Horse Facial Expressions

Horse Facial Expressions

Image from Martin Cathrae

Believe it or not horses are very expressive animals & reading their body language is an important part of being around such a huge, powerful animal. Here are some fun & obvious expressions of emotion – not in their body language but simply by the expression on their face.

Alert

Alert Horse

Image from Armin Ulrich
Concentrating

Concentrating Horse

Image from Just chaos
Content

Content Horse

Curious

Curious Horse

Image from dregsplod
Excited

Excited Horse

Image from lostinfog
Furious

Furious Horse

Image from Dani_vr
Irritated

Irritated Horse

Image from Dani_vr
Relaxed

Relaxed Horse

Image from Ies
Sleepy

Sleepy Horse

Image from Vix_B

What is Your Favorite Emotion?

I’ve only pictured a few here and will be on the lookout for more because this was a fun post to write. If you like emotive animals, be sure to check out some blue eyed horses who seem to have almost humanlike expressions at times.

12 Comments on “Horse Facial Expressions

  1. natalie keller reinert

    Oh, these are great pictures! I love the “Alert” look – that’s the one I always go for when taking pictures of horses. Whether it’s an old broodmare standing on a hill, watching for monsters in the bushes, or a two-year-old racehorse catching sight of the racetrack for the first time, those pricked ears and bright eyes get me every time.

  2. Cindy

    I think the photo here for curious is adorable. Love ALL the facial expressions horses make! (tho’ hope furious is never directed at me!)

  3. Debby

    I loved them all, but the furious and irritated were a bit scary. I loved the curious as it was like the horse was reading with the lady. Thanks for posting these.

  4. Gigi

    These photos are amazing. I really love the curious one best. It’s like a good toile fabric – so idyllic. Makes me want to jump in there.

  5. Linda Seidler

    the first photo reminds me of a story a friend of mine told me about his parrot. when ever he comes home from work his wife would say “is daddy home”? and the parrot would tilt his head and have one eye open wide looking down the stairs. That’s what the horse on the right looks like.. HA HA HA.. however… I do love wild horses and really love the furious photo.

  6. Sharon

    I think that relaxed is not so relaxed. I think he is putting his ears back at something. If he were relaxed, his ears would be facing outwards and floppy. I like curious because all involved are relaxed and enjoying each other’s company. Concentrated is just that one ear forward, one ear back.

  7. Tonya

    Love the facial expressions of all the horses. The only one that seems inaccurate to me is the fleabitten grey that has his lips up because he is detecting the scent of a mare in heat. Not sure how you get irritated out of that.

  8. Donna Hudson

    Is there a way to post a picture from here onto facebook? I friend just stated she is so hungry she could eat a horse and the by Image from Martin Cathrae would be perfect for me to post with a response caption of “Oh no she didn’t just day ‘Eat a Horse!’ did she?”

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