In which the ears are the keys to good communication with horses

I grew up speaking "feline," which is a largely gestural/postural language.

Cat in this picture is saying: "dog is annoying but also warm." Note squinted eye (annoyed)
and upright ear (pleased).  My squinted eye and upright ear agree with the cat's assessment.

If you pay attention, you will see cats doing most of their communication with their bodies, especially with the position of their ears and tails.  Not so much with the vocals.

The equine language can be considered a dialect of feline.  Again, the emphasis is on ears and tails, but other body parts are also quite expressive.  Like cats, horses mostly vocalize for emphasis.

Archive photo of the Dragon, pre-spay.  I can't translate this properly without including cuss words.

I was always taught to look past the horse's ears while riding.  Looking at the ears would cause riders to drop their heads and stop paying attention to the outside world, and then chaos and mayhem would break loose.  Right?

But in my first lesson with guest instructor Ralph Drietzler yesterday, the emphasis was on my horse's ears, and the information her ears gave me.

Showing me what body parts should be used for cues (almost none).

"Relax back," he told me.  When he said that, my posture improved...and the Dragon's ears went forward.

Yes, I'm still learning a bit forward.  But...better.  The Dragon says so.
Bigger, looser strides, and forward ears.

Here, I'm turning to the inside of the circle so I can hear what Ralph is saying...but it's clear that
the Dragon is saying "quit that, and straighten up there!"

I have relaxed back, I'm not tipped to either side.  The Dragon's ears flop forward
and her head goes down because her back is lifted and her hind legs are pushing.
I have dropped the reins entirely at this point.

Every time I tip or tense a muscle that shouldn't be tense (under my arm?!?) or drop a shoulder or scrunch up a hip, her ears give it all away.



(please note that she has a two-stride tantrum around :25   ...and then goes back to work.)


We spent the entire day at Fish Creek while most of the Suspects took lessons.  We all worked on different stuff.

Monica has been riding a lot of baby horses lately.  "Stop shouting!" said Willie's ears.
By the end of her lesson, she was barely whispering her cues, which he prefers.

Du was giving good cues, but Hana didn't want to follow them because some days she is a brat!

Patty's brain knows what to do, but convincing her body to do stuff is more challenging.
Ralph is invariably kind and helpful.  Nobody cries during his lessons!

Monica shot this dramatic photo of Kelsie and Willie in the sunlight

Of course, since this is a Usual Suspects event, food is a feature.

Cold temperatures during the lunch break, but blue skies make us happy!

While the afternoon lessons continued in the arena, Patty set up shop in a stall to do some acupuncture on the Dragon.

Most of Patty's clients are dogs and cats. 
She likes practicing on the Dragon because I enforce Good Manners!

Patty could explain the points, but I can't.  They are ligament/joint support points.

The red-topped needles get hooked up to a battery!

Turning on the juice, and turning up the power

"Sedation" ears.  She is not chemically sedated--she's zoned out because it feels better.

After treatment is finished, the ears are back up and flirting.

Hey Handsome, wanna share some of your hay?

Next time I ride, watch out for chaos and mayhem, because I might not notice--I'll be watching my horse's ears!