Body Language 101 - Part One: Intros and Ears

I don't distract well. Are you kidding? I have enough trouble finishing tasks when I'm completely focused on them. Interrupt me, and everything just goes kaflooey. Where was I? What was I doing again? Argh! So frustrating. My thoughts these days too often feel scattered and I the older I get, the more trouble I seem to have reining them in. The feeling is best summed up by Jackie Chan's comment, "Your focus needs more focus." in the Karate Kid. That's just so, well, me :oP It boggles my brain how I can remember the words of a song I learned in the first grade, but am totally unable to remember what on earth I did with something I just had in my hot little hands ten minutes ago. *snarl* I'm pretty sure if I could get back all of the time I've wasted searching frantically for things I put somewhere [or another], I'd wind up with an extra year at my disposal (and wouldn't that be nice?). Maybe, just maybe, if I stopped setting things down in random places I wouldn't have to search for them so often. I'm thinking....velcro. What do you think?

One of the things that's fun about horses is having an open line of communication when training or, as I'd rather think of it, playing with a purpose (sounds lots more fun that way, doesn't it? ;o) Anyway, the horses will sometimes ask questions or offer behaviors when we're together to see how I react. I try to be attentive (though sometimes I'm oblivious) and offer immediate feedback; either a "No, we're not doing that right now", "Good girl/boy" or a "No ma'am/sir" depending on the question asked or behavior offered.  If you are not quite sure what I'm talking about when I say an offered behavior, a simple example would be when you are teaching your dog to lay down but he sits (the behavior offered) when you cue him to lay. Usually, he'll look to you for approval right away (the question asked). This is because he is not 100% sure exactly what it is you want him to do, so he offers a certain behavior to see if that's what you want. Does that make sense? I'll add that Mad Max, [photo inset] our resident hoovenile delinquent, wins hooves down for not only asking the most questions but also receiving the most "No sirs!", interspersed with regular "Absolutely NOTs!". Sometimes I do have to work really hard not to laugh at some of his antics (click here, here and here for some examples), even when he makes me crazed. Of course sometimes the horses just offer up a behavior out of the blue...

Case in point? A long time ago we used to put a heavy rope across the hill to keep the girls down at the bottom while we brought in a new roll of hay for them. Horses are not real big on waiting patiently when it comes to important things like hay and we didn't want them running around by the gate to the boys' pasture while it was open, either. Once we finished the girls' stalls, I would just close their doors while we did the hay. One day last year, after a long day, I realized I had forgotten to lock the doors and the girls were already out after finishing supper. Nuts. Since they stayed well away from the pasture gate while DH went in and out, we decided to not worry about the rope any more. Several months later I was headed up the hill to the gate to let DH out to get a new roll for the girls, when I looked back to see that Rina had stopped everyone at the bottom of the hill and was looking at me expectantly. I hollered out "Good girl Rina, hold!" and continued up the hill to open the gate. Now I really didn't expect that to work, but believe it or not they all stayed there. We ended up with a nice compromise: The girls now wait politely at the bottom of the hill - without a rope - but I tell them to "come ahead" as soon as DH gets through the gate with the hay. Isn't that a hoot?

There are just a handful of days left in the school year. Hard to tell who's more ecstatic; the kids or the faculty. Probably a tie. *grin* I finished this tatting project to match a homemade candle [photo inset] for a gift, and I also have a baby blanket to finish. Once school's out, it will be a boatload of cleaning and organizing on the home front, and then - IhopeIhopeIhope - I can get down to some serious organizing of the thousands of photos on my hard drive, completion of the pages on this blog, plus a massive overhaul of the Epic Farms website. Amazing, the lofty goals you can set with a functional internet connection. *laugh* Of course I'll probably have to start all over again trying to figure out how to use the web design software; safe bet it's all been changed since the last time... Old dogs and new tricks - here we go again! *facepalm*

As always, thank you so much for reading this far and have a blessed week!

A Bit of a Dilemma

I'm not an expert by any means, but I consider body language to be the single most important thing we can learn when it comes to being around horses. Horses are inherently honest and forthright communicators and just as we expect them to learn to understand us, so should we make the same effort to understand them. It is the "failure to communicate" that so often causes problems between people and horses. By the time a horse kicks or bites, he has usually run through several milder attempts to communicate his feelings to us which were either ignored or (more likely) went completely unnoticed. How many times have you heard someone begin relating an incident with, "I don't know WHAT happened..."

The more I've studied horse's body language (both at home with our own and out and about at various places) the more fascinated I become as to the depths and the degrees of it. Watching horses and other people interacting with horses at public events can help you gain an even clearer understanding.

