the globe, my understanding of horse behaviour and body language has grown considerably, allowing me to pick up on subtle signs of tension and stress in the horse before they move into a reactive state.
This has been very influential in my training, and also in my ability to recognize pain, fear or discomfort symptoms in the horse.
HEAD HEIGHT: The first sign of tension I look for occurs in the height of the horses head. The higher their head, the greater the degree of tension, the lower their head the greater the degree of relaxation (except, however, when a horse has gone into a deep freeze response which is usually accompanied by a lifeless eye, splayed legs and a frozen stance).
When watching horse's in the wild, the most relaxed you'll ever see them is when they are eating. If something spooks them, they will often lift their head as they try to sight the source of the percieved threat. The same goes for horses in domestication.
EYES
Horses who are worried or in pain often have tightened muscles around the eyes, and in some cases can show the whites of their eyes (though some horses naturally have more white showing, especially in appaloosas).
Wrinkles beneath the eye, where the skin has pulled upwards, often indicates a horse in extreme pain or fear. Horses with a pain eye should be checked for ulcers, be treated for grass intolerances, be assessed by a vet, and/or have their poll checked by a chiropractor (as an injury or strain to the poll area can cause a horse headaches, and migraines in extreme cases).
MUZZLE
Horse's who are stressed or in pain often have tension showing around the muzzle, which in some cases can look like the horse is sucking in its cheeks. Flaring of the nostrils or the horse taking shallow breaths is also a massive indictaor of stress within the horse.
EARS
When a horse becomes worries, their ears will go from soft movements left, right, forward and back, to very tight movements. This is usually accompanied by signs of tension in the horses eye and muzzle.
DIAPHRAGM
When a horse is under stress, overwhelmed or in pain, it will often go into a slight freeze response as a coping mechanism to overwhelming stimuli. When this happens, the horses airways will constrict, allowing less oxygen into the body, the heart rate will slow, and a large portion of blood in their legs will come up and surround the organs as the brain prepares for injury or death.
In this state, the horse will experience a sense of paralysis, will become ridgid in their body and will take short, shallow breaths; showing both through their nostrils and their expansion of their diaphragm. A lot of people mistake a horse in a freeze response to be calm, because they are not trying to flee or fight.
When I am working with horses, I am always watching and reading these very important communication signs from the horse. The goal is to pick up on early signs of tension; a slight raise in the horses head, a twitch of their muzzle, a flick of their ear or a widen of their eyes, before their behaviour esculates into a full blown fight, flight, freeze or fawning response.
If a horse has become triggered (by old unprocessed stressors which we refer to as traumatic memory) or stressed, it is my job to give the horse space and time to switch from their survival brain to their thinking brain.
SIGNS OF RELAXATION
Signs that a horse has switched from the survival to their thinking brain include:
Lowering of the head, softening of their eyes, ears and muzzle, deep fluttery breaths or an exhale of breath (this occurs when the horse has come out of the freeze response), licking of their lips (the saliva glands switch off when a horse goes into survival because they are not needed for short term survival, so when the horse comes out of the response, those glands switch back on), shaking their head, rubbing the inside of their knee (this is believed to occur because when a horse comes out of the freeze response blood begins to travel back down their legs, causing their artery to tick) and yawning (also a sign that a horse has come out of the freeze response and occurs because the horse is trying to get more oxygen back into the body).
When I am working with horses, I never reward them when they have done the right movement or moved towards the right answer, but rather when they are able to find relaxation in what I am asking them to do. This training process encourages the horse to become conditioned into their thinking brain, rather than feeling the need to go into a survival response.
NOTE: If a horse is not able to find relaxation in their work then too much pressure has been applied, the horse is overstimulated (ie under stress because of outside factors such as being separated from their friend or in a new environment), or something else is causing them stress within the body such as physical ailments or chemical imbalances.
In many cases, however, trainers unknowingly condition their horse into a flight, fight, freeze or fawn (people pleasing) response, causing the horse to live in a constant state of survival, anytime it is worked or handled.
For example, most people release pressure when a horse has frozen up or is displaying conflict avoidance behaviours and so the horse begins to become conditioned into a freeze or fawn response. These horse's learn to shut down or people please in the face of overwhelming stimuli and often become highly dissociated (occuring when the horse develops freezing behaviours) or extremely anxious (occuring when the horse develops fawning behaviours)
On the other end of the spectrum, if a trainer is not confident, they might release pressure when a horse displays a fight or flight response (such as bucking, rearing, napping, bolting etc), causing them to become conditioned into the fight or flight response. These horse's learn to use escape behaviours or dominance behaviours in the face of overwhelming stimuli and often are considered 'dangerous' or diffucult horses.
In my www.amandawilsontraining.co.nz series, I show you how I recognize and reward the horse when it has switched on its thinking brain and found relaxation. I also talk through the many reasons why a horse is not able to progress in its work or regulate its own nervous system.
I will also be doing full interviews and break downs of these survival responses in both horses and humans, topics I find extremely fasinating!
Photo by Taylor 📸
