The horse has in total 5 sensory systems, and these consist of neural pathways via sensory receptors and sensory perception. They are linked to certain parts of the brain using the nervous system associated with hearing, vision, touch, taste and smell. With regards to the horse in this particular training program, and in terms of behaviour and psychology, I will briefly explain my personal observations supported by some scientific facts.
THE EARS
All you have to do is spend 5 minutes watching how a horse uses his ears. It is quite a remarkable set-up. It is possible for the horse to have one ear lay dormant while one ear listens, and it is also possible for them to have one ear listen one way, and the other, another way. They can rotate each ear about 180º degrees and are perfect little radars built ultimately for herd instinct, communication and survival.
Similar in tone and range to a human, they can hear low and high frequencies:
Human = 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Horse = 14 Hz – 25 kHz
If we put together the fact that they can move their ears independently and in the direction of where a noise is coming from, it is incredibly advanced and one can only imagine when a horse is in fight or flight mode, coupled with adrenaline pumping in their system, how it is greatly enhanced.
I mentioned in my first indie published book ‘The horse that broke two legs’, that it is and only is an anthropomorphic thought, that when a horse's ears are forwards, they are happy. A prime example is when photos are taken. One cannot argue it certainly looks very pretty, but please know the difference - they are simply focused and listening forwards, it does not mean they are happy. Furthermore, I am not making the assumption that what I talk about here is obvious to everybody, because it is not. You only have to read comments on social media to see what people’s thoughts are of how they perceive what a happy horse looks like!
When a horse is relaxed, his ears are a great indicator of that in combination with a relaxed body. The ears will lay softly centred or one may rest slightly forwards and one slightly back. When a horse is unrelaxed the ears will be darting backwards and forwards searching for sounds, and the body will be unrelaxed. The horse will try to position his head and nose in the direction of whatever it is scaring them OR in the direction of escape.
When they are listening to something behind them, the ears will be facing backwards and slightly upright. Quite quickly, they will turn their head and their body so they can have a forwards focus with their ears, eyes and nostrils towards the stimulus, or as mentioned, they will blindly look for an escape.
When a horse is uncomfortable, momentarily agitated or does not understand something, they can and do lay their ears flat back, and if you watch the rest of the face and their expression, this also determines their thoughts in that moment.
When a horse is content, perhaps eating, grooming a herd member, drinking or doing something where they feel incredibly safe, the ears lay slightly backwards and to the side, and in that moment, are not a primary active sensory system. I am not saying they are not listening, but I do believe they do not feel it is necessary to be on high alert, therefore save some sort of energy during those moments by focusing on the now, like the eating or grooming.
It is also possible that a horse can be over relaxed, even when they are moving their feet with a rider on top. Although, it is nice if the ears of the horse are not the primary sensory system during those times, and indeed, it is a good indicator that they are relaxed. What I personally do not like to see is a horse being trained and his ears are so relaxed that they simply flop in their place, almost up and down. I am not stating that it is entirely a bad thing; it is certainly better than the horse being tense or unrelaxed. However, it is good to recognise that there is a chance the horse has mentally shut down, might not be mentally engaged and almost robotic in some sense. There is also a chance he is not communicating with the human on board. This is seen as commonplace, for example, in some riding school horses; where they have the same routine day in and day out, and have learned to be quiet, patient, and in many cases, they do not necessarily need to be mentally engaged. Unfortunately, this is also the case in standard training where the horse is subject to the same routines and patterns over and over and they also become less mentally engaged.
Finally, in relation to the ears, when a horse is calling in distress, they can have their ears fixed forwards in the direction they are calling, or the ears will dart backwards and forwards especially when they are listening for a response. The body will turn and follow, usually unrelaxed if free to do so.
How horses use their voice is quite limited. They actually do not use their vocal chords very often. I encourage you to stand and listen at your barn, and ask yourself what do you hear? Not much perhaps, if the horses are relaxed and content. When we hear a horse calling it is going to be an almost accurate indication that the horse is stressed or calling for friends, or similar. Either that, or it is a learned response where the horse associates a human with food, or they use it as an acknowledgement of food via a routine of feeding times and alike. For the rest, which I will not go into here, I hope by being reminded of some of these things and also the things not discussed too, will fall into place and just make logical sense.
For you, what is important right now is to understand that during this or any training program for that matter, if the horse runs over the top of you because they got scared, you know why. Please also know that with good basic handling and leading skills, even when the horse is super afraid, they will do their very best to not run over you. Whatever the outcome, do your best to not blame them and try to see the build-up of what might happen before it happens. Be their eyes, be aware of your surroundings, not to the point of paranoia or not trusting but to the point that if, for example, a horse broke loose and came running towards your horse, your perception of this happening before it happens helps you logically think how you can best handle the situation, and in return also help y
our horses.
