Tried using facial expressions?
May 28th, 2009 by Carolyn Resnick Method
Hello. Today I’d like to talk to you about body language or more precisely facial expressions.
I was reading in Robert Barber’s book about the fact that horses communicate with each other using eye expressions and I was really surprised with that. I have used body language all of my life and know that horses can accept messages, for example, from throat movements when swallowing. However, I was not aware of eye expressions and don’t know how I missed that.
Anyway, after reading Robert Barber’s book, I started practicing with my horses and found out that opening my eyes really big to a horse that was threatening me caused the horse to back down easily. So, then I started putting expressions on my face as a way to communicate and found that I have even became closer and more able to communicate with my horses. So, along with the body expressions that we use to communicate, I would suggest you also use facial expression and eye expressions as well.
So, please tell me how you get along with that. Maybe you already have stories that you would like to share on how facial expressions have helped you with your horses.
Have a lovely weekend.
Till next week
Carolyn
P.S. What do you think of the facial expressions below?! Thank you to Eileen for sending in the pictures of her horse Breeze. Do you have anything to beat these?
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After reading this I had one of those light bulb moments. My family has enjoyed success with horses for many years and I am thinking now that it is due in part to the fact that we all seem to have a tremendous ability to read body language. Everyone from my parents to cousins seem to have this ability. I have often thought about the facial expression aspect but have never experimented with it. I think I will try it tonight with my own horses. Thanks for the insite.
I think eyes and expressions are really important, I can tell instantly how Del is from his expressions, of course ears help too. He is becoming more playful now, unheard of before I started the rituals, he always seemed so serious. I can see straight away when he is playing now. To help his pollen allergy I have to put a uv net on and I hate it because like sunglasses i don’t feel comfortable not being able to see his eyes.
Nicole,
After thinking about it. Let your horse be at the gate. Find a place to sit and stay there he will stop at some point and settle down. If you do this for an hour every day he will get into the routine and then you can take him out to graze.
For Nicole H. I wonder if Carolyn would agree with this but ‘How about sitting with your horse after you have ridden, or whatever you do with him?’
anne
Dear Nicole,
It will help but you are perfroming a servise for him. You are not sharing territory. Take hay out with you and sit with him at liberty would be better.
Always it is better to follow my guide lives when possible.
Because I can kind you better.
Hi Carolyn!
I think the body language that comes naturally when I make those facial expressions helps too.
Interesting topic!
I use facial expression when I work with my horse, like smiling when he does what I ask, or having a more intent, focused expression when I am asking my horse to do certain things like backing up, or yielding his hindquarters.
I have a quick question about sharing territory that I meant to ask last week. When I try to share territory with my horse in his pasture, he often comes to the gate while I am walking to the pasture, hoping that I will take him out. And then when I go in there to spend time with him, he will often go up to the gate and put his foot on it and tries to get me to take him out.
When he wants me to take him out of his pasture, and is bored of being in there, would it be better for my to spend time with him by taking him out and sitting down while he grazes, even though he can’t exactly go anywhere he wants? Can I still get the same benefit of sharing territory if I spend time with him this way?
Thanks!
-Nicole H
Dear Anne,
I think you can get the reeds right now for Wal Mart stores right now. Sometimes Pier One also carries them some time. Look for Long very thin pecies of reed about 5′ or more that when you shish them back and worth they take on a snake like s shape.
I start with a reed and then I I use the other lunge like whip later one when I send a horse way I use a crack to call the horse back to me.
I do not use eather to strike or hit a horse in is training.
I choose horses that would naturally respond well with out the contact.
This way as I am teaching no one is going to miss them.
Hope this is of help.
welcome to my blog.
Carolyn
Dear Lynn,
The name of the book is “Such is the Nature of Horses” My copy is packed way so I can not be sure but I am sure you can find it because the author is well known. The book is by Robert Vavra. There was a typo made some were in the office when they put it on my blog. I guess they did not know who Robert Vavra was. I hope I have spelled his name correctly.
Hi,
Fascinating subject and I would like to get this book. Carolyn what is the name of the book as the authors name is not enough on google?
My brumby was chosen because of his soft eyes and even though noone could get near him or work with him on the Brumby rescue place when I recieved his photo I knew that I had made the right decision to adopt him from his eyes.
My older boy who now lives with me had sad eyes where he was as he was not happy and this is confirmed from animal communicators who I use. His eyes are now soft and gentle and the worried look gone as he now lives on my farm.
