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Giving Horses a Voice

Giving Horses a Voice

by Sharon Wilsie

Books Pets & Animals

Season 1

Episode 11: The Meaning of the Front Foot — Understanding “I Want” in the Horse

What does it really mean when a horse paws with their front foot? In this episode, we step out of training systems and into something more fundamental—how horses communicate from an ecological, horse-to-horse perspective. The front foot gesture—often seen as pawing, reaching, or striking—is not “bad behavior.” It’s a message. At its core, this movement expresses one thing: “I want.” I want to go toward something I want to get away from something When a horse cannot move but feels the need to, that energy has to go somewhere—and it shows up in the front leg. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: Recognize the difference between stress, uncertainty, and calm presence Understand load-bearing posture and what it reveals about the nervous system Identify when a horse is saying “I want to leave” vs. “I want to be here” Support your horse in returning to a parasympathetic (rest and repair) state Use simple, practical strategies to create safety, rhythm, and connection This is not about training techniques. This is about understanding the biological and emotional reality of the horse—so whatever discipline you practice can land more effectively. When you understand the “want,” you understand the horse. Horse Speak is not training—it’s the foundation that allows training to reach its goal with both bodies at their best. 🐴 Thanks for spending time with horses.

Using the Lead Rope to Help Your Horse Find Balance

In this episode of Giving Horses a Voice, Sharon Wilsie explores a simple but powerful idea: the lead rope is not just a tool for getting from point A to point B—it is a line of communication that can help your horse find balance, clarity, and confidence. Sharon explains how the way we hold ourselves, breathe, walk, and carry the rope directly affects the horse’s nervous system, posture, and ability to move in a regulated way. Drawing from her work observing herd dynamics, rescue horses, riding barns, and therapeutic settings, she shows how true leadership is not about force or tension, but about presence, stability, peripheral awareness, and clear intention. This episode dives into: • how balanced horses follow balanced humans • why calm leadership looks more like a quiet mentor than a pushy boss • how peripheral awareness changes the way you lead • why hand position, palm direction, and body alignment matter • how your horse mirrors your posture, tension, and inner state • why groundwork should support balance long before you get in the saddle If you have ever wondered how to create better movement, softer connection, and more trust while simply leading your horse, this episode offers practical insight you can use right away. Because in Horse Speak, even the lead rope can become part of the conversation.

Spring Grass, Seasonal Change, and the Horse’s “Gobble Instinct”

In this episode of Giving Horses a Voice, Sharon Wilsie talks about one of spring’s biggest horse topics: grass. Spring brings more than greener fields. Horses are also experiencing changes in coat, hormones, light, visibility, footing, and metabolism—all of which can affect mood, movement, and behavior. Sharon explains why fresh grass can create such urgency in horses and why that response is often rooted in biology rather than bad behavior. Through the lens of Horse Speak, Sharon shares practical ways to work with your horse around grass while improving communication, timing, balance, and regulation. This episode offers a fresh perspective on spring challenges and shows how even grass season can become an opportunity to strengthen connection and understanding.

The Missing Piece in the Horse-Human Connection

What if you’re not learning something new… but remembering something you’ve always known? In this episode of the Giving Horses a Voice - Horse Speak series, Sharon Wilsie explores the deeper truth behind horse–human communication—revealing that Horse Speak isn’t a special gift, but a natural language already built into both horses and people. Drawing from years of observation and research, Sharon shares how horses learn through maternal care—how mothers teach their foals to move, regulate, connect, and feel safe through precise touch, posture, and pattern. These early “messages” become the foundation for how horses experience the world—and how they relate to us. This episode also dives into the nervous system: how stress, regulation, and recovery affect both humans and horses—and why so many horses today struggle without a “lighthouse” in their environment to guide them back to balance. You’ll learn: • Why Horse Speak is something you can learn—not something mystical • How mother horses teach regulation and movement through touch and gesture • What the nervous system has to do with behavior, stress, and healing • Why horses need a “lighthouse” (mentor energy) to find their way back to calm • How your own posture and presence can help a horse regulate and reconnect At its heart, this episode is an invitation: To move beyond behavior… and into relationship. Because when you learn to show up as the lighthouse, Your horse doesn’t just respond— They remember how to come home.