THE EYES
The eyes of the horse are incredibly fascinating. I hope you enjoy these interesting facts:
Excellent vision (more advanced than ours)
In humans 20/20 vision means we can identify an object 20 feet away (a horse has 20/30)
Their eyeball is the largest of any land mammal
They have binocular vision in an area of about 65º seen with both eyes at once (mostly designed to lock onto long distance)
Binocular vision in a human is about 180º and contributes to depth perception (horses do not have a great depth perception)
Monocular vision is about 285º (both eyes are used separately and increases the field of vision)
They have peripheral vision (this means wide range)
Their vision is designed to detect movement, and that is why they become fearful of things that remain still, or were moving and became still
They do have blind spots (their forehead, directly above, between their ears, over the top of their neck and down their back. Also, directly down their nose, under their chin and behind their tail)
The retina is larger compared to a human (an area at the back of the eyeball containing cells sensitive to light which sends nerve impulses via the optic nerve to the brain)
They can see better in the dark than us (it just takes them a bit more time to adapt from light to dark, hence why they can be unconfident going in light to dark, or vice versa)
They are not colour blind per-say (they are limited to blue and yellow, or this colour range in variation)
It is said that they cannot distinguish red or green (or these colours in variation)
They do have an iris and pupil but it is elongated rather than round (its function is also different to a human’s)
They have built in sunshades along the upper edge of the pupil (called Corpora-Nigra which open like an umbrella and helps reduce overhead glare of light and the sun)
When a horse is relaxed they tend to use their monocular vision, but when they are afraid, especially of something in the distance, they tend to switch to their binocular vision
When they are eating grass or are in a position of eating (their field of vision tends to be directly at the ground or the area in front of them)
During complete relaxation and also when eating, they can have a vacant expression (meaning it is possible they are not using their vision at all, like staring or gazing)
Although the horse has many strengths in his eye-sight compared to ours, because of the way they use their brain which is different to humans, comparably it can also act as a weakness. This is an important clue and is key information when working with them. They are not like us and we certainly are not like them.
For centuries, humans have been pulling horse’s heads in with tools or finding ways to get control of the horse’s head because the feeling they have, whether they know it or not, is to not let the horse use their binocular vision so as to keep their attention. This also gives the human a false sense of security in believing it keeps the horse confident, and in some cases, obedient. There is right in this and there is a wrong in this.
THE NOSE
Since the nose is an incredibly important part of the horse to understand, I have placed it into two different categories:
THE NOSE - BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION
Their range of smell is far more advanced than ours, but not as advanced as a dog. They use their sense of smell to identify things like food, other horses and predators. The sense of smell is so good in horses that they can tell when there is medicine in their feed or a change has been made. They will then, and depending on their instinctual need or a decision made in that moment, decide whether they shall proceed to eat it or not. Horses commonly referred to as ‘fussy eaters’ are not this way entirely out of choice. It just means they are very smart and do not necessarily need to eat exactly what we are offering them.
Another scenario is that they have been spoiled with so many goodies each day that they make a mental decision that one food tastes better than the other, so why should they eat the one that smells and tastes less nice. Especially if there is enough food around to the point the horse knows they will not starve anytime soon. A horse does not usually eat something that smells bad, but what we might perceive as smelling bad, can be completely different to what a horse’s perception of smelling bad is.
THE NOSE - COMMUNICATION FUNCTION
If we can recognise that the horse can use their nose in terms of detecting smell and checking what they want to put in their mouth, it is important that we recognise they also use their nose as part of their language and as part of their communication to touch things.
When a human physically bullies another human, they might be inclined to push or poke intentionally by using their hands to do so. If they wanted to be extra defensive or mean, they could use an elbow or a shoulder and even kick with their legs. A horse when he is confident, dominating and speaking out uses his nose much the same way. They will do this with their herd mates and also to their humans. When a human gets some sort of control over the nose, the horse can then proceed to push perhaps with the shoulder, rest of the body or worse still, kick out. Sound familiar? This kind of situation is complex but I will do my best in words to get across what is important.
When a horse bites on you, pulls at your zipper, pulls at your pockets, they are telling you something! They are telling you that they are in your space and that you obviously don’t mind, so they will keep doing it. If the horse is already in your space, it is actually too late, you let them in now and are set up for a conflict to try and get them out. Perhaps, now you are going to say ‘get out’. It is a bit unfair in some respects because you let it happen, keep letting it happen and the horse purely thinks that is what they are allowed or supposed to do. A little tip: horses tend to take us less seriously when we break the rules. They can also become afraid of you if all of a sudden you tell them to get out. Either that or they can become less interested. The secret is to not let them in your space in the first place.
