01/04/2026
✨ Body Language- The Universal Language ✨
Part 1.
Back when I first started Twin Hearts, I put out a poll for followers to let me know what they wanted to learn most about- the top answer was Body Language. Cruising through some old pictures on my phone and I came across this one, and it reminded me of that. So I figured why not start to touch on it? My thought is to make this a few part series of posts.
We’ll lead it off with this one.
First, cover the basics: “body language is the universal language”. A quote you’ve maybe heard before in other contexts besides horsemanship.
In horsemanship speak, it absolutely rings true. Horses cannot speak in English like humans can, instead they rely heavily on body language for their cues from others. The energy behind body language is the main way they know how to communicate.
Think about a time you’ve read body language in another being, whether it be another human or an animal. A time you knew immediately what someone else was feeling without a word spoken.
We can tell pretty well what another is feeling based on how they are carrying themselves just from silent observation. Happy? You may see a big vibrant smile, light in the eyes, an overall energetic vibe of “good”. For horses it’s about the same- relaxed body position, a cocked back hoof, a level head with ears pricked forward. Angry? You could see a rigidiness in the way someone carries themselves, narrowed eyes, clinched jaws. An equine will show the same but may shake their tails, snake their heads or pin their ears….my point is, we know without saying a word. Body language is the universal language in communication for all living beings.
Energy speaks volumes.
The horse in the picture below is a sweetheart of a mare named Aspen. Aspen was an Off-The-Track Thoroughbred mare turned attempted show horse, turned pleasure horse. She was spicy and had opinions and she was most definitely not afraid to express them…she intimidated a lot of people and was labeled hard to handle and dangerous because of this, but she was actually the opposite. She was highly intelligent, extremely sensitive and simply knew what she wanted. If there were something that she didn’t feel comfortable with she would tell you.
If you didn’t listen the first time, she would simply level up in how she told you until you got the message. She was a brilliant communicator in all honesty, and I absolutely adored this mare and miss her very, very much.
Relying on the use of body language with horses in general, but especially the ones like Aspen, is what creates a good partnership between horse and human. Mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual acceptance.
Knowing what we know about body language, even without getting detailed about it in terms of horse-specific language, quiz yourself. What do you see in the picture below? Read Aspen’s body language. Read mine. Note our positions towards each other and how we’re using our energy, and note our movements and what it might be that’s being asked of Aspen in this moment. If you want to, drop your thoughts in the comments and let’s discuss it.
Or keep them to yourself and just simply ponder.
Body Language is one of my favorite rabbit holes to go down. It is so simple, yet there is so much to it. It’s interesting, it’s intriguing, and it’s important.
If you want to find something to hone in on while studying true horsemanship, my advice is make it the study or body language. You won’t be disappointed in what you learn. 🩵
