The horse’s expression can speak volumes. It reflects the horse’s inner feelings. A positive expression of the horse suggests a positive mental state of the animal, from which both horse and human benefit. What is it that often gets in its way and how can we deal with it?

When we let ourselves be blinded by “functioning”

When the horse does what the human wants, it can be a great feeling for us. This is usually the case with very well “functioning” horses. They are perfectly well-behaved and safe. Working with them can be a lot of fun.

In these cases, however, we sometimes get carried away and overlook the horse’s expression. That’s when we tend to not pay attention to the subtle signals, facial expressions, or states of tension in the horse’s body. It feels too good that the horse is meeting our demands.

However, if we look more closely, the expressions of well “functioning” horses can be terrible: they often appear frustrated, burned out and dull. The sparkle in their eyes has disappeared. Although they comply with all of the human’s requests, they do not interact with him! They have withdrawn into themselves and shut down.

What influence the training strategy can have

Horse training usually aims to get the horse to do what the human wants. However, this often does not coincide with what the horse would like to do. The horse suggests completely different behaviors: It wants to go faster or slower, it prances instead of standing still, it always looks over the fence or just wants to stand around instead of move.

Therefore, a frequently used training strategy is to stop the horse’s behaviors and instead tell the horse what to do. This can also be useful and necessary at times. However, if our entire interaction with the horse is based on this, we mistakenly prevent any initiative on the part of the horse. The resulting frustration pushes the horse to withdraw into itself.

In the worst case, the horse ends up behaving like a well-programmed machine. Then it functions – not more and not less. Unfortunately, we sometimes perceive this condition as “harmonious” and misjudge the horse’s behavior as “willing.”

What happens when we do not react to the horse

Horses have the ability to constantly communicat with their environment. If we observe horses in a group, we can see ongoing, subtle communication if we look closely. Even when they are “just” grazing next to each other, the individual animals are constantly interacting. If one horse expresses itself, it gets a response from the other. This response can be positive or negative, but it is there!

If the horse expresses itself to humans, it often receives no response. Its signals are subtle and thus often overlooked or not understood. If we direct the training, as described above, only according to our wishes, we tend to perceive the subtle approaches of the horse all the less.

If the horse does not receive any feedback in the long term, it usually gives up at some point. It stops interacting and withdraws into itself. A dull, empty expression is predetermined. That is usually accompanied by a decrease in the horse’s own initiative.

How we benefit from a positive expression

So much about positive expression, but what does the human get out of it? Wanting to maintain the interaction of the horse is all good and well but brings no advantage for us, does it?

If you look at it from a human-egoistic point of view, the human being benefits mostly from the psychological condition of the horse, which is the basis of the positive expression. A positive expression and an intact interaction indicate a horse that is willing to learn and that is motivated. After all, which horse will give more – the one that has to, or the one that wants to?

Like people, horses usually perform better when they are motivated. As riders we can then enjoy better results in horse training.

Moreover, if done correctly, it is much easier, more energy-saving and safer to protect the horse’s interests. Fighting against the horse’s nature, instead of using it, always involves more effort and, also more resistance.

Working with the horse’s nature is not always recognized as “easy”, because we often lack knowledge or ingenuity on how to approach it concretely. However, with a little thought, empathy and trial and error, this hurdle can be overcome. Once the right approach to the respective situation is found, it is always simpler and easier than working against the horse’s nature.

A simple measure to keep the horse motivated

One of the simplest things we can do to keep the horse’s initiative is to not always stick to our plans for a training session. A lot of conflict between humans and horses is due to the fact that humans have very clear ideas about what should be worked on or even accomplished in a training session.

However, the idea of wanting to implement something specific keeps us from responding to the here and now. Everything the horse does on its own seems annoying to us, especially since it does not go along with what we have planned. Therefore, we automatically work against the horse.

However, if we are willing to let the content of a training session come to us, it is much easier to respond to the horse. Wonderful horse-human moments usually arise completely unplanned. “I never thought my horse would do that so well today!” is what we then hear from the human.

Horses offer so much. We just have to learn to ask the right questions!

A formative encounter

A good 10 years ago, I held a course at a riding facility where there were some residential houses next to the outdoor riding arena. The course participants worked diligently to respond to their horses and earn their cooperation.

After some time, a door from one of the houses next to the riding arena opened. An old man on crutches came out and asked if he could watch for a bit. Spellbound, he watched the action. A little bit of watching eventually turned into two days of sitting on a chair next to the outdoor arena despite cold wind.

He didn’t say much, just kept repeating “If we had known … Man, what did we do to the horses back then … Sad animals they were … Hard work it was for us … But we didn’t know any better …”

I will never forget this encounter. Today we know better. That is why we should also act better. This way not only the horses, but also the human gets more out of it!

By the way

Have you ever noticed how much more beautiful your horse is when it has a positive expression?

Florian Oberparleiter
October 2022