Posted on 08/05/2014 9:28:40 AM PDT by MeshugeMikey
Horse whisperers take note: If you want to better understand your equine friends, then study their ears. A study has revealed that just like humans, horses read each other’s faces. But, unlike us, they gain important information by specifically examining the ears. It seems that when a horse is interested in something, it pricks up its ears and swivels them towards whatever has caught its attention.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Every horse person and many non ‘horse people’ already knew this. It is pretty damn obvious.
Is this really news?
This is OLD news. Horse people have known this for centuries. My father always told me , “Always watch the horse’s ears and you’ll know what its thinking.” Indeed, it is sound advice. If your ride is getting ready to throw you, or misbehave, he’ll always signal it with their ears. And ALWAYS avoid a horse whose ears are laid back. They’re fixin’ to cause some mischief.
Hmmm...the study showed:
“When a horse’s ears are flopping down, it means the creature is relaxed.
But pinned back, and the horse is expressing anger.
When a horse is interested in something, it pricks up its ears and swivels them towards whatever has caught its attention.”
I think I figured that out within a few hours of meeting my first horse.
“Miss Wathan, a psychologist, said: ‘Although horses have very mobile ears, they can only swivel them round, point them forward, pull them up or flatten them back.”
If Miss Wathan actually spent some time with horses, she would know there are more variations than that. Which ear moves, if it is one instead of two, degree of movement, duration - all of those play in to it as well.
I guess it is nice to see that Britain, like the USA, has tax money to waste studying what people have known full well for a few thousand years...
the author strikes me as a “shitzu person”.....
Wow. My German Shepard does that. Perhaps she is part horse.
You need more study time. I figured out when she wanted a house.
“You need more study time.”
35 years ago I decided to end my studies and concentrate on one. Don’t get me wrong - I really enjoyed my study time, I just couldn’t afford it anymore!
I SENSE ...that such “behavior” is “observable” in many “species” of “mammals”...
I don’t find the idea of horses communicating with their ears hard to accept after all politicians talk through their a$$es.
It’s fun to watch an old western with horses and cowboys in a fight. Watch the ears. Often a rearing horse will have it’s ears pointed in the “wrong” direction. That is where the horse trainer is located off screen giving cues to the horse.
Many people get too emotional about the horse scenes in THE MISFITS. Rest assured there are trainers off screen overseeing everything.
Notice that Mr Ed and Francis the talking mule never talk unless the halter is on. The trainer is giving them physical cues to move their lips through the halters.
Only if you're fixin' to get launched without a capsule. You don't ever make loud or threatening noises behind a horse within striking distance of those hooves!
I always thought that they put something like a nylon thread in the horse's or mule's mouth to irritate it and make it twitch and give the appearance of talking.
Their teeth and hooves communicate well when they REALLY want to talk!
The last two generations have lost a significant amount of common sense with animals. The fact this had to be published is evidence. If we ever lose technology due to a meteorological event or a world catastrophe, the average person is screwed. Even the US Army and other branches discovered the folly in the elimination of horsemanship within the military services. I see stupid animal owners every day and the ignorant horse person often.
LOL! They found this out with a “study?” All they had to do was ask anyone who’s ever had a horse. Sheeeeeesh....
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