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You Are Here: Home > Training > Articles > What is Your Horse Saying?
What is Your Horse Saying?
by Cheryl McNamee Sutor, MHG
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In This Article:
The Snort
The Blow
The Nicker
The Neigh or Whinny
The Squeal
The Scream
The Sigh
The Groan
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There are many types of noises that are a part of a horse's vocabulary. Although horses
communicate mainly through body language, they may use vocal communication when they feel it
becomes necessary to do so. It is important to understand what each of these sounds mean, as some
may indicate pain, discomfort or fear. Knowing what these sounds mean may help you to decipher what
your horse is trying to tell you.
The Snort
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The horse usually holds his head high (or flexed)
while exhaling through the nose with his mouth shut. The strong exhale
creates a vibration or flutter sound in the nostrils. The snort lasts
about 1 second and can be heard up to 30 feet away.
"There may be danger" or "Is this dangerous?" - The horse snorts, followed by
an intense stare at the object his unsure about.
Responses:
"It's not dangerous" - The horse relaxes and/or ignores the thing that
he questioned.
"It's dangerous, I better leave!" - The horse tenses up and shies away
from the danger.
The Blow
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The blow is much like the snort. The horse exhales through his nose with his mouth
shut. The blow does not create the vibrating or fluttering noise that the snort
does. It is usually used when a horse is curious, or when the horse meets another.
The strength of the blow and body movements that follow will tell you what the
horse is saying.
"Are you a friend?" - Two horses meet nose to nose and blow on eachother. During
this, the two horses will tell eachother if they are friends or foes.
Responses:
"I am your friend" - The horses continue blowing gently followed by other
gentle actions such as nuzzling the others' coat.
"I am not your friend, get away!" - One or both of the horses nip at the other and/or
stomp the front feet, strike out or squeal.
"What is this?" - The horse blows towards an object it is curious about, usually
something new that he has never seen before.
Responses:
"It's okay" - The horse relaxes and nudges or ignores the object.
"It's dangerous" - The horse tenses up and/or shies away from the object.
The Nicker
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The horse creates a vibrating sound with his mouth closed, from his vocal cords.
The strength and tone of the nicker vary greatly, and will tell you what the horse is saying.
"Hello, good to see you" - The horse nickers fairly quietly, and moves toward the
other horse or person who he is nickering to.
"Hi, beautiful!" or "Woo Hoo, you're sexy!" - Usually said by a stallion. This nicker is
slightly more intense than the one above, with mating in mind, and accomodated
by shaking of the head and/or prancing, sniffing, rearing, or biting.
"Come closer" - This sound is most usually made by a mare to her foal. It is much
softer and quieter than the "hello" nicker. This nicker is usually accomodated by
a nudge from the horse's nose (usually towards her flanks to protect her foal from
danger).
The Neigh or Whinny
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Click here to hear a neigh/whinny
The Neigh starts out as a squeal, but ends up as a nicker. The neigh is the loudest and
longest of the horse sounds. The neigh is not necessarily a sound of fear, but is often used when a horse
is being separated from others.
"Is anyone else here?" - The horse neighs with his head high, looking around for
other horses or people. The horse usually neighs several times (if the horse neighs
after a companion has answered his neigh, he is often saying "Where are you?").
Response:
"I am here" - A returned nicker made by a fellow horse who hears
the original horse's question. This response is also a nicker, meant to tell
the other horse that he's not alone.
"Are you still here?" - Continuous neighing is often a sign that the horse is
uneasy and continually asking its companions if they are still nearby.
The Squeal
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The horse usually squeals with his mouth closed. The squeal can be short and quiet
or loud and long. The squeal can be heard far away if the horse squeals loud enough.
"Don't Push Me!" or "I don't want to!" - The horse squeals while backing off, or
sometimes aggressively approaching the object that is pushing or forcing him.
The Scream
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The scream sounds like a loud roar of rage. It is very rare to hear a
domesticated horse scream. It is only used during a fight between two horses,
usually only in the wild.
"I will kill you" - The horse roars at another horse, moving towards the other horse
aggresively, striking out and/or biting.
Responses:
"The fight is on!" - Both horses move towards eachother aggressively, striking,
kicking and biting. This continues until one of the two horses backs down.
"You are the boss" or "You win" - The horse backs down, with his tail set low,
running away from the other horse's threat.
The Sigh
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The sigh is often a sign of relief, but can sometimes indicate boredom (boy, some of us are
masters of this sound ourselves!). The horse draws in a deep breath, then lets it out slowly and audibly.
"Ahhh! That feels better!" - This is often heard while grooming or massaging a horse.
It can also be heard while a horse is warming up on the lunge line or under saddle, as if to
say "I'm warmed up/loosened up and ready now".
"Ho-hum... Ho-hum... this is booooring" - This is often heard when the horse becomes
bored (sometimes heard during repetitive arena work... which may indicate you to mix up your
exercises a bit to reduce the boredom).
The Groan
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The groan is a result of the diaphragm forcing air through the horse's vocal cords. The
groaning sound is similar to a human groaning. Groaning is often an indicator of pain or discomfort,
but can also simply be a habit that the horse has developed (as when a mother asks her child to
clean his room and he responds with an "Aauurrghh", while he sluggishly walks to his room to clean).
"Okay, but only if I have to" - An indicator of anticipation of something unpleasant.
This is sometimes heard as a "Grruummphh" when the horse is asked to perform a task.
"Ooof!" - This can often be heard when a horse defecates. It may simply be a result of
the horse pushing manure out, while holding his breath. However, it may also indicate a health
problem. This may also be heard during performance, for example, while jumping. It can be caused
by pain, or by pressure in the saddle/girth area. Some detective work may be needed to determine
if the groaning is habit, pressure from the girth, discomfort from an ill-balanced rider, pain,
or other causes.
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