I've used my own photos where possible and tried to find as many additional photographs as I could for you (without infringing on copyrights or stepping on toes) and I hope you find it every bit as amazing as I do - I just LOVE this stuff! :o)

PHOTO: Cinnamon (L) and Katie (R) We really miss Katie's antics; she was a little stinker and always managed to get into trouble (she was sold back to her previous owner, who decided he wanted her back).

Although equine body language can be pretty easy to understand superficially, it is actually a very complex topic. I have tried hard to share the subtleties and nuances of what I've learned on this lens (without being too confusing) and hopefully have managed to make it kid friendly and easy enough to understand to include those with little to no horse knowledge too. I didn't want anybody to feel left out :o)

Protocol Please: Introduce Yourself

Would you ever consider running up to a stranger on the street, grabbing them in an enthusiastic bear hug and then giving them a big smacking kiss on the cheek? Of course not! As ridiculous as that example may sound, that's just what we're doing when we march right up to a horse, plant ourselves in their personal space and start petting them without so much as a by-your-leave.

Now don't get me wrong, horses are pretty tolerant of our "lack of manners", but that's no reason for us not to practice them. Almost all horses (with a few rare exceptions) love to have attention from people; it's only that they would prefer to be asked first. This is easy enough to accomplish: simply walk up to the horse and give them a moment to check you out (extend your hand with fingers curled under if you like; this somewhat mimics another horse extending his nose in friendship or greeting). That's all there is to it!

PHOTO: Champ exchanging introductions with one of our "unofficial" visitors :o)

Body Language Basics

Horses are masters of subtlety, which oftentimes cause problems for we humans (as masters of large bricks). The horse is primarily a visual communicator (we are primarily auditory), and they are capable of communicating a vast array of thoughts and feelings through body language. Just as we use voice inflection and volume to talk-Talk-TALK, so do horses engage in specific degrees of body language. Communication can be talking - using one or two specific areas, e.g. the head and ears; a more emphatic statement - using several areas at once, e.g. ears, nose & head; or the horse's equivalent of shouting - e.g. pinning the ears back, a pinched nose, rapid swishing of the tail, and moving the head backwards and to the side to indicate extreme anger (the last group of signs often preface a kick-see photo).

You didn't listen to what I said, and you didn't listen to what I Said, Sooooo...
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???

The Ears
The direction of a horse's ears, when paired with other body language, can indicate what that horse is thinking or feeling in addition to where his attention is. With the exception of additional body language, a horse's primary focus tends to be wherever his ears are pointing.

Pricked (Forward) - Alert or awake. Can indicate interest in an object or sound; curiosity, and/or happiness (just watch how they ping to attention when you approach with a feedbucket :o)

Drooping/Floppy - Dozing, content, relaxed and/or happy.

Laid Back - Requesting something (nose out), listening to or focusing on something behind him (head usually up), or concentrating intently (head lowered slightly and nose pulled in toward chest). Just as we may furrow our brow and frown when we are seriously focused on a task, so do they.

Pinned Back - Annoyance or anger. If the horse is mildly annoyed, he may pin them back for a moment (this is usually accompanied by the head moving back and to the side slightly) before pointing them forward again; if he is very angry, they will all but disappear into his mane.

Multidirectional - Hesitancy or confusion (flicking forward-back-forward or forward-side-forward) or listening in two directions at once.

The Ear Flick - An acknowledgment (when one ear pops back to you and returns to its previous position; I liken this to our "uh-huh").

Here I am introducing Bella to Mr. Rain Slicker (L):


Note the change of direction in Bella's ears when I place the rain slicker on her back. She is still paying attention to me, but she is also focused on the slicker (the slight tilt of her head in the photo on the right indicates she is definitely thinking about this).

Relaxed and Happy


Lady is dozing (L) and Shadow is all but cross-eyed with equine ecstasy from getting his chest scratched.(R)

Laid Back (L) vs. Pinned (R)

The horse on the left is either dozing or listening to something behind him, but the pony on the right is obviously angry about something (note the pinched nostrils). Chances are, an attempt to pet this cranky little guy would result in either a snap or a bite (ouch).

Pricked (L) and Multidirectional (R)

If you read the Farm Day blog post, you may recognize this big lug (it's Champ): He was very curious and eager to "meet" the the strange new creature in the photo on the left (ears are up, nose is out, nostrils are flared and neck is arched). He was not quite as sure, however, about the piglet (notice how his ears are flicking front to back, indicating his uncertainty; his neck is straight, plus his head is a little higher and pulled back slightly).

