You can compare it to human athletes: when an athlete appears to have a grimace on their face or make loud noises when they, for example, lift heavy weights. In this context, it can mean concentration and determination.ĭuring a proper education of the horse, his comfort zone will get bigger. In the ‘stretch’ zone it’s very common that a novice horse starts to swish his tail, either because he doesn’t completely understand our new request and is a little confused, or he finds it difficult to perform what’s been asked physically seen.Īlso, an advanced horse might tend to show more tail movement when he gets really focused or is working hard, especially if it is a move he really enjoys or one that is challenging, such as the piaffe or the pirouette or – as shown in the picture – the piaffe pirouette. The tail is a good indicator of in which zone you are. Of course, we try to avoid the ‘stress’ zone at any times. This means we will work the horse not only in his ‘comfort zone’, but we will also try to ‘stretch’ him, both on a physical level as on a mental/emotional/spiritual level. Tail swishing in Straightness Trainingĭuring Straightness Training sessions we are always trying to teach a horse something new and/or trying to improve things he already knows. We must observe carefully and know our horse to figure out exactly what it means. You have to take in the whole situation, not just a part of it, to understand why the horse does what it does in a certain moment and situation. Remember, the map is never the territory. However, we humans like to simplify things, and it’s very tempting to assume that for example tail swishing while riding ALWAYS means a bad thing and NEVER can be good, it’s very tempting to label it in black/white, good/bad, right/wrong.īut when it comes to translating the language of the horse, it’s best to avoid fixed assumptions and ‘false’ beliefs and to always take the context into consideration. It’s up to us as the rider/handler to notice and do our best to assess. There are many different conditions that cause the tail to move in a swishing way. Tail usage and positioning is part of the horse’s complex language and a way for the horse to express themselves and to send a message. Sometimes the tail expresses the physical condition of the horse, sometimes the mental state and degree of concentration and sometimes the emotional mood of the horse, and sometimes all three combined.Sometimes he swishes his tail to express pleasure and contentment.Sometimes he’s swishing his tail because he’s really concentrating on the task.Sometimes a horse swishes his tail because he’s really putting in an effort in his job.Sometimes a horse swishes his tail when he’s learning something new that is confusing him a little, mentally seen.Sometimes a horse swishes his tail because he’s a little out of his comfort zone and in the ‘stretch zone’ physically seen, while doing difficult exercises.Sometimes a horse swishes his tail because of too much pressure during training or that he’s not enjoying the training because of the way the aids are applied (too much, too long).Sometimes a horse swishes his tail because he’s very much out of balance, or the rider is out of balance, causing imbalance, or not able to help the horse find balance.Sometimes it’s a sign of greater discomfort and the horse swishes his tail because he’s really uncomfortable or in physical pain due to some issue with his back muscles, spine, pelvis or anywhere else in the body.
A bad saddle or wrong bit causes all kinds of problems which can be expressed through the swishing of the tail.
Sometimes a horse swishes his tail just to get the bothersome flies off them.So here’s a checklist to assess your horse’s tail swishing: This question isn’t so easy to answer because it’s the context that matters.
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