Thoughts On Tail Swishing

[Ash]

To me, unless there is pain involved, tail-swishing is merely the horse expressing an opinion. Others think it leads to not-so-good things. I ignore it as long as the horse is responding to me.

What do you all think?

[FrancaV]

To me, unless there is pain involved, tail-swishing is merely the horse expressing an opinion. Others think it leads to not-so-good things. I ignore it as long as the horse is responding to me.

What do you all think?Hi, Ash,

I agree that it's one of the ways the horse communicates. What's being communicated could be pain, as you said, or it could be some other form of stress. That stress could be as little and as momentary as, "Sheesh, could you ask a little nicer next time?" to something more significant, as a tightness and frustration due to a more generalized lack of effective communication from the rider/handler.

I think the issue is a bit more complex than you are stating it. If by "ignore" you mean that you don't issue a "correction" or "punishment" then I concur. But I think tail swishing that occurs on a regular basis is an indication that the rider isn't being sufficiently clear in communicating with the horse and the rider must make some changes in order see a change in the horse. I wouldn't want my horse to spend a lot of time in that space where she is tight and confused or frustrated or cranky. I see a lot of people ignore the tail swishing to the point that the horse travels tight all the time. He may appear to be responding to the rider very precisely but he is not happy about it and the overall picture is not one of harmony between horse and rider. Does that make sense?

Tail swishing, ear pinning, head shaking ... if it's more than momentary or is occurring frequently ... I would want to make sure I was doing my job of giving clear direction. I am often guilty of not being clear and precise enough with my mare so this is something I take to heart. When I am communicating clearly she is relaxed, her ears are "listening" to me, and her tail has a gentle sway. If I am not being clear she has a number of different ways of letting me know, not confined merely to tail swishing. ;)

[RockinCircleC]

It depends. <vbeg> Ultimately though, it means you aren't really getting to the feet. Yes, there may be pain involved, but if you think about it, it means that the horse still has an issue moving its feet comfortably, right?

[JRW]

I have observed that horses range from swishing to switching depending on their emotions. It's not always about discomfort or anger, it can come from any kind of intense emotion. Since I train tackless, at liberty and with positive reinforcement, I am sure that it doesn't mean the horse is uncomfortable. Sometimes it signals a "Let's get 'er done" attitude or a "Damn, I messed up!" attitude. It probably also can be a sign of a competitve spirit.

Check the tail out on this video clip. Is this horse just angry or uncomfortable? It's a lot of tail action!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQgTiqhPbw

Yrs,
JRW

[Excess]

I have observed that horses range from swishing to switching depending on their emotions. It's not always about discomfort or anger, it can come from any kind of intense emotion. Since I train tackless, at liberty and with positive reinforcement, I am sure that it doesn't mean the horse is uncomfortable. Sometimes it signals a "Let's get 'er done" attitude or a "Damn, I messed up!" attitude. It probably also can be a sign of a competitve spirit.

Check the tail out on this video clip. Is this horse just angry or uncomfortable? It's a lot of tail action!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQgTiqhPbw

Yrs,
JRW

I love that Matinee video. She is such an amazing mare. I can't believe he sold her (for 8mil) shortly after! I think with Matinee tail swishing she's a young horse and she's concentrating. Her ears show how soft she is. I think a good indication of how to take tail swishing involves a whole lot of other body-language like the ears.

[KnightRider]

Exy:

I thought the same thing. At first I watched all the tail action and thought she was frustrated, then noticed how soft the ears were, just bouncing along.

I'm very curious to see what the more trained eyes think!

I watched a mare in the free style at Devon two years ago with very long ears that were relaxed and just bouncing throughout the whole performance, but don't remember any excessive tail action. After finishing, the rider threw the reins back to the buckle and just walked out. It was an amazing performance and she won the class.

KR

[Excess]

Exy:

I thought the same thing. At first I watched all the tail action and thought she was frustrated, then noticed how soft the ears were, just bouncing along.

I'm very curious to see what the more trained eyes think!

I watched a mare in the free style at Devon two years ago with very long ears that were relaxed and just bouncing throughout the whole performance, but don't remember any excessive tail action. After finishing, the rider threw the reins back to the buckle and just walked out. It was an amazing performance and she won the class.

KR


This is one of my favorite dressage videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggeaZqucuG8

The horse in it tail swishes only once. My dressage friend said his name is Forrest Gump? Not sure. He is a little sloppy in his piaffe's and canter pirrhouttes, but he's super relaxed and supple. I love how the music goes so well with his movements too. I watch this almost every day. I love it. The only time this horse twitches (doesn't even swish) it's tail is during the lead changes. It's an awesome performance.