The Ear Flick

For some reason, this particular movement is my favorite (maybe because every time I see it I hear "Uh-Huh" or " 'Kay " in my head :o)

STAY TUNED: Up next will be a post on the eyes and nose (they're considerably shorter than this one).

Hope you enjoyed the post, stay tuned for the next installment!

Sensitivity Training [Yours]

When we first began our foray into horse ownership, bitting was easy. Why? Basically because Shadow and Champ came with their own bridles. While Shadow seemed fine with his (a low port Walking Horse Bit), Champ was pretty difficult to tack up with his grazing bit and had an annoying head tossing issue when you rode him. Of course you know what happened next, don't you? Yep - research mode :o) After reading a ton of stuff, starting with causes for head tossing, I bought a basic hackamore, tried it on Champ, and HOORAY! no more head tossing.

Below are pictures of Shadow's bit (which we still use, although I fantasize about getting him a walking horse bit in sweet iron :o) Champ's original grazing bit and the hackamore he now uses. In case you're outside the state of Alabama, our daughter is a HUGE Auburn fan so I remade his hackamore accordingly (hence the orange and blue - I don't really care about football, but his hack turned out pretty good, didn't it?).



With the arrival of our three accidental rescues, Cinnamon, Retta and Max, I realized that I really didn't know a whole lot about bits beyond the basics. Cinnamon and Retta also came with their own bridles, (Max was still a baby) but my ability to identify the bits and name the parts didn't seem to be enough in the way of knowledge (so back into research mode we went :o) Cinnamon had a Pelham which seemed to go well with his hard mouth (Hard meaning completely unresponsive to the bit - see our rodeo tale on Cinnamon's page) but after a very short period of time I wondered if there wasn't a way to work backwards to a more basic (and less harsh) bit. To put it simply: Cinnamon may have been resigned to his bridle and the harsher bit, but it bothered me.

At first, we tried several different bits from the store, but as you can imagine that got pretty expensive in a hurry. Then we tried different bits out of a huge box of used tack we had bought and (through trial and error between the two) here are some things we discovered:

This sweet iron grazing bit turned out to be a good match for Katie, (she no longer lives here, but she's in our photo album). She did pretty well in a hackamore too. The horses seemed to like the "flavor" of the sweet iron, so that has become my first choice. For whatever reason, a plain snaffle bit caused Katie to drop her head all the way down until her nose was almost touching the ground and she would refuse to lift it. She would do anything you asked her to as far as speed and direction, but it was like riding a headless horse (funny, but really weird). Allrighty then, nix on the snaffle for Katie...
The pictures below were one of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" things. This lightweight hard rubber D-Ring we bought to try seemed like it would be great. Look what happened after only a couple of uses - good thing we noticed the crack before we used it again because ouch!



Here's one that we got for Retta at an auction ~ unfortunately, it turned out to be a LOT different than it looked from our seats (another lesson learned - oops). The mouthpiece on this one turned out to be square, not round, and was a much harsher bit than it was touted in spite of the copper roller in the middle and the shanks that curve back toward the horse :oP

Another thing to watch for? Check where the bit connects to the cheek pieces; are they flush or is the mouthpiece larger? The El-Cheapo cheesy bit on the right that came in that giant box of tack may be around the outside of the rings, but it can still pack a pinch (this would be where bit guards come in).
Bits that are flush (picture below) can have wiggle room in the wrong direction (up and down) and cause serious misery to your mount - sadly, I learned this from a very nice but rather oblivious owner that had "never noticed" a problem until I asked about the blood at the corners of his horse's mouth after a ride (in their defense, it was a dark-colored horse and the problem was rectified immediately with bit guards, but I had to wonder how long it had been that way you know?).

I found this great "no pinch" bit at Jeffers (pictured on right). It's a sweet iron snaffle I bought for training Max (he likes it). Unfortunately, it's also a bit (sorry, couldn't resist :o) expensive, so purchasing a second one for Cinnamon is on my wish list for now.

I began a foray into the baffling world of bits, but there are SO many different kinds and so much information, I thought my brain would explode from overload before I actually figured anything out. It wasn't until I discovered this marvelous rating system (which helped me to bypass other people's opinions and descriptions written in catalogs and figure it out for myself) that I started to more clearly understand the whole bitting process. I believe that it was Dr. Deb Bennett (she's on our Horse Heroes page) that developed this formula; but I'm not 100% sure (so if you know who did, PLEASE let me know for sure so I can post proper credit!) The page I found it on is no longer available, so I'm putting the actual formula for the rating system on our Handydandy Hints Page; because if this isn't handy information, I don't know what is :o)

I'd have to say that although most of our horses ended up with different/better bits, Cinnamon probably benefited the most from all of my studiousness and experimenting with this topic :o) On the right is the Pelham he was ridden with initially. In all honesty, it's a debatable issue as to whether or not a harsher bit will add to your whoa power. Why do I say this? Mostly because the fairly harsh bit on the right was the one Cinnamon was wearing when we had our little impromptu rodeo demonstration...

