Do horses understand what we say to them?

[Rowena]

I have this feeling that my horses understand what I am talking about very well. I talk to them lots :rolleyes: and get some surprising responses from them.

I dont mean anything esoteric here, just talking to them like I am talking to you now.

So is this a nonsense... or do you think horses can tune in to our meaning?

[palmerlover52]

Don't THINK so...certainly recognise different tones, maybe the soudns of words, but not meaning I don't think.

Like a horse at my RS has learnt if someone says polos he gets one. So he's linked the words polos with food. Doesn't mean he knows it's The Mint With The Hole :p

[rianne21]

i, too, feel that they do understand something in the voice i think it is the tone. they are amazing though as i used to talk to pascal an awful lot,she was trained to listen to the voice, being a policehorse the voice was her main riding aid. u say trot and she would, u say good girl and she would turn her ear in towards the centre of arena as if to say yes, mummy i am a good girl!(that's if i was free schooling or lungeing or someone was on her) obviously if i was on her she would show me a different way that she heard wat i said. if i was lungeing or free schooling and telling her wat i'd like her to do next she would stick her tongue out and lick her lips beacuse she was listening. she would even go straight from canter to walk etc if i asked and slow down if i asked. she would go from walk to canter i u asked, she would go faster rather than 'hopping' (if she was feeling lazy!) she would canter properly! it was funny if she was pulling faces at another horse whilst groomin her the minute she heard me say "oi scallywag" she'd quickly do the "who me? i didn't do a thing mummy!" face!also if u wanted her to stand square, and pointed to her hoof and said "pick it up" she would straighten herself out right away she was so lovely. she was so caring as well. the funniest thing to make me believe its all about tone was that the man who owned her was also the policeman that trained her, he was from birmingham so u can imagine me a londoner trying to, not only prefect a brummie accent, but to be able to do it in a middle aged mans voice!lol!

[rianne21]

pascal also knew with me it was time to play, but when her daddy roder her it was serious work! the bond i had with her was amazing in itself but the bond her and kevin had was amazing and so inspiring. it was magical to watch them and she was so beautiful. she was bay 16.2hh holstiener mare. she's about 26 now. i've tried to get in touch with her owner i do hope she is ok. last time i saw her was last year summer as i don't live there anymore. i miss her everyday of my life she was just the best friend ever. :)

[Rowena]

pascal sounds like the most perfect horse! how did you bear to part with her?

anyway guys, I don't actually mean I think horses understand the words of the actual language per say; but I am wondering if they get the meaning behind (or beyond) the words or actual language used...

Like as if there is a universal coherence behind all language's, understood by all sentient beings, the way Music is, for example.

Nothing too woo-woo, just a basic 'energetic' reading of our meaning. In the way we read animals(anthropomorphizing?) . Do you think there could be a connection (inter species communication), or are we cut off from one another by virtue of our differences, and kinds of brain?

[rianne21]

o all horses r perfect lol! we just had a great partnership and i'll always b eternally greatful to kevin for allowin me the privalidge of havin her in my life lo!my grandad suffers from cancer so my family moved closer. leaving pascal was one of the hardest things i've ever had to do. walk away from a best friend..she stil remembers me tho. we had sooooooo much fun together she was wcked!lol! kevin holds 'spook busting' clinics nowadays with a special appearance from pascy pooh. he is a wonderful man and brilliant with pascal. he's called kevin donaghy n e1 know him?

[stablehand]

i feel horses learn by the tone of your voice and the combination of the tone and the word they recognise. They might not understand the word but the tone of it and how you say it they begin for example when you say trooot they recognise your tone and start to tort. (don't no if that made any sence :L)

[ShariN]

Well, after 35 years with horses. I would say, yes, my horses know what I am saying. In fact I think sometimes they can read my mind!:D ;)
Some are smarter than others of course but they all do understand us at some level.
They also go off body language as well as voice.

[rianne21]

yea that makes a lot of sense. with pascal it was TEEROTTT for trot f u c wat i mean?lol!

[Rowena]

Some are smarter than others of course but they all do understand us at some level.
They also go off body language as well as voice.

Yes, well this is my experience too (which is why I think it may be more than just anthropomorphisation) Because my one horse is definitely 'quicker' than the other.

