My horse has been doing this since ... well ... forever? He's always done it during groundwork - at least, when *I* do groundwork with him.
I don't know what it's called, but I am wondering if it's foal face? He opens his mouth, lifts his lips and bobs his head. It happens when we're doing close proximity exercises and I'm making him yield his front and hind ends and when I try to make him sidepass.
I tried to video it but it didn't come out very well. I had to keep circling to keep him making the face and doing that while holding the phone didn't produce a very good video.
So anyway.. what in the world is he doing, what does it mean, and why is he doing it?
Flehman
Nope, definitely not that. When he does that his head is still and his upper lip curls up.
This is *very* different. His mouth is gaped open and he's bobbing his head up and down, his lips come up and it's like he's baring his teeth, and the entire time he's bobbing his head.
I've heard of this in rare cases, most horses just lick their lips and chew the air gently, your's seems to just be doing it more extreme. It's a sign of submission, very much like the baby face.
Is he biting the air, or his mouth just hanging open? I know my colt does the submission "chomping" when encountering new horses, but he's never done it while we've been doing ground work.
Gracie did this when she "met" her parents again after I took her home. Her breeder said she was "baby facing." I think it's a sign of submission or respect. Posted via Mobile Device
Man... This would've been helpful a few months ago LOL! Except no head bobbing just chewing air like the foal in the video. I spent a whole day reaching my hand down my poor fillys throat and feeling all of her teeth thinking she was in pain from a broken tooth or had something caught in her mouth and was choking... She was just doing it for no reason and wouldn't stop the whole day I was there though however, alas, nothing was ever 'discovered' and the next day it was gone and I haven't seen it again since...
Yeah, he kinda seems to be saying, "OK OK, I think I got it. I think so...". He's giving you a couple of steps and doing it and then a couple more, so it's also kind of like he's asking if that's right.
When I teach mine to back I try to just wiggle the rope, at first I have to be fairly energetic and then less and less as they start to get it. Frequently the more outgoing ones will really get involved with licking & chewing. I have one who literally smacks her lips as she licks and then big chewing motion when she first gets things, then kind of calms down to normal licking and chewing when she's more comfortable that she really has got it.
I have had quite a few of the littler horses (weaners) I train do this once they start to relax and like following me around. I'll give them a few minutes work then wander off to the other side of the yard to leave them alone for a while, just to have a break, and they will often eventually come over to me and do it. Usually as if they were biting my leg or arm, or backside or something, but instead of their teeth they use their lips; it seems to be a bonding thing for them, and they seem pretty content and relaxed when they are doing it. I have also found they might do it when they get a little nervous and it seems to help them calm down. Mostly they grow out of it as they turn into a going work horse, but I have had one or two older ones who would just like to grab a shirt sleeve, or hat brim in their lips and hold it even when they are older. In the past when I have worked on cattle stations and had the ability to sit and watch 50 or more horses in a yard together, just to see how they behave, I have noticed ones that are friends will often stand together and one will get a mouth full of mane, right up in the crest of the neck, from another and just seem to suck on it; to see them do it it looks like they are just hanging out enjoying each others company; like when they stand head to each others tail and keep the flies away from each other.
He backs up much better than that normally, it's just hard to hold the phone at the right spot and cue him all at once, LOL. He wasn't wearing a halter, no lead line and I was holding the phone.
As soon as I stop asking (release the pressure), he stops that weird thing, puts his ears forward and looks at me in a "what next?!" kind of way. Posted via Mobile Device
Well my guess, and that's all it is, is that because he's young, and backing is a sign of submission he's also giving you "foal gummies" and asking you not to eat him, saying that he's young and he's being submissive and polite. When you release pressure and you haven't eaten him, you're kind of telling him that it's ok, you accept his submission and you're not going to eat him, so it's ok to be curious about what's next. So the ears come up and he quits doing baby chomps at you.
It's unusual for the grown ones to do it, isn't it? He's 8!
I always thought it was cute. He does always try really hard to figure out what I want, but he's better about that on the ground than under saddle. Probably because he can see me.
Thanks for helping figure it out! Posted via Mobile Device
It doesn't look quite the same as the thing youngsters do and I've never seen an older horse do it though the little pony my kids had used to pull really weird faces at other horses - seemed like a habit to him - he didn't do it to people though
Lovely horse BTW and I like the flashy patterned blanket/rug
I figured since he likes to stick his head up in the air like a giraffe then I would dress him like one. LOL. It scared the heck out of a colt that he's babysitting. Poor little baby was terrified. Posted via Mobile Device
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