One of my Cinnamon experiments was with a Kimberwick bit, pictured left. It allowed for a flexibility in the amount of leverage used by changing the slot used for the reins. Initially, I went with a set of double reins, as it allowed me to ride with the top only but gave me an "emergency brake" of sorts if I needed it (and we did, a time or two :o) He seemed to like it better than the Pelham, but I wanted to see if we could go lighter.

I tried him with a hackamore, but interestingly enough he hated it - how did we know? Because he developed the same head tossing issue Champ had which completely disappeared when we lost the hack. The grazing bit was a bust, as was the full cheek snaffle. A copper mouth Argentine snaffle wasn't too bad, but we weren't quite "there"...

So where did we end up? After tons of experimenting and lots of time (well spent, of course!) Cinnamon really went for this smooth sweet iron snaffle, pictured on the right. Surprisingly, it doesn't pinch even though it looks like it would :o)

Okay, so what did I learn from all this stuff? It's about the comfort to your horse certainly, but also about retraining the brain (on both sides :o) There are an alarming number of people that believe "a bigger/badder bit = a better behaved boy", but in reality it's not the strength of the bit but more in the "minding" of the horse over the matter of his "treining" (just ask Cinnamon, he'll tell you :o)

Cherry Hill has a blurb about increasing bit severity here.

Guest Post: Trick Training in Reverse

It is a constant source of amazement to me how much horses can be like people. Rina is what you would call "tender headed" (if she were a person); she is quick to complain if I pull too hard on a tangle in her mane by swinging her head around and nudging me lightly (in much the same way a child would say, "Hey, not so rough!"). Taya on the other hand, could care less if I hit a tangle; she's perfectly content to stand there and let me tug my way carefully through it. So what's my point? The point is, that just because one horse will tolerate something it isn't a license to assume that all horses will (this was somewhere around Lesson #197 for me; it was an early one :o) Of course I also remember being taught that horses had no nerve endings in their manes and therefore could not feel anything at all when it was brushed or thinned which is not necessarily so (obviously).

Still wondering why you should care? The idea is to know your horse; this issue can save you and your horse time and trouble when it's important. It can also go a long way in preventing unnecessary frustration and possibly unfair punishment. Allow me to illustrate (using last week's Note to Self); anyone who keeps horses naturally knows they get periodic nicks, scratches and dents. Sometimes they are easily seen and sometimes they are not. Picking out Rina's feet one morning (our horses are all barefoot), I was almost finished; last foot. I had barely begun to bend down when Rina suddenly shifted, putting her right front foot out of reach. Allowing for the possibility that she was not standing balanced enough to lift it (which happens sometimes), I moved forward to her shoulder and touched it again (our cue to pick it up). Rina turned slightly away, and brought her head around effectively blocking me. Hmmmm. I dropped the hoof pick in the bucket and returned to Rina palms up to show her I didn't have it. I squatted down to check her leg - and she stood quietly while I did so - but could find nothing wrong. Scratching my head, and thinking maybe she had a bruise on her foot, I cued her to pick it up (still without the hoofpick). Again she moved her foot out of reach and swung her head down, looking slightly miffed that I wasn't acting too bright here. Finally, with soothing words and palms out she agreed to stand still long enough for me squat down and inspect her foot; nose to hoof. I finally found a teeny tiny itty bitty ding on the surface of her foot; so small I could barely see it even with my nose almost touching her foot. You've got to be kidding me; is that it?? That dinky little dent? Surely not! Carefully, watching Rina's expression, I lightly pressed the ding. She responded by snatching her foot sharply backwards and giving me a very hurt look (and wasn't I immediately swamped with guilt?) Oh, Rina I'm SO sorry! It has been a week now, and she finally will let me brush off the surface of that hoof but that's all. Had I not known, however, that Rina was on the sensitive side I might have mistaken her ouch for difficult behavior and wouldn't that have been awful? It can set your training back (and then some).