This afternoon as an example:
My friend Julie and I are tacking up the horses to ride. Goya resents girthing up, regardless of how tactfully I try to do it. He pulls a face and strikes the air with his front leg, a potentially dangerous action. So today I say Noooo! like I always do (to no avail). But then I get fed up, and say " look! if you you don't put your leg DOWN right now! I will get my crop and smack it hard!"
..and I meant it.

We all were amazed when Goya, immediately put is waving leg down and turned his neck to look at me with big round eyes.
"Thank you!" I said and finished girthing up without futher adoo.

So tell me please, what went on today? was it communication, or just some kind of projection of thoughts...?

[Iron Maiden]

Well you're probably going to think I'm bonkers, but I think they can see our auras (we do have them, special cameras can photograph them & I know people who say they can see them when they meditate). My old cob used to know exactly how far he could push me & when to co-operate, my theory is that he waited until my aura turned black then he decided the game was up! I'm sure he could also understand what I said, & sometimes he seemed to be able to tune in to what I was thinking. I can understand people thinking I'm a fruitloop but I think you need to be open minded about stuff like this, horses must have excellent non-verbal communication skills or they would never get on as a herd, it wouldn't surprise me if we're too busy babbling nonsense to be able to tune in!

[carrieh]

Horses can 'read' energies much better than most humans can. Also they are far more telepathic than most humans too - just watch horses in a field with each other and you will see that their talking is mostly done by thought, body language and energy. I therefore believe that they understand far more of what we are saying than we give them credit for. It's not beyond the bounds of possibility than they understand words as well, even though they do not have the vocal chords to reply in our type of speech.

I always adopt the attitude of telling my horses everything. Especially plans for the day, or what is going to happen, i.e. blacksmith visit, or why they have to wait in for so long. I always tell them why I feel down or depressed, or what has been happening in my life. I tell them in words, and at the same time use little telepathic pictures. If they don't understand, well, I haven't done any harm. If they DO understand, even just a little of it, then it must help!

I've done this ever since we had a reading done by the late Julie Dicker, a brilliant animal communicator. She told me more than enough to convince me that Benson understands - and feels - far more than I had ever realised.

[palmerlover52]

Wow interesting thoughts guys...does this link to (sorry random shot in the dark) Reiki?

[Rowena]

I've done this ever since we had a reading done by the late Julie Dicker, a brilliant animal communicator. She told me more than enough to convince me that Benson understands - and feels - far more than I had ever realised.

Sooo facinating...
will you please tell us more about the reading, or about Julie Dicker?
did she also think auras like Bay Mare told us?

[Iron Maiden]

Don't know where Reiki fits in, it's all beyond me - I'm about as spiritual as a brick! However our Bowen therapist also does energy healing (may be related to Reiki?), kinesthesiology (sorry about spelling) and - suspend disbelief here please - communicates with animals. I was deeply sceptical about it all but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the horses respond incredibly well to her treatments and recommendations and it can't be a placebo effect. One of the things she told me was to tell my horses stuff & visualise things I'd like to do, and I think it works.

Like I say, I have no idea what's going on but since I re-tuned my thinking and treated horses as though they have greater understanding of and insight into my emotions and thoughts, I have got so much more out of my relationship with them.

[Bay Mare]

Sooo facinating...
will you please tell us more about the reading, or about Julie Dicker?
did she also think auras like Bay Mare told us?


Don't insult poor Iron Maiden by confusing her with me ;) Poor girl :)

I use the same Bowen/Reiki/Kinesiologist as Iron Maiden and was vaguely sceptical too but she has come out with far too much that she could not possibly have known.

I think that horses do understand what we are saying, whether it's word for word or the context I don't know. I do believe that they communicate a hell of a lot more and certainly more efficiently than *us* humans give them credit for. Maybe they just *get* the meaning of our words rather than word for word. Whatever it is they're certainly a lot more intelligent and understanding than a lot of people give them credit for.

[Bay Mare]

Rowena - the Marguerite Coates books are good reading. She's a healer and animal communicator :)

I tend to rattle on to Saffy, I'm sure that she sometimes wishes that she could tell me to SHUT UP!!!!

[MelanieD]

I'm sure they understand quite a lot, there has been too many times that fatty seems to have understood exactly what I've said and decided to show me up :o :D

Commented that the ploddy cob impression she was doing today was rather boring.. she decided we were jumping a ditch, jumped about 4' over a 6 inch ditch then did big twisty buck on landing and cantered just out of reach the rest of the way home.

