Horse People, I need opinions....

[MegF.]

Actually, the look of the horse being treated for a cut did not look relaxed to me. The upper lip looks quite tense in my opinion. I'm trying to think of something that is not readily noticed expression wise in a horse, but not many come to mind. I do think the "sleepy" look is a good one, although I've never thought a horse that looks like that is sleepy. I noticed my one horse will "groom" the air with his mouth when I scratch a spot that is itchy. He actually makes a biting motion in the air in front of him as if he's mutually grooming another horse while I groom him. Grinding teeth is not a sign of submission,but one of tension and in many cases, pain. Ears are definitely misread. So many people think that ears back means upset or anger, but in a horse that is working and concentrating on the the rider you see it quite often. It's completely different from pinning the ears.

 

[diamondlil]

Agreed Meg, I think Nuts looks tense there, her foal had just been caught for treatment, and although I was crooning nonsense to her, her attention was mostly on her baby.
The expression of driving another horse away is one I see very often if there are 5 or so milling about. The interplay is mercurial, involving the ear position, body shape, head position and direction of gaze. Learning it keeps you aware of the potential for getting squished if a bit of dominance interplay is going on.
(No pictures of it though, because it's usually a cue for me to stay on my toes and either get out of the way or in turn drive away the aggressor if I'm busy with the less dominant mare.)

 

[diamondlil]

I've got some for you! Here's a look that could be totally misinterpreted if you're at the back end of the horse!

 

[diamondlil]

Despite the laid-back ears, all these are due to the joy of having an itchy bottom scratched!

 

[MegF.]

Exactly what I've been saying. You can see it in a ridden horse as well. This is just concentrating on you....not pinned for anger. There's definitely a whole different posture and the face has a whole different look.