My cat tells me so much from her eyes and non verbals. It is so powerful and I teach my staff the value of reading non verbals so it makes sense that it is important in horse communication as well.
You are an inspiration Carolyn and these pieces of info that you share so important.
I ordered and just watched The waterhole Rituals DVD, that was recently recommended to me by Animal Communicator, Marta Williams. I would love some feedback on the ‘reed’ Carolyn uses, and i noticed other types of lunge whips that she was using in some of her rituals.
I was impressed with her ability to be in a leadership role with all the horses shown on the dvd. I know it is not the tool, but the intention, but at the same time whenever I have observed anyone doing ‘at liberty’ work with a horse they are carrying a reed, whip, lunge whip, some sort of tool to get the horses attention from a nip or bite. I have observed that horses use nips and bites and kicks, squeals, and etc. The thing is I want to know more about the use of these tools, because in observing someone using them, it is easy to mimic without understanding the concept or the degree of force necessary. My mare is so much more polite with a chain on her halter than without. I don’t have to use it, but she listens with greater politeness when it is on. I assume she was ‘bitten’ by it in earlier training, and knows that iI means business.
I have watched dozens of training videos, and every trainer is fantastic!! I also liked very much Carolyn’s suggestion to throw out any training advice that didn’t work and at least attempt to find the one that works for you and your horse!
Thank you for this blog and for sharing what works for you. I would love to be able to dance with my warm blood, and I am going to begin with the sitting with her in her pod. Since I am at a traditional barn without an appropriate roundpen, this will have to do. I already do spend time with her doing nothing, but I didn’t use this time as training for leadership on my part. Thanks, Anne.
Love all the responses! Had to laugh ,Bonnie, about the stallions.Soo true. It’s the WHOLE face, every part. A short story, I was holding a “cookie” over the gate but he wouldn’t get close. Neck all stretched out. I looked him in the eye & asked him, outloud, “what’s wrong”. Quick as a flash his eye glanced down off his shoulder. I looked, and realized the landlord had plugged in the elec. fence to do some work and it was still on. Prophet thought the metal gate might be hot. He lived under some powerlines for awhile and we couldnt touch other on rainy days or HE would get a tingle. If I had not been looking in his eye when I asked him I would have missed it, just that quick. You know, he IS my best friend. Why would I not want to communicate w/him through our eyes. Old friends and lovers speak volumes with thier eyes and never say a word. And to Anne, yes I believe we should speak to our horses outloud. We know dogs can a have a human vocabulary of over 100 words and short phrases. I have no doubt horse can at least match that. Do they learn the words (yes) or read the intention behind it? It doesn’t really matter if it works. I say look in your heart and you’ll know the right thing to do. [Perspective, Empathy, Time] PET your horse today. therese
It does not surprise me that facial expressions, especially the eyes, are so important when working with horses. The more i study animal communication, the more obvious this becomes. Dogs interpret a direct stare as agressive. Cats view soft, half closed eyes as a sign of great affection. This animal world is so fascinating!
This blog has my attention, and as I was driving home from the barn today, I was thinking about sunglasses, and I turned it around and thought how awful it would be for me not to see my horses eyes, or eye, since I usually see one at a time, unless I am in front of her. I would be lost! Her eyes are so expressive, and intuitively we all know our horses from their eyes, and body language. We always have more than the eye, for us and them, and I am sure a blind horse could and would communicate with us with her other senses. I love my mares eye…s ! She often looks worried, but when I tuned in to her, I realized she was worried about her future, and if I would love her forever. I said YES, and she is happier, and has a less worried expression. Sometimes she wants to be a lookee loo, and in my sense she is watching out for the both of us, and I have to remind her that I appreciate it, but not to the extent of not paying attention to me.
i guess the question I am putting out there is, how many of you actually talk/ask out loud to your horses and tell them what you want, and even maybe tell them what they are asking? Have you heard of the idea of asking your horse his/her opinion of something you might be thinking about? For your horse or in your personal life?
Soft eyes, anne.
This is some feedback for Carolyn’s Inner Circle participants and their previous entries about Sharing Territory.
I met Carolyn about one year ago when I was experiencing enormous challenges with my Gelding Romeo. As an Animal Intuitive, but novice horse owner, I was having difficulty establishing trust and respect in my relationship with him. I dreamed of a heartfelt connection and bond with my horse, but wasn’t sure how to create it. Romeo is a 16-year old retired Western-Pleasure Show Horse with serious lameness issues. I love him deeply and feel I am in his life to help him heal on many levels. (he is in my life as one of the most profound teachers I’ve ever met!)