Commented on how well behaved she's been recently.. she decided to have a big drama about a tractor, she's not scared of tractors at all, and tanked home.

Told YO that she's always good to catch.. she barged out of her stable and had great fun bouncing around just too far away for me to get hold of her for about 5 mins.

She seems to understand the annoyed mummy voice as well, telling her to 'stop bl**dy messing about right now' is far better brakes than any bit :D

[Bebe]

I have entire, often long, conversations with my mare and whilst I don't think she understands every single word, she certainly understands the jist of things. Quite often she joins in, I can read her facial expressions pretty well and other people have commented on how "talkative" she is. She most definitely understands a large number of words and commands even when they're hidden in sentences that otherwise hold little meaning for her.

They understand body language first and foremost and can pick up an awful lot more than most people give them credit for, but I do believe that they understand a wide range of vocal communication.

[Nimbus65]

Depends what you mean by "say."

Horses are herd animals and as prey are very sensitive to subtle changes in body language, facial expressions and tone. We all know if we get on a horse and we're tense, the horse tenses too. Why wouldn't how we're feeling (and therefore what we mean) translate on the ground too?

There's a horse at our yard who I used to be terrified of. Rocky. He's a bit of a worrier and a stresshead and in his box he can be a real grump - lashing out with his teeth and pinning his ears. I always gave him a very wide berth and certainly never went anywhere near him. There's a horse stabled next to him (Maverick) who looks quite similar and is an absolute lamb. I don't remember whether they were temporarily in different boxes (or whether I just had a daffy moment), but I walked right up to Rocky one day thinking he was Maverick. I approached him with confidence, loved on him, kissed his nose, let him fall asleep with his head tucked inside my coat and generally doted on him. Suddenly, I realized this wasn't Mav, but Rocky and the second the thought occurred to me (and before I'd had time to consciously DO anything like step back or flinch) Rocky's ears were back and his teeth were out. Clearly, I "said" something. And the interesting thing is, now that I ride Rocky, I can walk right up to and into his box and do anything with him . . . he doesn't feel my fear so he's calmer and more relaxed (and the teeth don't come out).

One of the other school horses I ride reponds to "tap, tap" which she associates with the instructor encouraging the rider to tap her up with the whip to back up the leg aid. If my instructor says "tap, tap" Nimby moves up a gear instantly - and she doesn't do it if we use the same intonation but different words like "brick, brick" or "hat, hat."

We all know ponies who walk as soon as the instructor says the magic word and I hear loads of the instructors at our yard spelling out W-A-L-K and T-R-O-T during lessons to fox the clever little critters.

So I do think horses can associate words with an action (or a reward), but I think when they're "listening" to us, they're hearing more than the words, they're able to pick up on the unintended cues we give them as we handle them.

N

[palmerlover52]

We all know ponies who walk as soon as the instructor says the magic word and I hear loads of the instructors at our yard spelling out W-A-L-K and T-R-O-T during lessons to fox the clever little critters.



N

I know horses/ponieswho do this to...makes it rather arkward if there's two lessons going on at once!!

One little pony decided it would be fun to take his novice rider for a canter because my instructor was talking about collecting the canter :o

[Little Dolphins]

I'm very much more relaxed with my mare on the ground than I am aboard.
In general, I talk to her most of the time we are together.

So, if I am grooming and she keeps fussing me for a treat or something, I can say "No, don't do that", in quite a normal tone, and she'll stop. Half the time I don't even register that it works- and of course,it doesn't always.

Something that did astonish me a bit, the other evening, was that HQ was swaying to my singing to her a favourite tune (Scottish folk song); I always sing or hum the same one for her. She had been a bit jittery and restless, so I gave her the ear-rub treatment and she relaxed. I put my arms round her neck, had my voice low, and sang right into her mane. She started to sway very gently with little movements side to side. At first I thought she was rubbing an itch! But no, it was different. I thought it was lovely- but perhaps it was a just sign of absolute boredom!!

