Last night, we heard this comment from a young lady to her companion as they petted one of our horse's shoulders, "This horse is mad. Look at it's ears. My Grandpa told me that if a horse's ears are back, they are mad." Well, the horse's ears were back, the left ear idly listening to traffic, the right ear probably idly listening to HER. Not mad.
Here's the deal with mood and horse ears: animals with directional ears sometimes swivel them to listen, rather than turning their heads. You want to know what a horse's brain is probably focused on, look at their ears, not their eyes. They only turn their heads from the direction they're facing if they've heard something REALLY interesting.
How to tell if they are listening to something behind vs. sending a warning? Pinned ears = warning, irritation, i.e., speaking. Ears angled backwards = listening.
This horse is listening to it's rider.
They can pin those ears nearly flat to their heads when irritated or sending a warning. This is often accompanied by a snaked out neck, and distinctly ugly expression on their faces--curled nostrils (think Elvis) coupled with unmistakably glaring eyes. I have to admit, if no one is in biting, kicking, striking or bucking off range, this look has been known to crack me up, ... kind of like a 4 year old about to throw a big ole temper tantrum. (Otherwise it's not too funny.)
This horse has it all, pinned ears, stretched neck, glaring eyes, Elvis nostrils. Anything unclear here?
I think the confusion comes in because when horses turn their ears back to listen, they swivel on a downward diagonal. But they don't go flat. So that's the short explanation about horse ears. I wish humans had horse ears. Or dog, cat, rabbit, etc., ears ... so much cuter. Plus, you have to admit, human ears aren't exactly expressive by comparison.
1 comment:
You summed it up just right! Beside all that a "Carriage Co. Owner" would never chose a "Angry" animal to work with the team!
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