I was told that when greeting a horse for the first time, a person should always snort at the horse. Thought it was an old wives tale or something to make me look stupid.
Now, maybe not.
Just the horse’s way of saying hello.
When you learn to speak horse, this is one of the basic parts of the vocabulary.
It’s how they release tension and anxiety. Horses are prey animal and as such they are always prepared to run. It’s also a sign that they are ready to learn their horse training. They fight and pull back and when they figure out that your in control they will snort and shake off their nerves.
Some of the basics of Pat Parelli natural horsemanship
I remember meeting a mother horse for the first time. Just like any mom loves it when you praise their little one, she loved it when I praised her beautiful colt.
Her colt was frightened. I noticed that she didn’t coddle the colt. She merely showed the colt by example that it didn’t have to be afraid, because she wasn’t. The colt caught on quickly. More people should be like that with their children, rather than over coddling them.