#horsetalk

[punkitt-is-here]

#my posts #shitposts #screencaps #horsetalk #mlp

[lorrifaucett-blog]

#my horse #horsetalk #trailriding #horseback riding

[mellifluousmadness]

R.I.P. Manduro son of Monsun and Mandellicht. I hope his progeny will continue and I will meet them one day. I already met some horses from Königsstuhl family and all of them were lovely.

#manduro #horse #thoroughbred stallion #r.i.p. #horsetalk

[zoofleece]

Horses heal, transform and empower. Horses notice, feel, and respond. Horses carry things. Horses are powerful, strong, kind and gentle. Allow the wisdom of the horse to impact your life. #zoofleece #horse #horses #horsetalk #horsebackriding #horsefleece #horseblanket #horse🐴 #horsewisdom #kind #gentle #powerful #transform #red (at GallopNYC) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9C3xlqpaG9/?igshid=1kl15degse0st

#zoofleece #horse #horses #horsetalk #horsebackriding #horsefleece #horseblanket #horse🐴 #horsewisdom #kind #gentle #powerful #transform #red

[montanabarb]

I Hate You . . . Don’t Leave Me

I have the luxury of observing my horses in a natural habitat on a daily basis. It’s amazing what a human can learn from these social, curious animals. Each one has a unique personality and temperament. They communicate clearly with subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) nonverbal actions. Each one has his own “tells.” Buster pins his ears, then comes the tail swish. Levi shifts his butt just slightly before squealing indignantly. Anniston pushes his nose and squints his eyes. Mr. Chips raises his head and resorts to a paw or two when necessary. Some tend to flight; others tend to fight.

Some days you’d think they all hate each other. Squeals. Kicks. Rears. Bites. Missing pieces of hide. Chunks of mane missing.

Other days they follow each other around like puppies. Groom my back. No groom mine. Give me a kiss. Nap with me! Hey take a look at that deer over the fence. Can you hear the cows down the gully?

Buster is the leader. He doesn’t move his feet. He doesn’t have to. Everyone pays attention to his rules. Buster surveys his domain with his nose in the grass. But he doesn’t miss a thing. As he ages he chooses to let the others commence their nonsense with a roll of his eyes (metaphorically). It’s only been recently that anyone has challenged his authority. Subtly, of course. Now that makes him mad and revenge can be a bitch.

Anniston is an adorable Haflinger puppy dog. But he has “little man” syndrome. He would REALLY like to be in charge of somebody, anybody. He doesn’t take any crap from anyone but Buster. But he is also the most empathetic of the herd. When I need a companion for a rescued foster horse he is my Go To Guy.

Mr. Chips is a troublemaker, in a fun way. If I see blood in the pasture I always seek him out. He’s an Arab Paint with a big personality. Action. He wants action. Let’s run. Let’s play. Let’s run. Oops. Didn’t see that gate. Oops. I meant to fall down in the mud like that.

Levi is the newest member of the herd. It’s taking him awhile to find his place. Most days you’d think he would rather be alone. His social skills are . . . immature. However . . .

What happens when someone is removed? Trailered out for a clinic or trail ride? For a walk down the country lane? For a ride in the front pasture in full view of everyone else?

The Sky Is Falling! Heck, Mr. Chips has a meltdown if one of the neighbor horses is trailered out! We really, really need [insert horse’s name here] in the pasture with us right now. Something quite terrible is sure to happen if he/she is not returned IMMEDIATELY.

Upon return? OMG thank goodness you are safe. Are you ok? Now get the hell out of my space, would ya? Don’t even think about eating that scrap of hay I left there.

*sigh*

#horsetalk

[thegreenhorseman]

With the exception of Mr. Ed horses don’t communicate with words. They learn to understand us over some time but if you want to get to know a horse you must learn their language.

Learning the way horses communicate can save you from injury or bodily harm.  Knowing the signs of pain, fear, and anxiety can save you from damaging your horse.  Communicating effectively with your horse will give you a deeper connection to it so that you have a great mutually rewarding relationship. 

Horses use their body to communicate to each other.  Their tails and ears are the main devices used in communication.

Fleischman:  Horses have a gland in their mouth that is associated with smell.  When there is an unfamiliar scent the horse will make this funny face to single it out and register the scent in  its memory.

This horse was actually trained to “smile” but Fleischman looks pretty much like this.

Snaking:  Snaking is when a horse lowers its head and acts aggressively toward another creature.  This is often done as a way to show dominance and to drive other horses away.  You’ll often see stallions with this behavior but any horse is capable of this type of aggression.

