Is it an aha moment in a horse’s understanding? A sign of “submission”? Or a sigh of relief?
Always one to ask questions, I think a little differently about the licking and chewing behaviour than I did in my earlier years training horses. We recognize this equine mouth behaviour after stopping to take a commercial break in a training interaction or a break in the pressure.
Not so much an aha moment -it’s more like that moment of relief you get when the car, fast approaching in your rear view mirror…stops, an inch short of your bumper.
You swallow …and take a deep breath.
Dr. Sue McDonnell explains. When scared or confused or excited…the horse is in sympathetic mode. A break in the pressure often allows the horse to return to parasympathetic. As that occurs you see the licking and chewing response…. in horses I tend to think of this as simple neurochemically mediated responses that do not necessarily reflect any thought processes.
Dr. Sue McDonnell is head of the equine behavior program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine
So what do you do in moment of relief? “Thank you Lord!” is my default.
Do I learn from the stress? Hopefully. But I’m not a horse.
Though horse training will always include moments when your horse’s tension meter rises, wise horsemen will tell you- horses can’t learn well when they’re in flight mode or stressed.
I’ve learned over the years that horse training actually goes faster when a horse’s mind and legs are thinking slower.