[teabiscuit]

i used to sing to one pony in particular-she seemed to love it. the evrely brothers:D long ago it was.......:D

i was just telling Thug and Mug this morning how gorgeous and beautiful they were and i'm sure they were saying "off course we are, but very decent of you to notice" flutter flutter of eyelashes ;) :D

[Peace]

It makes sense to me that a really perceptive prey animal would live longer and have more babies than an oblivious one. And it seems to me it would be advantageous for a prey animal who lives in a herd to be really good at "reading" other animals. So I don't find it far-fetched that a horse who has humans as part of his or her herd would be pretty good at figuring them out. I don't imagine we're all that mysterious, really.;)

I've noticed that if I get a really definite picture in my mind of what I want Quanah to do, he'll generally do it - even if he's far away across the pasture and I'm thinking how nice it would be if he'd come to me so I wouldn't have to slog through the mud after him. He's also always, since he was a baby, loved to be told stories - but in my saner moments I suspect he just likes the different speech rhythms used in storytelling vs. normal speech.:D

[colettybetty]

I talk to mine all the time,( just as I used to do with my patients who had very advanced dementia.) Just the act of communicating shows a degree of respect and interest, I'm sure they are able to understand the tone of what's being said, along with the non-verbal clues we give out as we speak.
If I whisper in my mares ear, she hears the soft tones and feels my warm breath and she goes all gentle and quiet.If my big lad unties himself and wanders off in search of interesting buckets or a nice patch of grass, I shout 'MALACHY !', he looks up and ambles back with a look of 'oops,caught again,mum's not happy'. I feel they respond to the dignity of being communicated with and the bond that develops as a consquence more than the content of what we say.
However, I think they do know some words,if I say 'Woah', Fox will stand smartly to attention, she knows walk, trot, canter and steady, and will respond if I say 'up' or 'down' to whatever part of her body I'm holding.

[cazrider]

Well you're probably going to think I'm bonkers, but I think they can see our auras (we do have them, special cameras can photograph them & I know people who say they can see them when they meditate

Interesting thread. My younger daughter could see auras as a child, but outgrew it. She never told us at the time as she thought everyone could. Sadly now, she can't remember detail about it (she's 21). I was gobsmacked when she told us, as I must admit i'd been a bit sceptical about things like that. I have never thought about horses seeing them before.

I do talk to Sen all the time, and sing to him as well. Sadly in no way tunefully.:rolleyes: I'd love to see LD swinging to your (much more tuneful) sining LD.

[sidesaddlelady1]

I have this feeling that my horses understand what I am talking about very well. I talk to them lots :rolleyes: and get some surprising responses from them.

I dont mean anything esoteric here, just talking to them like I am talking to you now.

So is this a nonsense... or do you think horses can tune in to our meaning?

Of course they understand you - if you have taught them the words in the first place. Horses are usually broken to voice commands before being taught the aids. The WH wasn't very well schooled to the aids when I first got him but always responded to voice commands and still does, in fact in an emergency I've yelled "Stop" and it's been more effective than anything else.

I taught him to "Stay" (as opposed to "stand") which is extremely useful if you haven't got enough hands to hold him as well as dealing with other things and he responds to "Heel" as well. "Heel" and "stay" cause much hilarity on the yard but who gives a damn. His most important word is "No" for obvious reasons.

Marthe Kiley-Worthington did some studies a few years ago that showed that horses can learn and respond to a vocabulary of over 400 words. Obviously they are never going to be able to join you in late night discussions about the meaning if life but they are certainly able to get to grips with a lot of what you say to them.

I think they learn words by repetition as babies and young children do.

[NoviceNic]

My horse understands me, he just chooses to ignore me...http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/novicenic/asmiliey/kissmybutt.gif.

[Rowena]

Just the act of communicating shows a degree of respect and interest

Yes, I so agree with you on this

If I whisper in my mares ear, she hears the soft tones and feels my warm breath and she goes all gentle and quiet.

Yes, I love this, that is how it is...

[Lusitanolou]

Im sure they undertsand. When I went to that clinic at the weekend as soon as Pedro spoke to Sericaia in Portuguese her head lifted and she took on a hole new look. Like she was smiling ears forward and ready to dance for him.

Best start lessons in Portuguese me thinks.:D :D :D

Horse are very spiritual animals I have found. They are very sensitive tyo everything around them. When I have done any healing on them like Reiki, Seichem or quantum touch they have all been very receptive and it has worked really well. I gave some healing to an exracer, he had about three sessions as he had pulled a muscle in his back and the owner was due to go to some champs at the weekend. He was a very fidgety horse and jumpy. Well during the sessions he actually ended up with his head on the floor and even the horse in the next stable went to sleep.

Sorry got carried away there peeps. As my reports always used to say 'must try harder'. Will try to get more concise and pithy as my boss says!!!:D :D :D :p