When horses sigh.....

S

Superstar

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 June 2010
Messages
202
Visit site
Do you think they do it for the same reason that we do..... e.g like a ''fed up'' sigh or ''boredom sigh''..or a ''oh not again'' sigh...? lol...?? :D


My horse will sometime sigh when I get him in and tie him up, or sigh when I get on to ride... :p or sigh when I ask him to wait at a junction on a hack :rolleyes:....or even when we have finished a ride and I have got off and leading him back....:confused:

Geez I hope im not boring him to death!!:D

We do a real mixture of everything, he jumps, hacks (road and farm), dressages, lunges and competes etc so a real mixture....and loves his work and is always a good boy but his sighing makes me laugh......

If he was naughty/nappy and sighed every time he saw his saddle that would be self explanatory....lol...

Does anyone else's horses randomly sigh like mine...? :D
 
I remember hacking out on Blobby and I was quite nervous (It was one of my first times out completely alone, horse was perfectly calm) so I was chattering away to him. He let out THE biggest sigh. I took that as a hint and shut up :P
 
Mine always sighs in the school when he has demonsrated his unhappiness at being in there and then kind of gives a sigh and gets on with it, makes me laugh! He never sighs out on a hack - he loves being out and about. He also sighs sometimes when coming in from the field, again I think he doesnt really want to and trys to nip me and when he gets told off he sighs and then behaves and plods along next to me lol. He is very opinionated and doesnt particularly enjoy being told what to do :D
 
LOL, my girl doesnt sigh- but she does like to occasionally do several dramatic yawns when i approach with the tack :rolleyes: It never gets her out of doing work, she hardly has much asked of her (ridden 12 times per month max) :o:D
 
Supertrooper said:
Sighing is a calming signal xx
Click to expand...

Oh good, i thought i might be boring the poor boy....:eek:

Like when we are about 15/20 mins into a schooling sesh and he will stretch down and blow his nose out like he is starting to relax into it....I was told that's always a good sign that a horse is relaxing all over etc...
 
My old horse used to pretend to yawn if we were standing still before stressage. Is that the same?

Lots of ponies at camp sigh when they see the hoard of children descending down the hill to the stables at 7 in the morning! 4 hours of hard slog and being scrubbed and polished coming up!
 
The nicest one I remember was when I was feeling a bit low and put my arms round his neck, (at the front), for a cuddle. He put his head down my back and sighed really deeply. :) :)
 
I was always taught it was a sign a horse was relaxed or calm like someone else said.

My Grandfather would always sigh around his nervous mare and it always seemed to calm her down and she would sigh back shortly after. Never heard of anyone else doing it though (or it working on any other horse for that matter).
 
cinnamontoast said:
Fab! My creature sighs lots when I ride!
Click to expand...

All sounds good then.... xx

He used to get really anxious when his tack came out when I first got him and used to move around and swing from side to side, back up etc...like he was quite stressed about what was going to happen when ridden....none of that now stands like a dream....so hopefully he is enjoying his spoilt, stress free, relaxing life with me..:)
 
They do it when they are happy! Mine sigh when I get my position just right and they are working nicely, or when I give them a break to think about things :D
Love it when they sigh.
 
Cobiau Cymraeg Wyllt said:
If I remember rightly, Richard Maxwell reckons in 'Training your young Horse' - that's it a good sign...?? Processing of some kind...I think??
Click to expand...
In my experience, a sigh of relaxation is often a signal of a change in outlook, a turning point. I take it to be a good sign. I think it is more indicative of lasting change than e.g. licking and chewing.
 
fburton said:
In my experience, a sigh of relaxation is often a signal of a change in outlook, a turning point. I take it to be a good sign. I think it is more indicative of lasting change than e.g. licking and chewing.
Click to expand...

lol the horse I ride sighs alot, quite funny really tbh.
most memorable was when she was napping like a demon down a path so I ended up walking her backwards around the entire corner though continued to nap forwards, eventually when she realized I was going to give in she gave a huge sigh and marched forwards lulz.
 
My oldie is actually quite full of her own self importance in general, & as she's calm is often the sensible companion. When something young & silly is misbehaving & getting in her space, she puts her ears back & arches her nostrils, followed by a huge sigh. Even though its all explainable it comes across as a disdainful 'youth of today' sigh. Particularly amusing when viewed from the point all hell can break lose around her & she's still stood sighing (& eating) in the centre of it.
I also find it funny when a horse sighs whilst lying down or rolling, it does come across as human.
 
americanqh said:
I was always taught it was a sign a horse was relaxed or calm like someone else said.

My Grandfather would always sigh around his nervous mare and it always seemed to calm her down and she would sigh back shortly after. Never heard of anyone else doing it though (or it working on any other horse for that matter).
Click to expand...

I do it too.
Sighing helps the handler relax which transmits to the horse/pony.

One of my Shetlands was a nervous wreck when I got her a few months ago.
I was leading her the other day when she dropped her head and sighed loudly.
I knew I had 'turned a corner' with her and felt very emotional. (Silly old bat - I know)
 
I have Only just noticed Jess' sighing today! She always does it in the morning once I put her back in field after her feed and she realises the youngen's have eaten all the hay!
 
Just what I was wondering as mine sighs a lot. Particularly when I bring him in out of the field into his stable. He sighs quite a lot generally, more in the "Oh no not again" type of situation.

I do the deep breath/sighing when I want to put him in the trailer, as although he goes in OK he does get a bit stressed beforehand. I think it is because he knows he is going to have to leave his friend behind.

Glad to know it is a good sign.
 
I miss my last pony, he sighed a lot and it was incredibly had not to personify him when he did that. He always did it when one particular instuctor's car arrived.. same instructor who when under tuition he would pant heavily when passing her in the corner then go back to normal for the rest of the school! :D One day the swine started panting when she walked up to him before a lesson: and he wasn't even tacked up at that point!

Occasionally we would hack past a burger van, and sometimes (not often) we would stop and he would share moresel of my cake or can of coke. Dear pony started slowing down when we passed it, or if we were on the other side of the car park he would try to sneak in a sneaky arc so we passed closer... without fail every time we passed it he would sigh :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top