When Carolyn suggested I ‘sit’ with my horse, I found it difficult to drop my agenda-driven way of thinking, especially since I found myself concluding that if I just spent a few days sitting in his corral, we’d quickly move past the resistance we’d developed between each other and get down to the business of healing, learning, progressing. Hah! Was I in for a delightful surprise.
I discovered that by simply spending time in his living space, giving him the freedom to check me out, without the pressure from me to ‘do stuff’, the horse I had always felt was buried inside of him began to emerge. But the biggest surprise was what the ‘sitting’ was doing to me. As a seasoned Meditator and past Yoga Instructor, I found the time I was spending in the presence of my beautiful equine companion was having a profound, enlightening affect on ME. By simply sitting quietly and enjoying the moment-to-moment state of mind as I would watch my horse watching me, my own inner peace and self-realization was allowed to blossom. And of course, as I became more at peace with just being in Romeo’s presence with no agenda other than relishing in the delicious experience of sharing time together, he found me to be a much more attractive partner.
Our quiet time together gave him the chance to use his equine mind to understand me. The silences we shared were like medicine for his equine soul. It is, after all, how horses communicate best with each other….in the silence.
I came to look forward to our ‘sitting’ times so much that I didn’t want to do anything else with him! The love and honesty that flows between us as a result of ‘just sitting’ has shaped our relationship. We are now deeply close and trusting with each.
other.
Now, many months later, I am able to be with Romeo at liberty, or in riding, feeling the deep connection that was allowed to develop naturally between us. To this day, I spend time each day just sitting with him. It is our favorite activity and has become the glue which binds our hearts, minds and souls.
I hope you are all having great fun with the unfolding adventures of Carolyn’s Water Hole Rituals. And I wish for you the life-changing realizations that I know are possible for you and your horses.
Here’s to Happy Sitting!
Debra
Abseluetly agrree with Helene about the sunglasses disconnection. I get spooked when talking to people with sunglasses and i have always felt uncomfortable wearing them around horses. But i also realised that squinting from the sun disturbed the balance of communication, so i tend to wear a baseball cap now.
I saw a very sad but observant youtube clip called ‘worried eyes’ yesterday. A very observant photographer had managed to capture lots of shots of horses eyes when in hyper-flexion during dressage (Grand Prix level). ALL the horses had the same expression. Worried eyes. I then remembered my pony’s eyes looked the same when her back was hurting and the farrier used to trim her feet (causing discomfort to her). She used to kick out but her eyes where not aggressive, they were, yes, worried. I remember saying outloud – ‘look at her eyes!’ because i could see she was not being agressive in terms of claiming space, more using her kicks to protect her space and i could see this in her eyes.
So if horses have such a wide range of eye expressions – for instance, we all know the expression – ‘…a kind eye’ which demonstrates a calm and content disposition, it makes sense to me that nature provided this as another form of communication between themselves – as it is with us.
I get bored of people saying don’t look a horse in the eye. They are wonderful mirrors – not only to their present state of emotions, but also ours as well. I always worry about people who can’t make eye contact. But obviously looking in to a horses eye with big eyes would be threatening. And too much eye contact, exhausting – we also need to know when to drop our eyes and become completely passive.
I think when we change the focus of our eyes, we change the energy status in our bodies between passive and active states. For instance, a hard look loses the proliferal vision and raises our pulse rate, where as a soft look and an awareness of our proliferal has the opposite affect.
What i practise, and want to master, is lifting and dropping energy status without raising my pulse rate, or allowing emotions like anger to creep up, as, being human, this is a defensive state that can creep up when we are fearful and our pulse rates rise. So if i lift my energy and make my look focused, i try to keep my pulse rate steady and widen my eyes without making them hard and still staying aware of my proliferal vision, so i have a soft awareness of all that is around me, and yet still maintain a focused and assertive state.
Apparently, motor bikers are taught this (soft eyes, hard eyes) state to help them stay focused without losing the awareness of what’s around them – or what might jump out of the side of the road! – so they can remain confident and yet aware.
Gor, i love this stuff!! So glad it’s come up!
You are welcome Bonnitta.
It is hard not to notice Dawn who looks incredibly smart and connected. The mare I walk with is also a Morgan who constantly surprises me by her keen ability to communicate and understand as well as express her emotions – When we do something she likes; she gives me the biggest smiles just like Breeze does for Eileen.
