READING HORSE BODY LANGUAGE & BEHAVIOR

Understanding what your horse is trying to communicate to you with their body language and behavior is incredibly important when you're working with horses. In this video, I teach you how to understand what your horse is communicating with their body language!

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Hi there! 👋 I'm Carmella. I’ve been obsessed with horses for as long as I can remember, and I make videos about all things horse training, horseback riding, and living an equestrian lifestyle. New videos are uploaded EVERY WEEK so subscribe now for more horse videos.

[criticalangle]

6:38 I love how she says "sometimes relaxed horses will sigh"
Tucker 2 seconds later: Sighs

[johnsnow]

I don’t even have a horse but I’m able to say that this channel is underrated.

[StinkyWorm]

The fact that her horse is showing literally every sign of being relaxed

[chriscatton]

I LOVE that Tucker is a bad example of mad or nervous. haha. he's a happy clam!

[christian_lied]

I’m watching this for my horse in Red Dead Redemption 2 to understand them more

[BeRightBack]

Glad you mentioned the eyes. I rarely see anyone mention the look in a horse's eyes, but that was always one of my best guage of the horse's thoughts. Also, pay attention to their "wrinkles" and "frowns." A horse in pain, fear, worry, etc creates facial expressions just like people do. Notice when they wrinkle their nose or frown, or get wrinkles around their eyes or forehead. They're just like people when using facial expressions. If you're mad, you frown. So do horses. If you're worried, your crow's feet wrinkle up. So do horses. Thank you for mentioning their eyes though. Almost nobody ever mentions that.

[h.hemmis]

My paint mare puts her head in my armpit when shes sorry, its really cute!

[marciwitcher]

I do not currently own any horses, but I used to spend weeks during the summer with my uncle who owned two horses, a white mare named Daisy (who was blind in her right eye), and a brown and white paint stallion named Thunder, who was extremely unpredictable and deemed unrideable. I was only 7 when I met Thunder and Daisy for the first time. Daisy tolerated my presence, but didn't seem to care much at all. Thunder on the other hand, for reasons no one has ever been able to explain, fell madly in love with me and absolutely refused to leave my side! He was so gentle and calm around me that my uncle even let me handle him by myself, which of course meant that I tried to ride him while no one was watching, even though everyone told me it was a bad idea. I was 9, I had no idea what I was doing, and I absolutely nailed it! 😎 Thunder had ZERO objections to his best friend riding him, and he could not have been more of a natural at following my simple commands. My uncle and mother nearly lost it when they saw us, but after it became clear that Thunder was totally fine with it, I was allowed to continue riding him. After a year of only allowing me to ride him, Thunder finally let my uncle ride him for the first time. After that, Thunder started letting my aunt and my mom ride him as well, and my uncle started jokingly calling me Thor. Thunder and I remained close friends and riding buddies for several years, until he passed in his sleep at the age of 29 back in 2017. He was a good friend and I miss him dearly. He always used to play with the back of my head, neck, and hair with his lips to get my attention. He also used to flip his ears back, stomp his right right foot once, and plant himself if he just didn't want to go anywhere. He could be quite stubborn sometimes, but he was never aggressive or violent with anyone after we became friends. To this day I wish I could be a kid again, just riding Thunder in the Florida sun until we both got tired and lay down for a nap in the field 🥲

[TAikodrum]

I'm writing a story that includes horses, but I've never thought to deeply about horses body language till right now as I'm trying too write about it, and this was exactly what I needed!

[Kelly_Ben]

My horse is an appy, so she has very human-looking, expressive facial expressions.

[Midnight_priest]

Don’t own a horse, but my daughter loves riding and I’m just trying to learn more about this. This is a great channel and very informative. Keep it up!

[jeliarra]

So pleased to see your horse "in your space"! I loved my horse in my space, meant he wanted to be with me. I didn't mind his antics either, licking me, nibbling me with his lips, resting his head on my shoulder or top of my head, rubbing his face on my chest or back (scratching himself), sometimes he would lean against me without pushing or knocking me over. Most of all I LOVED to play with him in horse play! Chasing him, chasing me, racing on foot to a barrel, stall with treats, and cheering when he ran in pasture! Oh my he could RUN! ***LOVE LOVE LOVE to see you with Tucker and your relationship with him!***

[tjsurferboi]

I’m about to inherit 2 horse ranches and I know absolutely nothing about them. Thank you so much for your very informative videos. I have watched every single one you’ve made…and now, I’m going to watch them again until it all sinks in.
You have no idea how grateful I am to have found your channel.
Sincerely…a great full kiwi

[lovefor]

When I had my Cody, there was something adorable he would do. Whenever I would be beside his left shoulder at times, he would turn his head and snuggle into my arm. He was always gentle about not pushing me over. He was a sweet boy❤

[ingrid-xrql]

So I work with my neighbors horses and the one who’ve I’ve been working with is named scarlet. She’s an Arab and when she was little a man abused her so she is very scared timid and meek, which is not like most Arabs. Anyways I’ve been working with her a lot bc she needs a friend( my neighbors other horses aren’t particularly nice to her) the other day I was just sitting in her in the barn and everytime one of my neighbors other horses would look at me on scarlet, she would put her ears flat back and get defensive. She never did that any of the times I was with her on the ground in the barn. My neighbor told me that she is saying to t he other horses “back off! She’s mine!” Anyway it was just cute and nice to know that we rly are bonding

[uzaiyaro]

Years ago, one of my friend’s horses accidentally stood on my unprotected foot. It hurt like hell and he got off straight away. But after that, either he got a taste for blood, or he was trying to apologise to me, because he kept following me around and looking at me with his head lowered a bit, eyes almost as if he was telling me he was sorry and he wanted to know if I was doing ok. Dunno if I’m reading too much into it, but he was such a sweetheart.

[jimbeaux]

My sister-in-law just moved into a beautiful home with three horses, and being around those horses today released a passion Emmy I never knew was there, and now one of my life goals is to own at least one horse. I just felt complete around them, which is strange because I never expected it. They’re so beautiful, and I really want to get to know them. Thanks for the video, ‘‘twas tremendously helpful!!

[lanna]

I rode a very nervous horse for about three years. (I don't ride her much anymore but visit her at the stables) and she often got very anxious when standing still. She also had problems with wither soars and needed extra the saddle. If she was ever feeling pain in her withers or was anxious while I was riding her she would turn her head back to look at me, and bump my foot with her nose. I'm glad she was easily able to communicate this with me so I wasn't causing her any pain, I know some horses aren't as visible with their body language so I always felt grateful that she let me know before it got to painful and then she would just buck me off instead!

[tinachechourka]

SUPER HELPFUL! I love her sincere love for horse training tips!

[goldenyearsacres]

I have watched this video before, but felt I needed a refresher, just to make sure I'm being diligent in watching my horse's cues to how she is feeling & thinking. Thanks again for this video. As my skillset has improved
(thanks for your help), my relationship with my mare has improved. She's more trusting, curious, & has learned that her new owner(me) doesn't need a bite or kick to understand her wishes, but I still watch for cues because she could have a trigger we have yet to explore together. We are still building our relationship of trust & respect & I appreciate trainers such as yourself for sharing tips that work. Keep 'em coming please.