If you feel like your horse doesn't like you, here are a few things that might be going on: Too much rigorous training. Not enough basic groundwork. Lacking confidence when giving commands.
Horses can be disrespectful in many ways; here are the most common disrespectful behaviors when it comes to dealing with horses: Grazing While Being Led or Ridden. Bumping Into You. Dragging You or Walking Too Slow When Being Led.
The number one trust builder is to be predictable by being consistent! Be consistent with your energy level, emotions, and how you show up around your horse. Stay consistent with your communication, always sending and receiving messages in the same way — a way that both you and your horse clearly understand.
Unwanted behaviors are repetitive, purposeless behaviors that take up a large portion of a horse's time. Common examples include cribbing, biting and weaving. These behaviors frustrate horse owners. As a result, we often refer to them as vices.
Why do horses nudge you? Have you ever been nudged by a horse? Horses use body language to communicate with humans (and other horses), and one of the ways they do this is through touch. Nudging is a way for a horse to get your attention, which can signify affection or impatience.
Be sure to stay away from the sensitive areas of the horse like the eyes, ears, muzzle, and belly of the horse. While some horses might be OK with you petting these areas, many are sensitive and won't like to be touched there.
On approach, try to look at the horse's knees as opposed to directly in the eyes as this can make a horse feel threatened. If you are approaching the horse, not in eyes view, it is especially important to let your presence be known.
Move confidently and slowly when approaching a horse; walk, never run. Approach the horse from the front, toward their shoulder. Speak to the horse when approaching and extend your hand. Never approach a horse from the rear.
Horses may behave aggressively towards people if they feel threatened, or if they are trying to escape or avoid doing what the person wants them to do. They may also behave aggressively as a result of previous experience.
They may invert, hollow the back and come above the bit, or they may become resistant when you ask for a downward transition and toss/raise their head. They may develop a busy mouth, chomping and chewing and even grabbing the bit and trying to snatch the contact away from you.
In one study, the heart rhythms of horses and humans were analyzed over the course of various interactions with one another. The findings indicated that horses care capable of detecting when a human is expressing and projecting positive feelings towards them and is likely to reciprocate those positive feelings.
Antonio Lanatá and his colleagues at the University of Pisa, Italy, have found that horses can smell fear and happiness. While these are just two emotions the researchers identified, further studies may reveal horses can pick up additional emotions from the body odors humans emit.
Horses stomp to indicate irritation. Usually, it's something minor, such as a fly they're trying to dislodge. However, stomping may also indicate your horse is frustrated with something you are doing, and if you don't address it, he may resort to stronger signals.
Horses exhibit higher heart rates when separated from a human, but don't show any preference for their owners over complete strangers, the team discovered.
Other trainers indicate hard contact is preferred to establish your dominance over the herd. And then other trainers say you should avoid direct eye contact altogether as this will frighten the horse because it will make them think you are stalking them.
They will accept you as their leader and do what they are told, while not running over or cramping you. Sometimes they may even follow you around. Sometimes horses will blow air in your face through their nostrils to show you they love you, like they do with other horses.
When horses actively blow air through their nose, they want to express that they are extremely comfortable and content. It is a sign of great affection when animals "blow" at each other, the same is true for humans.
Horses can read human emotions, too, often in uncannily accurate ways; alerting us to our sadness or nervousness, sometimes before we've even consciously registered it.
Depending on the situation, horses can show fear physically as their eyes will widen, their nostrils will flare, and their necks will brace upward. Sometimes horses will physically shake out of fear or chew their bit to help ease their anxiety.
The horse may be anxious or in pain. This frightened horse is leaning back with head raised and turned to face an alarming object, ready to flee, ears held back, whites of eyes showing with tense muscles above, tense muzzle with square nostrils. The horse is about to run away.