The Horse's Thoughts, Movement, and Ear Direction- Equine Communication

What are your horse's ears telling you?"

The very first indication as to where your horse's thoughts currently are is relative to the direction of where each ear is pointing.

Noticing the horse's ears can begin to help you mentally slow down, check in with the horse's brain, and learn to understand and recognize when your horse's brain is not addressing wherever you are attempting to direct his thoughts.

If you can't get your horse to focus where you'd like him to move, what do you think the chances are of him moving with quality and wherever you have directed him? Very little.

 
Without the horse mentally engaging, and solely focusing on his physical response, creates a vicious cycle of trying to correct unwanted behavior after-the-fact, and can make the rider feel at the mercy of the equine.

For example, if you are preparing your horse for a turn to the left, but notice his ears and focus (eyes are looking) to the right, you already know that if you do nothing to redirect his thought, and only ask him to move, his body will move/drift/leak/step towards where his thoughts are, which are to the right.

A great way to achieve the ideal physical responses from the horse is to practice influencing your horse proactively. Starting on the ground with a lead rope, assess when you prepare to have him move. Did you give a cue to ask for his ear and eye to acknowledge the direction you will want him to move in before you ask for the movement?

The gelding in this photo was one I spent many hours with while working in the Patagonian mountains of southern Chile.

Despite the frequent 40 mph winds, he'd indicate the slightest change of sheep activity far up the mountainside. I called him Watch Dog.

 
I appreciated his awareness of changes in the environment, but also how little rein energy it took to draw his thought back to our location and get back to work.

There is a difference between a curious and aware horse, versus a fixated or hyper-alert one.

Many people have been around horses but without recognizing the value in how frequently the horse is communicating. If you're interested in learning more about equine behavior and communication, click HERE for the Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey the Remote Horse Coach "Reading the Horse" seven-part video series.