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horse’s emotional response to aversive vs. nonaversive gear
e q u i n e Understanding Animals
In the first of a three-part feature, Kathie Gregory explains why there is more to understanding an animal’s emotional state than body language alone
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If you search online, you will find plenty of examples of the main expressions of body language, such as anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise. But even experts question whether one single basic expression can really tell us what someone is thinking or what emotional state they are in. Indeed, we do not always find ourselves in a single emotional state; often, there are several emotions in play and these can change by the second. This means that only paying attention to the basics may result in an inaccurate interpretation.
We all use body language to get a first impression of a stranger. We also interpret it to assess what kind of mood a person may be in, and use it to see if what is conveyed matches up with what a person is saying or doing. Some of us are better than others at reading what we see. But without the underlying knowledge to correctly interpret it, there is a risk that we may get it wrong. We are even more likely to misinterpret what we observe when we are assessing someone we don't know, i.e. we generalize. We may even do it without realizing. Our generalizing can be completely inaccurate but this is how the brain works. It takes a lot of processing power to quickly assess all the stimuli and information that bombard the brain in detail, so once the brain has learned the basics it applies that knowledge to other things that look the same and fit that description, i.e. it looks for patterns.
Snapshot
When it comes to animals, how, then, do we learn how to accurately interpret body language? We can start with photo. However, these only provide an instant snapshot that does not give the context in which the picture was taken or tell you anything about the individual animal. We can teach people to recognize the most obvious emotion on display, but even this is just a basic guide. I actually find that it can stop people from looking more deeply to see if there are any other signs in a photo that might lead them to a different conclusion. It also means the brain does its usual thing of basing its decision on the one obvious emotion, potentially ignoring other possibilities.
Photos are useful to help us recognize specific poses or features and the emotion generally attached to them. They are also useful for showing examples of something they won’t recognize till they see it, such as a specific color. Here’s
© Can Stock Photo / lassequintus A horse with the ears forward generally means he is relaxed, but further forward can mean he is alert, which may indicate interest (positive) or fear (negative)
A horse with the ears angled backwards may be feeling either angry or scared, but they may also be back when he is listening to something or eating an example: In some cat breeds we can see what is called a ticked coat. This is a fault in some breeds, but is a trait in the Abyssinian cat. It's hard to describe and also hard to imagine what it looks like when someone does describe it to you. But once you've seen it, it is obvious and easy to identify. The same is true for body language, you don't always understand what something is supposed to look like until you see it. For example, it’s easy to see what someone means when they say a horse has thin lips if you have seen an image of a horse with lips that are relaxed and fuller and are comparing that to the thinness you see when he is tense. But we need to know a lot more if we are to correctly interpret why the lips are thin. How did the movement start, how did it progress and how did it finish? It’s also easy to interpret body language incorrectly when you base your assessment on the typical reason given for a particular pose. There can be various explanations for the same pose, or the pose might be a red herring. This frequently happens when photographing animals playing. The camera clicks at the moment when the features are in one position but the common emotion attached to that feature is not at all how the animal feels when he is playing.
Positive vs. Negative Affect
• Ears forward or towards the side • Mouth soft • Nostrils relaxed • Nostrils flared • High tail • Swishing tail • Eyes soft or partially closed • Head low • Head forward • Overall posture relaxed or showing interest
• Ears back or far forward • Mouth tight • Nostrils wrinkled • Nostrils flared • High tail • Swishing tail • Eyes wide • Eyes partially closed • Head low • Head forward • Overall posture tense or showing interest Many of these features are common to dogs and cats as well as horses, although some are speciesspecific. They are just the basics, however, and there are many more things to consider when building a picture of an animal’s emotional state.
Note that I have only listed general positive and negative emotional states for these poses, features, and postures and have not assigned a specific emotion. This is because the same repertoire of postures, movements, and positions may be used in a variety of contexts. For example, ears forward generally means a horse is relaxed, but further forward can mean he is alert. This may indicate interest (positive) or fear (negative). Ears angled backwards may be in pretty much the same position whether a horse is angry or scared. But ears can also be back when he is listening to something, or eating. Some postures are listed under both positive and negative emotional states, which seems to contradict the common assertion that we can tell how an animal is feeling from his body language.
In fact, to make a more accurate assessment of how an animal is feeling, in addition to body language we need to consider other contributing factors such as vocalizations and the situation at the time. In other words, we have to look at the overall picture to understand what is being conveyed – and even then it is not that simple. We still have to look closely at the nuances of each feature and its position in relation to the overall posture. This is the key to giving us the information we need to truly try to understand what an animal is feeling and thinking. n
In the second part of this article, we will look at positions, features and postures in greater detail to get a better understanding of what animals are telling us via their body language. Kathie Gregory is a qualified animal behavior consultant, presenter and author, specializing in advanced cognition and emotional intelligence. Passionate about raising standards and awareness in how we teach and work with animals, she has developed Free Will TeachingTM, a concept that provides the framework for animals to enjoy life without compromising their own free will. She has authored two books, A tale of two horses: a passion for free will teaching, and A Puppy Called Wolfie: a passion for free will teaching, and her work is currently divided between working with clients, mentoring, and writing.
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