What is Horse Speak®—and how horses actually communicate

In this episode, Sharon Wilsie answers a common question: Is Horse Speak® the same as animal communication or telepathy? The answer is no. Horse Speak® is not about psychic or telepathic connection—it is a system of observing and understanding the horse’s physical, nonverbal language, especially through micro-gestures in the face and body. Sharon shares how horses use their lips, nostrils, chin, and overall posture to express emotional states in real time. From tight, tense mouths that signal discomfort or resistance, to soft, wiggly lips that invite connection, these expressions form a repeatable and readable communication system. Drawing from her work with students at Landmark College, Sharon explains how learning to read horse facial expressions helped students—especially those who struggled with human social cues—develop clarity and confidence in communication. Unlike humans, horses do not mask their expressions or layer communication with conflicting signals like sarcasm, making them easier to read when you know what to look for. The episode also introduces the relationship between: • X posture (alert, tense, potentially reactive) • O posture (relaxed, regulated, safe) • And the facial expressions that match each state By observing both posture and facial nuance together, students and handlers were able to: • Assess emotional states more accurately • Make safer, more informed decisions • Identify early signs of distress—or even physical issues like illness • Support horses in shifting from tension (X) into relaxation (O) Ultimately, this work shifts the question from: “What is the horse doing?” to: “What is the horse experiencing?” Because when we stop projecting and start observing, the horse’s story becomes clear. 🔑 Key Takeaways • Horse Speak® is a nonverbal, observable language, not telepathy • Horses communicate through facial micro-gestures and posture patterns • X and O postures, combined with facial expression, create a simple but powerful communication map • Horses offer honest, congruent signals, unlike human mixed messaging • Learning to see clearly reduces projection and improves safety, connection, and relationship To Learn More Visit: www.horsespeakacademy.com

The Discovery of Patterns: How Horses Communicate in Repeating Messages.

In Episode 6 of Giving Horses a Voice, Sharon Wilsie takes us into the early discovery phase of Horse Speak®—where observation became language. What began as simple curiosity evolved into a structured process of cataloging the horse’s communication system. Sharon shares how she began to recognize recurring patterns in breath, gestures, postures, and signals, and how these patterns weren’t random behavior but intentional messages. Through careful observation, she began to identify the why, when, and how behind these sequences. Each interaction revealed that horses communicate in organized, repeatable patterns that convey meaning—often centered around safety, regulation, and connection. This episode explores: • How the cataloging of equine communication began • The role of breath, posture, and gesture in message delivery • Why patterns repeat and what they communicate • Sharon’s personal discovery process and field observations This is where behavior transforms into language—and where relational literacy begins.

What is the difference between behavior and language?

Giving Horses a Voice with Sharon Wilsie – Episode 5 What is the difference between behavior and language? In this episode, Sharon Wilsie explores the difference between behavior and language in horses. While observing an elder rescue horse named Old Ed, Sharon began to notice recurring patterns of communication that conveyed messages of safety, calm, and relaxation within the herd. As a prey animal, the horse constantly reads the environment for danger. Through careful observation, Sharon discovered that what many people call behavior is actually a structured non-verbal language with a beginning, middle, and end. These repeated sequences—from large gestures to subtle micro-gestures—became part of a catalog that helps humans learn to decode and encode horse communication. The foundation of this work is relational literacy, where understanding the horse’s language creates a deeper connection, trust, and partnership between horses and humans.

How do Horses say, “Hello?”

In this episode of Giving Horses a Voice, Sharon Wilsie explores how horses greet each other — and how we can learn to greet them in a way they understand. Horses gather information through bio-rhythms, posture, breath, and subtle gestures. As prey animals, they are constantly reading their environment and the signals of others for safety. When we approach from a regulated state that Horse Speak® calls Inner Zero, we create the conditions for connection. In this episode, you’ll learn: • How breath and presence affect your greeting • What a “horsey handshake” feels like using a soft knuckle • Why horses greet muzzle to muzzle and how three out-breaths mirror this ritual • The difference between greeting a horse and treating a horse • How breath and space communicate safety and respect

What is - and what is not - leadership in relationship to horses?

In Episode 3 of Giving Horses a Voice, Sharon Wilsie explores what leadership truly is — and what it is not — in relationship to horses. For years, the industry has taught humans to use big energy to create compliance. But the horse moving others with force isn’t the leader — that horse is often dysregulated. Real leadership in a herd is quiet, bonded, and rooted in connection. In Horse Speak®, we call this Inner Zero — being regulated and connectable with clear boundaries. Horses are social creatures with strong attachment bonds. When they are getting along, it’s subtle and organized — not loud. Sharon shares insights from observing rescue herds, tracking gestures, postures, and signals, and noticing how elder horses create visible relaxation. She also demonstrates tail swish messages (best seen on video) and discusses the “active calm” presence horses choose to follow. Referencing the shift in awareness that began around Black Beauty, this episode invites you to move beyond dominance and into relational leadership. The more connectable you are — with good boundaries — the more horses can trust, follow, and thrive. Are you ready to listen? www.horsespeakacademy.com

What is Zero?

The word "Zero" comes from work with the neurodivergent community. It describes an internal state of regulation and resiliency — the place inside us where we can pause, process, and choose our response. From Zero, we can truly hear horses. Horses are prey animals. Their instinct is to move away from perceived danger. What feels inconvenient to us is often intelligent survival. As a fellow social species, when we ask horses to follow or trust us, we must check — and double check — the environment we’re inviting them into. Sometimes it’s as subtle as pointing to an object and using a tail swish gesture to say, “You don’t have to worry about that.” When we see horses through an ethological lens — not as beasts of burden, but as socially intelligent prey animals — we begin giving them something powerful: A voice. And that voice starts with our willingness to listen.

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