Call me partial but I think that these Morgan are slightly above the cut!
Helen, Yes Dawn is a morgan. The other horses are arabs (the big guy in the orange is a Thoroughbred, and there is an old morgan lurking in the background.
Thanks for the nice feedback.
Bonnie
Thank you for the beautiful video Bonnitta! What a smart mare! Is Dawn a Morgan?
I am a beginner rider. Following Carolyn’s advice, I volunteer to take a mare on long walks to improve her cellulites condition. In spite of her profound loyalty to her owner (who can no longer come to care for her as often as she wants), the bond between us progressively became stronger. She now often knickers at my sight, follows my directions and even feels comfortable enough to roll in the wild.
With the sun returning, I recently, started wearing sunglasses. I frankly felt immediately disconnected wearing them as we have (and she seeks) a lot of eye contacts.
At the same time, I noticed a slight withdrawal from her part as well as her being occasionally difficult. Although, she particularly likes to walk by my side, she started walking at an unusual distance.
As nothing had occurred to explain the changes in her comportment, it just occurred to me that she might feel the same way that I felt regarding the sunglasses: disconnection.
In fact, as soon as I removed them, she reverted to her sweet self.
Now, did she picked up on my feeling and acted disconnected because I did? Or did she express her own opinion? Some skeptics will bet on the former, but knowing her, I choose the later – I have no doubt that staring in these dark wide plastic saucers did seriously annoy her!
Good, fun thread! A couple of other thoughts. Stallions use their lips very expressively. I like to say “Stallions can’t be good poker players” because when they are contemplating being mischievous, they pucker their lips up in a kind of “snit”. Everything else about them can be relaxed and receptive, but if you look closely… you can see the snit come up in their nose. This is a good cue to use to do a reminder to your stallion — as Carolyn will say “oh oh!….” – and the stallion will be astounded that you knew what he was thinking even before he acted upon it!
Another story- about horses picking up facial expressions — the first time I did round pen work (with Pony Boy) I got into this intense connection with my arab mare, Gypsie (who works on an amazingly subtle level all the time)… I was working her through walk-trot transitions, and darn if she didn’t anticipate the transition a micro-second before I asked for it. I worked VERY HARD on my body language and timing– but every time she made it clear she could “read my mind” — much to her AMUSEMENT, I have to admit.
Pony Boy came over at my request and watched very carefully. He recognized something I did — I changed my facial expression from relaxed to just a tad tight when I was contemplating the transition- He showed me this, and then when I “corrected” it, the work became much more spontaneous.
Bonnie
Jan said:
“I think you cannot separate facial expressions from the emotions so I am sure my facial expressions are clear. I never thought much about using just the facial expressions.”
I think that will depend on how readable as a person you are. I am always told by other people that I cannot hide my thought if my life depended on it. That my face is so over the top transparent. The good news about this is that my horses can probably read me real well. Beyond that, though, I believe they can also read your intentions and emotions at another level, other than body language and facial expression. More mysteriously, that is, energetically. My mare always knows when I am pleased and happy with what she has done. It’s a vibe that it creates between us that I can feel even when I’m out of sight…..
I have not concsiously used facial expressions but I have consciously used emotion to train horses. I work with a lot of TBs and they are very emotional beings and respond well to emotions. To a certain degree throwing emotions at them gives them feedback on what they are doing. Positive when they are good and negative when they are not. They REALLY get it! I have to be careful with some of them, particularly Xcel not to get too excited when he does well because it as if my emotion goes straight to him and he will tend to leap in the air! So I have to be a little careful there. The TB mare I have now really gets it too and tries very hard to please but sometimes her emotions get the better of her. But she is young and off the track and is learning. I think you cannot separate facial expressions from the emotions so I am sure my facial expressions are clear. I never thought much about using just the facial expressions. I will check it out though
I use my eyes a lot with my cats , if I squeeze them closed and open again in a loving sort of way, they come straight to me, it is a ‘hello’ in cat behaviour books. My dog will respond in the same way.
I can definately read my pony’s motive to snatch grass or nip when out on a walk, I always see it in his eyes first, and when there is someone else leading or riding him they are amazed when I say he is about to snatch grass.
When I went to buy a Pomeranian years ago I was told to take off my sun glasses as they see big black eyes as intimidating, so I have always taken them off at the stables if I am working my pony but not when doing routine chores. I dont know if it makes a difference, but I always make sure he can see my eyes. I often take off my normal glasses as well when sitting on his stable floor for safety.
