How To Tell If A Horse Likes You

Introduction

Horses are not just loyal animals, but they’ll also be your best friend. If you’re new to riding or planning to start riding lessons soon, then it’s important to know when your horse is being friendly towards you. This will help build your confidence around the animal and allow you to become the best rider possible. So how do you tell if a horse likes you? The answer is simple!

They Gently Put Their Nose In Your Hand

If a horse is interested in you, it will seek out your attention by gently putting its nose into your hand. Horses are curious animals and their sense of smell is extremely powerful. They use this sense to investigate their surroundings and learn more about the people and other animals around them. If you’re lucky enough to be chosen by one of these majestic creatures, this behavior should come as no surprise!

Their Eyes Are Soft And Relaxed

If a horse is relaxed and happy, their eyes will be soft and relaxed. The whites of the eyes are not visible (you won’t see the part of their eye that surrounds your retina). When a horse looks at you with soft, relaxed eyes and shows affection by resting his head on yours or nibbling on objects close to you, it’s a good sign that they are comfortable with you.

If a horse has angry or upset eyes, which can sometimes be hard to tell because they don’t have white in them like humans do, look for other signs too such as aggressive behavior or kicking out with their hind legs. A sick or injured animal will also show signs of discomfort through their body posture and movements.

They Make The Typical Sucking Sound

• When horses suck on their lips, it’s a sign of pleasure.
• Horses often do this after eating and just before drinking, but it can also be a sign of hunger.
• The sucking sound can be heard from several feet away, so you may not hear it if you are standing next to the horse.

They Come When Called

It’s a sign of trust, and it shows that your horse wants to be around you. If they come right away when called, it means that they have a bond with you and want to be near you. This is especially true for horses who are used to people calling their name in order to go from one place to another (like from the pasture into their stall).

They Show Affectionate Behaviors

• Nuzzle your hair
• Lick your hand or arm
• Lower their head for a scratch behind the ears and/or on the forehead
• The horse will often lie down next to you, even if that means making themselves vulnerable in the process. This is a sign that they trust you not to harm them.

They Follow You Around

If a horse is following you around, it’s because they want to be near you. They may even take the initiative and walk ahead of you when you’re on your way outside or in another part of the barn. If a horse follows you everywhere, it’s likely that they know who you are and trust that your intentions are good for them. This is especially true if they follow other people as well—it shows an openness toward new people in general!

The next time someone starts petting one of their favorite horses, watch that horse closely while they’re petting it. Does it appear comfortable? Does its tail move back and forth? If so, this signifies that things like petting and being touched aren’t considered threatening by this particular animal (or at least not by whoever was just standing next to them). They might also nuzzle against their human friend while they’re being petted—a sign which equates affection in humans with trustworthiness in animals!

They Resting Their Head On You

As you can imagine, it takes quite a lot of trust and comfort to rest a horse’s head on your shoulder. It is one of the most intimate things your horse can do for you, and ideally it means that he or she feels safe and secure around you. This is particularly true if they are resting their head on someone who has never been near them before (if this happens).

If your horse has never done this before, then they may be feeling insecure around other humans and want some extra reassurance from you. They might also have been trained by someone else to rest their head on people as a way of saying “I’m tired,” so it’s worth asking around if anyone else has worked with this particular animal in the past.

Horses can be very affectionate.

If you’re lucky enough to be around a horse, there are a few ways you can tell if it likes you. A happy horse will often:

• Nod its head at you (kind of like when people do that thing where they move their heads up and down)
• Bring its head down near your hand so that you can pet it
• Look directly into your eyes with the most adorable expression on its face ever

Conclusion

I think it’s safe to say that you now have a pretty good idea of what makes a horse happy. Hopefully, this has helped you determine whether or not your horse is friendly and comfortable with your presence, which is essential for any rider. But if you still can’t tell if your horse likes you—or if you want to get better at being liked by horses in general—there are more resources out there for learning how to do so. You just need to look around!