Now, let's compare this to Taya's ding (I have no idea what the two of them got into, but they had almost identical dings on opposite front feet one morning after the other). Taya's dent was much more easily seen; in part because it was on a white hoof but also because it was much bigger than Rina's. Taya made it clear that her foot was rather sore, but she was willing to compromise; as long as I held her foot carefully by the fetlock, she had no objection to me picking it out. Of course this too seems to be eerily similar to people; some are up and about their business shortly after an injury or surgical procedure and others take more time to recuperate. Isn't that interesting?

For information on why barefoot is better, read this article:

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/hoof_care/barefoot_112507/

A Little Bit of Background...

Santanna's Reflection is a double registered; Half Arabian (with Arabian Horse Association) and purebred appaloosa (with the Appaloosa Horse Club). I met him in December of 2006, and he came to live with me on Christmas Eve for a two week trial. I knew the first time I rode him out on a trail (the day after Christmas) that he wasn't going anywhere. 'Tanna's previous owner had decided she wanted to endurance race and thought he would be a good prospect. So all she did was get on him and GO. He wouldn't stand still to be mounted - he wouldn't stand still period! - he wouldn't walk. He was no fun at all to ride. So she threw him out in a 2 acre "pasture" with 7 other horses and left him for 2 years.
He was pretty much low man in the pasture so when I met him, he was 150 lbs underweight, scabby from bites and kicks and so nervous he'd weave out in the pasture. I don't know why I was attracted to him (other than the fact I think he's gorgeous). I was almost 50 when I bought 'Tanna. I've had horses all of my adult life - I trained and showed to my share of championships in the 80s and 90s. I did not want a problem horse.
But I fell in love with him and - in spite of the fact that my husband all but pleaded "Please, no appaloosas!" - I brought him home and I've never once been sorry. It only took him a couple months to settle down and learn to stand quietly being saddled, mounted or just waiting. I've even had people ask me if I'll train their horses because he's so well mannered out on the trail. He has become the trail horse/buddy I've been missing since my stallion died in 2001.
'Tanna is very laid back and easy going (although he does still weave from time to time, which may be a life-time habit. But I know why he does it and he does it less and less all the time - for everything else he gives me, I can live with that.) He is strong, steady, has a very quick intelligence and a sly sense of humor.
I am so blessed I found my Happy Appy!

So here's the story:

I have a 10 year old Arabian - appaloosa cross, Santanna, my Happy Appy. 'Tanna is not the least bit interested in doing tricks. His attitude is "give me the treat or quit messing with me". Since I have my 3 year old purebred Arab who LOVES doing tricks and I sincerely believe that some horses like and are good at some things and others excel in other areas, I haven't pushed him. Santanna is a wonderful trail horse, he LIKES being a good trail horse and that's what I wanted from him, so we are both happy.

Last Saturday night, a couple friends and I participated in a moonlight ride at a local (Dallas, Tx, area) lake. We found ourselves in the position of having to ride the last 5 miles to our camp by ourselves over a trail we'd only ridden once - going out that day - in the dark! While the moon was big, bright and beautiful, it didn't shed much light under the tree canapes. But I had a flashlight and wasn't afraid to use it. The first time I turned it on, all three horses jumped. Santanna did not know what to think about the shadow of his head and ears stretching out in front of him. But once I learned to moved the flashlight out to the left and put the light on the trail a few feet ahead of us, he realized it really helped him see where he was going.
We had a long way to go and I didn't know how good the batteries were - and to be honest it was such a beautiful night. The moon brilliantly lit the sky and silvered the lake and grass along the trail - I didn't turn the light on very much.

We hit a place that was dark for only a few feet so I didn't turn the light on. Santanna moved his head to the right, slowed down and then stopped. I urged him on, asking what was wrong. He turned enough to roll an eye at me, faced forward - and waited. I thought something was in the trail, so I turned on the light. Nothing there, but as soon as he had light, 'Tanna boldly stepped forward. When we hit the next darkish spot, he hesitated and moved his head to the right again. Again, I didn't get it, so he stopped. I turned on the light and away we went. The next time he hesitated and moved his head to the right, I turned on the light and he snorted (horse talk for "good girl"?) and moved out. From that point on, I "got" it. Whenever he needed the light, he'd move his head to the right, my cue to "turn on the light". With no more hesitation, we ghosted through the cricket's singing and the magical scenery and led our friends safely home. What a treat he shared with me! How gorgeous to ride through the moon-silvered landscape!

I thought some of y'all might get a kick out of the fact that, while Santanna may not be interested in DOING tricks, he had no problems with teaching me one!

Ginger

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"Want to change the world? Start by smiling at and being pleasant to people you don't have to." ~ C. Wayne Owens