A lowered head is relaxing to a horse

A raised head is alertness but while you’re riding a raised head could also indicate pain

Above left:  This horse is very alert and anxious.  While you can’t rule out pain from the picture, watching the horse in person made it clear that nerves were playing a major role in it’s head carriage.

Above right: A group of happy relaxed horses enjoying their day

Licking and chewing: a horse will lick and chew when it relaxes after something stressful

Ears:

Ears are incredible.  They can rotate 180 degrees and give many different signals.  Horses use the rotation of the ears to detect sounds on all sides of them.

Ears pinned back often means they are agitated, angry, or want space and are likely to bite.  There’s something we call a “mare stare” and you’ll know it by the grouchy face they give others.  They simply don’t want to be bothered.

Ears forward or backward, the horse is paying attention to whatever is in front of or behind.

Ears relaxed and off they are not fully aware of the surroundings.  You’ll want to let the horse know that you’re approaching so you don’t startle it.

Flicking: trying to locate the source of danger or some source of something in the distance.

Above left: “Mare Stare” I know this mare well and despite the mare stare she’s actually very sweet and cuddly.  She wants her breakfast.

Above Center: The horse is paying attention to me as I enter the paddock.

Above Right: The horse is paying attention to me but listening to his buddies the the neighboring paddock.

Tails:

Raised tail: A raises tail is pretty common in the Arabian breed, but you’ll see a raised tail in most horses when

Raised tail to the side: You’ll see this with mares that have gone into heat.  This is an invitation to stallions that they are ready to reproduce

A raised tail pricked ears and weight on all 4 legs is an alert toward potential danger

A raised tail with prancing and defecation is a show of dominance

A raised tail and frolicking is simply delight and enjoyment

Tail Swishing: Agitation.  This agitation can be mentally or physically so you as the horseman need to be aware of the situation.  He could be shooing a fly or he could be aggravated by something that you’re doing.  You can see this often when you tighten a girth on many horses.  This can be a very rude behavior especially with a vet or farrier that needs to perform work on your horse.

A clamped tail can usually mean an inferior reprimanded horse, or one that is ready to kick/buck.  Conversely if they appear melancholy with their tails clamped they could be cold or sore in the hind end.

A playful frolick

Legs:

The horse in front cocks his back leg as he patiently waits to be tacked and braided before a performance.

Stomping is a sign or irritation.  Mostly you’ll see this when flies are bad as they stomp to shoo them.

Striking out is aggressive. It means back off.  This could be a nervous and defensive reaction to something scary that’s attacking (like a plastic bag in Blades case).   You will also observe this with unruly horses or horses interacting with eachother.

Cocked hind leg is typically a sign of relaxation.  If your horse does this frequently pay attention to whether the horse switches legs or if it cocks the same leg every time.  If it’s the same leg it could also mean something hurts on the one side.

  Reading and knowing a horse’s body language takes time and experience.  You won’t recognize everything right away but the longer you are in the horse world the more tuned in you’ll be to notice subtle cues.  At first you may mistake some postures and signals for something else.  This is normal.  All I can say is to do your best to pay attention to everything all the time.  You don’t need to be neurotic about it, just make small mental notes.

How does he appear today?

Does he seem happy?

Does he seem off?

Have there been any changes recently?

As with anything, if you’re unsure about what a horse is communicating don’t be afraid to ASK.  Ask me or ask someone that’s already at the barn.

…and of course check out the following links for more information:

TheHorse.com – Study Confirms Horses ‘Talk’ to Human Handlers

Equus Maganize – What Your Horse’s Tail Tells You

Equus Magazine – How to Read Your Horse’s Body Language

Equine 101: Observing Behavior and How Horses Communicate With the exception of Mr. Ed horses don't communicate with words. They learn to understand us over some time but if you want to get to know a horse you must learn their language.

#BodyLanguage #Communication #Equestrian #Equine101 #Horse #HorseLanguage #Horses #Horsetalk #TheGreenHorseman

[ismeew]

Hey, you. Yeah, you, the one with the carrot in her pocket...Why don’t ya step a little closer, huh? #feedme #horsetalk #imaginarydialogue #hungryhorse #horsethoughts #writer #writers #writerslife #inspiration #farm #country #horse #horses #animal #animallover

#writers #animal #horses #imaginarydialogue #hungryhorse #farm #feedme #writerslife #horse #horsethoughts #horsetalk #country #animallover #inspiration #writer

[horse-posting]

What’s your process for art?

