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Discussion on Snapping, flehmen responses??
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Member:
Penner
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Posted on Wednesday, Nov 6, 2002 - 2:19 pm:
Don't know where else to post this & as I'm part of my horse's herd, I guessed here.
Anyway, I have a middle aged gelding that has a wonderful personality (altho boy, does he love food - always looking you know? LOL!)
I have had him for 2 years & we get along fine. After riding, he usually yawns & sticks his tongue out. I assumed this just meant he was tired & was happy to get the bridle out & rest.
But I started to pay more attention & the other day I went in his stall (he was not ridden that day). I just kind of stood there petting his neck & being with him. But what he did was a series of repetitive behavior, maybe 30 times in 15 minutes.
This is the pattern: he would yawn, stick his tongue out, then close his mouth & grind (softly) his teeth. Once in a while he added the flehman to it too.
Does anyone care to guess (or know) what these facial expressions mean?
I heard the term snapping, but don't know what it is or means. Ditto on the flehman.
Just curious & always seeking to understand my horses better.
Thanks! 
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Member:
Amara
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Posted on Wednesday, Nov 6, 2002 - 8:16 pm:
Hi there..
the yawning and chewing facial expressions indicate a pressure release from the horse...when you're done riding, a signal that pressure has been released from him is the yawning and chewing.. the yawning indicates a strong central nervous system response..
the grinding of the teeth is a coping mechanism... something is bothering him... very hard to tell what... sometimes its just the presence of the human, or something that you're doing, or something else entirely.... the flehmen response can also be a coping mechanism... in mature, full male horses its how they smell pheromones, and while all horses are fully capable of smelling the pheromones, its only correct if full male horses do it.. for other horses its a coping mechanism or a way to ignore the human...
because the human environment is not something that horses are gentically programmed to live with, most horses need to develop some sort of coping mechanism to be comfortable... while not necessarily the best thing, its not necessarily the worst either, depending on the mechanism.. (cribbing, weaving, self-mutilation are also coping mechanisms, and pretty destructive ones at that!..)..
i just rescued a horse who is very bothered by the human presence, and his coping mechanism is to blink-constantly, whenever a human is near.. as soon as the human moves far enough away, he stops doing it..
by learning to understand these little things that my horses do, and then figure out why they do it, i've been able to help them find a way to accept me and my environment better...so these little things are a very important thing to "listen" to...
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Member:
Keating
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Posted on Wednesday, Nov 6, 2002 - 8:26 pm:
This is my take on the flehman response, and other "funny faces" too: a horse does the flehman thing for whatever reason - often it's a response to a strange smell - and they get a big reaction. We interpret it as a smile, or a grimace, or whatever, and we laugh, fuss over the horse, give it lots of attention. Pretty soon they do it just to get that attention. I know this is true from observation: e.g., the horse in the paddock next to mine does the flehman when he sees me giving treats to my horse. This is obviously not an "ignoring" response; it's a "come play with me" or "come give me some of those" kind of response. The horse in effect has trained us to respond to a cue - his "smile".
That's my opinion, anyway.
Kathleen
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Member:
Willie
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 7, 2002 - 7:19 am:
I'd get him checked out by a veterinarian -- something's bothering him. The yawning response may be a relaxation response after riding, but it could also mean some obstruction or discomfort in his throat. The teeth grinding is definitely a sign of discomfort. I saw a horse with similar behavior once, and it turned out he had polyps at the back of his throat that were making him uncomfortable. After they were removed, he was fine. Another horse had gotten a four-inch piece of a stem from some woddy plant stuck sideways in his esophagus, and wound just stand around yawning. (He'd lost his appetite too, understandably, but that doesn't sound like your gelding!)
I'd look first for physical/medical causes -- maybe polyps, abcessed tooth, or something similar -- then only after that at behavioal sources. If the strange behavior isn't reinforced (i.e., he isn't earning rewards for it) he should have DrOpped the behavior early on.
As for flehmen, that is a very specific action that concentrates scents in a vasoreceptor, a special scent organ that horses have and we don't. Almost any strange odor will prompt this in some horses -- it's most prevalent when there's a mare in heat nearby (some geldings and a few mares will flehmen with estrus mares, but mostly it's stallions), but it can also be prompted by an internal source -- the scent of infection from a bad tooth, for instance, that might be more noticeable to the horse, at least, after riding.
I have a gelding who flehmens every time I wear a certain shampoo or I've gone to visit a friend's horses, one of whom is a mare.
Good luck!
Sarah
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 7, 2002 - 8:32 am:
I am not sure this is all an indication of something wrong, and not just how this horse relaxes. The clue would be if the horse seems happy and relaxed while doing it, probably OK, if the horse seems at ill ease or depressed, probably a problem.
DrO
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Member:
Penner
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 7, 2002 - 10:08 am:
Hi All,
Didn't want to alarm anyone. He only did that repetitively that 1 time (& wasn't eating around that time). He has been floated in the last 8 months, is an easy keeper, eats well & does not dribble his food (Ramrod waste food?!? Thats food abuse to him! ;) )
I think what he is doing is either he is relaxing or I make him nervous. But as he was coming up to me (& knows me), was nuzzling me & wants me to scratch his ears etc., I guess he was relaxing (You know, it was 1 of those quiet times you spend with your horse).
The flehmen, well thats a little harder to know. He does it when he smells his own brushes, food, when you "tickle" his upper lip. Not all the time, but frequently. Oh well, I wish I spoke Horse, sometimes!
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Member:
Equus
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 7, 2002 - 2:31 pm:
I knew a horse that did the flehmen response (a mare) after every worming. She would do it constantly for about 30 minutes, then stop. Maybe she got a lip cramp by then! LOL
As for the grinding....are you sure it's grinding? Maybe its "chewing". My gelding does that when I enter his stall. I know it is not an irritation or nerves thing because he will relax and snooze while I'm giving him a good grooming or massage (and still grind/chew). Perhaps he is just doing the "submission" sign of chewing as a way to accept you as herd leader. My pony does it when coming into the gelding's presence (he's below in the pecking order)and the gelding does it when coming into mine. Some natural horsemanship people could tell you more on that.
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Member:
Penner
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Posted on Friday, Nov 8, 2002 - 1:23 am:
Yes Heather, I meant chewing.
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