A horse in your space does not mean they love you more, it also does not mean your relationship will be stronger. Especially if the horse has come into your space without you inviting them to! It is how they come into your space that is the most important scenario. The best is by an invitation from you, or by you stepping into their space instead. Perhaps, for that cuddle you crave or to rub them on the forehead, etc. For me, what is most important from the initial moment I meet a horse is the first approach between us. It is also the monitor and key to my next steps in that communication.
I like it when the horse comes to me from personal choice or an invitation. What I do not want and do not need is the horse busy pushing on me, walking over my toes and so forth. A great relationship building goal for you and your horse starts when you first meet each day. My advice is to get things so good that your horse comes, waits and helps you put the halter on without pushing in your space. This is a great and simple set-up, and helps your horse take you more seriously if you do need to correct or teach them something. Then of course, the horse knows with his nose. It teaches you to not break the rules. The rules are the language and anything outside of that is confusing to them, or you can teach them to simply not care in the end. Horses only break rules when we do.
Where we have to get things good is when the horse has learned that they can come into their humans’ space and this communication needs to be changed. This means preventing them from coming into your space. It is not always possible if the human is less handy or a bit weak in their energy and timing. But it is possible if there is consistency and the promise is kept. Feeling sorry for a horse because they cannot come in your space is something you have to figure out. With all of this information combined if you can see, if they are pushing you with their nose, they are not really thinking about anything else. So if you are trying to teach them something and they are busy with their nose, the likelihood of your training session being successful is greatly reduced because you do not have their attention.
Some horses have gotten so good at pushing their humans around and it does not have to be big either, it can also be the smallest of gestures; that when the horse starts to learn they cannot push with their nose anymore, some not all, will then proceed to test this with a shoulder and sometimes with a front leg. Predominantly, and in 95% of cases, this is stronger on the left side. In rare cases, I have also seen horses then try to kick with the hind legs because now they know with the front end it is not possible so will test another way. Usually, when all of this is resolved, the horse succumbs to a mutual understanding that when in Humansville this is not acceptable, and if taught well with relaxation and confidence, it becomes unquestionably resolved. Unless of course the human breaks the promise.
MY CONCLUSION OF THE SUPER SENSORY SYSTEMS
In my personal observations, I have noticed that a horse's hearing is the primary sensory system. Secondary is smell and maybe touch. Vision is connected when required simply to see where they are going (of course), out of curiosity and the decision or need for flight or fight. These three functions can change in a nano second according to their thoughts, needs and the environment. It does not mean the horse is using their smell or vision in that order all of the time, but what I do mean is that when the horse feels the need to fight or flight, it usually comes in that order.
If the horse is relaxed, their ears and body are soft and they do not feel the need to use their eyes to focus on something, you have got yourself a horse ready to learn something. The nose should also remain politely confident.
If they are busy pushing you around with their nose, they are just busy with their nose, so they are probably not concentrating on anything else. This means they are not in a good place to learn what you want to teach them.
If they are busy playing with the lead rope or pawing at the ground because they know they cannot push with their nose or are limited to be able to do so, they are not in a good place to learn also, and sometimes these kinds of behaviours need more understanding and time.
If they are walking you from A to B or you are dragging them from A to B, they are also not in a good place to learn.
If it is windy and your horse is tense because of it, their super sensory systems (ears and nose) are now limited, and the one true system they can rely on is their vision. Usually, when a horse feels the need to look and use its vision, especially the binocular vision, this automatically triggers adrenaline (fight/flight). The wind does not allow the horse to hear too well, they cannot smell too well either, or at all, so vision is the final resort.
This is why relaxation and confidence are important. The big question then is how do we ask the horse to trust us and do their best to remain calm and/or ready to learn even when it is, for example, windy? Well, apart from knowing what you have just read which will help immensely, we then need to learn how to ask the horse to relax via communication. We also need to keep our promise and understand that if the horse is busy with his nose towards his human and they have no control of that, then there is a big chance they do not have control over the nose when the horse is afraid, and the same when teaching them something.
We need to understand, nurture and have some sort of message (and control) over the nose. Remember, the nose is without a doubt a great indicator of how the horse feels at any moment. All of this can be taught very easily to the horse in their basic education during haltering, leading, standing and tying by keeping the head and neck relaxed and having a way to communicate to the horse how to relax.
Zoë Coade | Horse Professional, Content Creator, Instructor, Coach, Author and Poet.
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