Explanation in order

I was talking to some people about Horse Listening and suddenly realized that they really had no idea of what I was talking about. There were questions about neighs and squeals and nickers, etc.; what they meant. I shook my head; they didn't get it. And, it was my fault, because I really didn't EXPLAIN what Horse Listening really is.

Most people think that Listening is part of sense of hearing. Well it is, but that's not ALL it is.
Hearing is the science of sound waves hitting the eardrum, sending chemical and electrical currents up nerves to the brain. The art of hearing comes as the brain interprets what those chemical and electrical impulses are telling it. Hearing is only a part of Listening.

Humans, as arrogant as we tend to be in relation to our animal friends, seem to think that OUR understanding of the senses is the way ALL creatures should sense. But even WE don't just sense that way. Think about it......how often have you just known something was wrong with a family member or friend, even when no one said anything. Obviously they didn't tell you in the normal sense of the word....you didn't really hear it through your ears. But you still knew it. You LISTENED.

The ART of Listening uses all the senses.....including that sixth sense we call intuition. Yes, it includes the sense of hearing from ears, but it also includes the sense of seeing with eyes, sensing with intuition, perhaps even smelling and/or tasting with the nose and tactile sensations (feeling) with the hands. Anyone who has ever had a really sick horse knows they have an odor that is different from anything ever smelled before. Manure pulled out by a vet smells different that that which plops on the ground normally.

ALL of these things are interpreted by our brains, to give us a "big picture". Now, we can get the wrong big picture because we interpret the signals poorly. Anyone who has played the game of "telephone" as a little kid, knows how distorted the message gets as it gets passed on. Why? Lots of reasons. We may have "heard" the words, but our brain "heard" something else. A long time ago someone said, "You may have heard what you think I said, but I don't think you heard what I really meant."

All that said, now let's get to the meat of this.
Horses, as prey animals, have few sounds. Obviously, the quieter one is, the less likely one will attract a predator. So, many animals rely on displays rather than sounds. "Reading" those displays tell you what is really going on. These displays have different meanings, depending on what other display is happening.

OK that was as clear as mud.
Simply put.......ears back mean ????? Well, it depends on how far back, how they are rotated, what the eyes are focused on, what the lips are doing, how the body is held, how the body is situated to the focus, etc, etc, etc. It's absolutely amazing how very small movements of ears, lips and focus can tell another horse to "knock it off", or "don't even think it", in no uncertain terms for them. Or the head position and focus of a foal, who's mom is nickering because it is too far away, will rotate one ear back, and the mare will go back to eating......she knows the foal knows where she is.....and soon, it trots back to her.

So, Horse Listening is an ART that we have to learn. Horses (and dogs and cats) are much better at learning OUR language than we are at learning theirs. The wonderful thing is, when we learn it, we begin to have whole "conversations" with our friends, and our training and just being with them becomes oh, so much better!!!