Ooh that’s a great question!! Lemme see if I can explain it clearly- also for reference this is all done in Paint Tool SAI:

I always start by sketching until I feel like I have a solid grasp on everything I’m gonna need to draw. For Celestia I played around with face and eye shapes, leg shapes- in particular I needed to understand how the mane and tail were gonna work, so I started with vague triangular regions and worked form there. This is also where I need to keep composition and negative vs. positive space in mind, so this step tends to take a while

After I’m happy with the sketch I move on to the line art- this is just carefully going over the sketch with cleaner, more “confident” lines. If you start with a clear, readable sketch, this part is a lot easier. Line art can take a lot of patience and concentration, so this is another long step

For color, I paste a reference directly into the canvas, eyedropper all of the colors, and line them up as a palette. Then I make a second palette next to it while manipulating the colors until I’m satisfied with ‘em. One of my fav tricks involves creating an Overlay or similar layer with one flat color over the whole palette- this essentially brings the colors “closer together” in a sense. When I’m happy with the palette I either color the flat colors in manually or use the Magic Wand tool, which saves a lot of time

Next I color the lines- the exact colors are usually off the cuff, but tend to be darker versions of the flats or adjacent colors

Then I do shading- my simplified method is just a Multiply layer or two of a single tone covering the areas further from the viewer (legs, wings, etc.), then I just lower the layer opacity until I like how it looks. For Celestia I actually threw in a warmer gradient near her core which looks nice, I forgot I did that loL,, anyway on the left is the Multiply layer as a Normal layer, right is after it’s switched to Multiply. I also desaturate the shaded area lines to make ‘em look more distant

The final steps are just any extras I wanna do in post. For example, I put a subtle Luminosity layer over Celestia’s mane to make it look a lil glowy- stuff like hoof and mane shines, the sparkles in Celestia’s mane and tail, and similar things are always done last

Other than backgrounds and text, that’s basically it! Hopefully this is interesting/helpful <3

#horsetalks #/long post #sorry this is so long lmao tumblrs image formatting tools could be improved

[mbzmetalsmith]

#flashback to around 1976... me, ten years old...and absolutely outrageously #horsecrazy . Yes I WAS THAT GIRL ... you know, the one that could only talk about two things, #horses and #ponies . Lol I know I drove my classmates crazy, they told me years later. It didn’t matter... because in my world, #horsesandponies were the MOST magical spectacular creatures on earth, and they DESERVED to be worshipped and #obsessed over. Photo #2 was a few weeks ago, and it’s me with...another horse! Surprise surprise! Lol. This time, I am no longer 10, but still cute (right?) with my big grin because I was about to go #riding! (So happy to be back at a barn again!) my cute companion in the recent pic is “Italo”, a lovely mature warmblood gelding who is semi retired but still has a job as a #schoolhorse . He is a goood boy❤️. I am still a huge #horselover but have learned how to discuss other things, and now only very rarely do I ramble on and on about my majestic friends. But hey (hay!) you must admit, it’s much more appealing to listen to #horsetalk than hear another discussion about our current situation in the US government! #throwback #theseventies #horsegirl #backinthesaddleagain https://www.instagram.com/p/BtC73xVFbAk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=10822hmk5az5n

#flashback #horsecrazy #horses #ponies #horsesandponies #obsessed #2 #riding #schoolhorse #horselover #horsetalk #throwback #theseventies #horsegirl #backinthesaddleagain

[nonsemsical]

i always hit a block in plotting and its that 'no the main character can't have all these powers that's making her overpowered and unrealistic' but I forget that make believe land can have anything u want

#idk sometimes i forget percy jackson gets water and fishtalking and horsetalking and sword powers #(sword is a power shush) #and uh. who else do we have. tiffany aching is a crazy good witch #im blanking here but #IM ALLOWED TO GIVE MY MAIN CHARACTERS SPECIAL POWERS DAMMIT #so anyway im gonna revert to my original worldbuilding and plot instead of the convoluted version i made to avoid a mary sue situation #just have to give her flaws that cause Problems in the story

[madrivervalleyicelandics]

This week, I went to the doctor for a tetanus booster and learned something very interesting that I’d never heard before. Apparently, tetanus vaccines are extremely important for those of us who spend a lot of time around horses, because tetanus is a naturally occurring bacteria that loves to hang out in equine digestive tracts - and therefore, equine manure. Which of course makes sense, but it’s a connection I never made before. I knew it was in the soil, and horses eat off of and roll around / sleep on the ground, so it makes sense that what’s in the soil would wind up in their bellies - but I didn’t know that the bacteria could survive in their bellies, or be spread through their manure. According to my doctor, everywhere horses are, there is tetanus all around. Something to consider when we brush dirt off of our horses, pick out their hooves, clean their stalls and paddocks...