I cant wait to experiment further with this as I just did things using comman sense before, but now I have something else to experiment with.
I have always noticed that my horse has different eyes when she’s sad, and when she’s happy (and of course when she is scared). The eyebrow, or the place where the eyebrow would be if horses didn’t have hair all over their face, tends to bend and move just like human’s eyebrows do (it arches and flattens and tilts). I never though of using it in return, to try to communicate to my horse rather than reading her.
Caroyln,
It’s funny that you used the phrase “choose your right horse” because I chose Dawn (the mare who “sits”) from a web photo– I JUST KNEW she’d be really good at teaching humans! Anyway… I hope you might enjoy this video clip of her. I just had her for one year, and she is so bonded/ with me, at such a deep level. Here she is doing something we did this past winter for fun- I open the gates from the paddock to the larger area, and then I ask her to “round up” the herd for me. It is a short video. Make sure you see Dawn’s “done!” statement at the end. Here is the video– I hope you enjoy it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmsaEveAkbw
Interesting topic and I’m going to pay more attention to my facial expressions now when I’m with horses and try to note what they react to and why.. I can certainly believe that horses use their eyes for communication. My Glen has very expressive eyes. When he is eating green grass and clover in a new spring pasture you can see the brow go up and the edges of his eye soften .. there is no doubt that he is enjoying the moment. What I find particularly endearing is that every day before I have to leave him he will “hug” me by facing me, putting his head on my shoulder and then putting his eye close to mine… and he stares quietly with the same softening of the edges of the eye that he does when eating – and he will stand there gazing into my eye – I can’t help but smile at him (with a BIG toothy grin and mushy eyes) and say “I love you too!”.
Bonita,
I had a mare that was an amazing creature that I had bonded with me from me taking her on long walks in her fifty acre field that was with out any horses thoug she was not relationship starved because on most all sides she shared a common fence with may horses.
Her nature was to be on her own and she love me alot.
When I would sit down on a bench that was strong enough to hold a horse at the stable that I kept her, she would sit down with me and after offering this behavior over a period of time I could ask her is sit on the bench and she would ever time.
It is always a good idea to choose the right horse that has the qualties you are looking for. It is so nurturing. I guess I needed a bench sitten and I got one. Her name was Sunshine.
Hi Carolyn
when a horse has to wait for my sign to start eating and he ignores it and advances to the food anyway, I notice that I bring my chin a bit into his direction and I also frown, look with mad eyes and meanwhile I place my ears a bit to the back (I can’t explain how I do it or what muscles I use). If the horse still advances, I do a step forward into his direction with the same expression on my face. I’m acting like a mad mare… the horse learns very quickly what my expression means and waits for the sign of the gentle mare Tine.
Yes I use my whole face, whether I use it ‘properly’ according to the horse is another story! But when moving a horse away, I will glare, when asking to come, I smile with my whole face, when an incorrect action from the horse, I frown and furrow my brow, etc. I feel like it is understood! And I can sure see my horse’s eye expressions communicate different moods!
Have to weigh in on the dark glasses. I wear sunglasses all day here in AZ, and I was working a difficult mule one time and an old guy said “Take those glasses off, it’ll make a difference” and it surely did. Since then, when I’m working a horse, I pull them up so they can see my eyes.
I think your eye expressions do make a difference. Lots of times around here a look and a finger wave are all it takes to make a horse back off. I’m a believer!
Dear Carolyn,
Eyes are very interesting. Just this week I was thinking on how expressive the horse eye is. My reflexions were inspired in an article I read in an old issue of Arabian Horse World magazine which includes the anecdote of a trainer who stares at the horse with bug-eye to get the horse’s neck to really stretch out.
My thoughts led me to collect the “eyes” I have observed and identified with names.
For example:
Japanese or chinese eye: when they are mad at somebody, the eyes become narrower.It goes with pinned ears but not always.
Pain eye: the lines of the eye lids become hard , immobile and it only looks forward, there’s no eye contact. The eye is wide open like bug eye. He stares without looking. If the pain persists, some wrinkles develop on the top of the eye lids it has a slight concave depression. This is a sign of the presence of some low or medium grade chronic pain.
Surprise eye: this one can be funny if one is witnessing the very fleeting moment it happens. It might occur when they find something unexpected like my horse found unexpectedly there were carrots in a bucket while he was playing with the water in it.