I know that vaccinations are a hot button debate in the United States. But people - including kids! - get scrapes and cuts working around horses all the time, so perhaps this information could help families make informed decisions about whether or not this is a good vaccine to skip.

I also learned that horses are more vulnerable to tetanus than many other mammals, and that even small cuts and scrapes can cause horses to sicken. That is why annual vaccinations are recommended for horses! For both humans and horses, survival rates after infection are very low, and recovery, when possible, can be long and arduous because of the neurological components of this disease. We have always vaccinated our herd annually, but having a little more information about just how vulnerable horses are to this disease really cemented that for me.

Apologies if this is information that everyone else already has. My mind was somewhat blown to learn that tetanus is just hanging out in probably every horse I’ve ever met’s stomach, so I thought I’d share!

[punkitt-is-here]

GIRL???

#my posts #screencaps #mlp #shitposts #horsetalk

[lorrifaucett-blog]

#horseback #trail riding #horsebackriding #equestrian #my horse #central ny #horseback riding #trailriding #youtube #horsetalk #horses

[thenammin]

First time riding him - such a child nibbling/tasting everything but very sweet to ride! Easy trot to sit and he is trying so hard. He is 7 years old #whiterussiandraft gelding called Ivan 😍 Looking forward to ride him again in future! I got somebody to take pictures of me riding him and can't wait to show them for you when they are uploaded. 🦄 #horsetalk #onnenpotku (paikassa Talli Onnenpotku)

#onnenpotku #horsetalk #whiterussiandraft

[lazybperformancehorses-blog]

Mr. Ed?

We have all seen horses communicate with each other.  Ears back.  striking with front feet, kicking with the hind.  Biting and moving their bodies in and around a herd to find their spot.  

But how do they communicate with humans?  Sure they do the normal, ears back, kicking, snorting and even on a happy note or a interested note we have seen ears forward at us.  

What about communication that runs deeper than that of the common eye.  Do they actually communicate with us?  Can they tell us something?  Do we listen?  Do we even notice it, because maybe we doubt it.  After all, “they are only animals.  They can’t talk.  They don’t even think like that”.  Or do they, hmmm? 

Studies have been done.  Experiments have been taken.  Horses do in fact communicate with us as humans and they do it differently than with their fellow equine buddies.  

Studies have shown that horses will make eye contact with us. They have been found to recognize attention from us to them.  Up until recently, it has been known that only dogs have been capable of heterospecific referential communication—essentially, the ability to communicate about something, specifically to someone else. More precisely, to us.  It is now known that horses are capable of thought-out problem-solving.

Horses are amazing animals in countless ways.  I think we all have seen a horse communicate with us at one point or another.  I know Wayne and I are believers that horses ARE in fact hererospecific referentail comunicators for sure!  

Two days ago, Wayne and I were working in the barn as any other day.  This day we were working in a stall.  a few horses were out grazing, enjoying them selves before the day cooled off and saddling and working horses would begin.  Out of no where, one of the horses came running up to the stall we were working in.  We aren’t talking a working trot or anything.  He was belly down running to us!  Needless to say he was on a mission!  He was running and yelling.  He got to us and looked right at us!  Wayne and I stopped what we were doing in awwww really.  Something wasn’t right...  Of course we made the old joke, “Whats wrong, is Timmy in the well?!”  haha!  He was acting like Lassie (hence, dogs being being the only other animal that is capable of heterospecific referential).  All of a sudden the horse turned around and took off just as fast back to where he came from with such concern.  At this point we were still in shock at what we were seeing and we knew we needed to go see what was wrong!  I went to go look and Wayne was finishing up what we were doing and wasn’t far behind me.  I started walking over to see and next thing I know the horse came running yet again, slowed down when he got to me and then decided he wanted Wayne.  He continued his concerning run to Wayne back at the barn.  Wayne stopped what he was doing and came out to where i was and we walked out back and sure enough, the other horses had made there way into the woods!  

It was amazing to look back over that whole moment and see how that horse knew something wasn’t right and made sure we knew and wanted Waynes help ASAP!  

Of course we went and rounded up the other horses that decided to just cross the tree line.  Now we wonder if they were thinking that the first horse was a tattle tail!  

#LazyBPerformanceHorses #Horses #Equine #HorseTalk #HorsesAreSmart #ListenToYourHorse #HorsesAreGoodForTheSoul #TrustYourHorsesMind

[horseworksinsurancespecialists]

Exactly. Could not have said it better myself. Meme Credit: Memes for Horse People #notweird #youreweird #horsetalk #realtalk #theygetus #horseworkshandlesit #horseworksinsurance

#horseworksinsurance #youreweird #horseworkshandlesit #horsetalk #theygetus #notweird #realtalk