The ugly-eye: this one I have observed is a warning eye like before they are about to turn to bite or kick or turn the hunches menacingly. saying: “you stop telling me or you are going to get it!!” It is an ugly eye that delivers the message quite clearly. The edges of the eye become deformed, curved, mostly if who they are threatening is besides and back at hunches level.
“I-don’t-know-what-you-are-talking-about” eye: It usually accompanies a slight turn of the head to a side. The top of the eye has a slight depression, and when they turn their head the eye looks away but without focusing on a distant object, so the horses mind is not on what he is seeing but still on the who they are saying “I don’t know what you are saying, I did nothing”.
Yawning eye: Sometimes they do this one when they yawn.The eye ball turns, the eye becomes white for a moment. The eye ball rolls a couple of times, and one sees the iris disappearing and coming back again.
The cute eye: difficult to describe but irresistible. Cuteness is such a potent expression.
Dum eye: I have seen this eye in horses that have been clicker trained, or better said that all their training has been done through a clicker. It’s seen in the moment when a horse is “offering” behaviour for a treat and the eye is some how loose, the iris rolled a bit toward the center of the head. Also observed in horses that are in the act of some repetive movement in a stall.
There are some others but difficult to describe like the command-eye, as if saying “YOU DO so and so NOW!! Another one I find often is the lost-eye, I have observed this one in horses that are sick or ignored. The eye does not look, nor see, it’s just there.
Who is Robert Barber? The only one I found in google is a DVM that sells horse walkers.
Best for all and thank you Carolyn for your generous comments.
Marisela
Note on Clicker: I mentioned the clicker trained horses above and would like to add I have observed some clicker trainers that are so so focused in obtaining behaviour through clicking that they don’t seem to be able to notice anything else. There are others that have a more intelligent and sensitive approach that seems to be in contact more with the animal than with their goal.
LUV IT. Yes facial expressions and particularly the eyes. Look into horses eyes, calm, worried, scared, sleepy etc… I think their eyes tell us exactly what they are feeling, so it seems logical that they would look into our eyes to help read our mood. We talk to each other with them, why not our horses? Thanx again for the great topics.
I have spent many many hours in the roundpen engaging in the EGE ‘conversation’ with the horse. I have never ever seen a horse try to sit on someone’s lap! It would have been fascinating to have been there to see what the meaning might have been! One thing I have learned is that, there are many possibilities, and an action the horse takes is never explained in one way only. A yawn could be a release for the person, a need to express oneself, a smile, who knows? It takes looking at all the things it could mean at the time and what it might be reflecting to the individual and those witnessing the action?
As far as facial expressions goes, someone wearing very dark glasses working a horse, and someone without glasses gets a very different response. I once watched Pony Boy invite an audience member into his roundpen, and he insisted that the horse had to see the persons eyes and the dark glasses had to be taken off. This might have a huge effect on say, lungeing? I need my glasses to see, and they are not that dark, but i have often wondered what would be better if I didn’t wear them? Next time I hang out with my horse I am going to take them off, and see.
Hi Carolyn,
what a fascinating topic. I love the way you will always experiment with new topics and insights.
As far as using facial expressions, I’ve always used them and found them effective, although I’ve never heard of anyone confirming this. For example, I’ve found that smiling after a job well done really works great for my mare, and my yearling colt, the little dominator, responds to frowned eye brows in combination with thrusting your head forward, the way that horses throw/snake their head with ears back and glaring eyes. However, the smiling seems to be the most effective expression. Perhaps also because when, as a human, we smile, we often go into a softer body posture as well.
These photos reminded me of an incident at one of our workshops– and I thought Carolyn, you might have an interesting interpretation of it. In the second half of our level I workshop, participants sit inside a 30′ x 30′ enclosure (its the run-in part of the barn for the horses) — they sit on a little stool, and bring in a horse to work with. Lots of interesting interactions happen- mostly participants are amazed at the quality of touch – sensitivity, engagement– that the horses give them. But the horses can demonstrate a sense of humor- as in these photos. On session, my horse Dawn, a 3- year old at the time– was embracing a young man– she would actually arch her neck over him like a protectoress– and then she would walk around and try to SIT IN HIS LAP! I mean, she would put her butt end over his lap, and actually buckle her hindquarters– then get up and walk away. The young man asked me “what it meant?” but I answered, as I always do in this particular session, “the horse has given you a koan”…
Now this horse was NOT displaying any signs of being in heat, or having estrus-type desires. It didn’t look/ feel anything like that. And she was gentle in everything she did.
Ideas?