Here’s the thing: the ride doesn’t start when you get on. It starts the moment you walk into that stall or paddock.
Most riders skip the assessment entirely. We halter up, groom on autopilot, tack up while thinking about what we’re going to work on, and then wonder why the ride feels off from the first step.
But your horse has been telling you everything you needed to know since you opened that gate. You just weren’t listening.
Why This Matters
A horse’s nervous system doesn’t have a switch. It’s more like a dimmer — constantly sliding between calm, alert, worried, and full flight mode. The problem is that horses are prey animals, which means they’re evolutionarily wired to mask stress until they can’t anymore.
By the time your horse spooks, bolts, or shuts down completely, you’ve already missed a dozen smaller signals.
Reading these signals isn’t about predicting disasters. It’s about meeting your horse where they actually are — not where you wish they were. And that changes everything about how productive your ride can be.
The Quick Check Before You Mount
Before you even think about putting your foot in the stirrup, take 60 seconds to assess what’s happening in front of you.
1. The Eyes Tell the Story
Soft, blinking eyes with a relaxed brow? Your horse is likely in a parasympathetic state — the “rest and digest” mode where learning happens.
Wide eyes showing whites, fixed stare, or a wrinkled brow? The sympathetic nervous system is activated. Your horse is scanning for threats, and their brain is not available for dressage theory.
This doesn’t mean you can’t ride. It means you need to adjust what you’re asking for.
2. Muscle Tension Speaks Volumes
Run your hand along your horse’s neck and shoulders. Feel the difference between soft tissue and braced muscle.
A tense topline, tight jaw, or locked poll tells you the horse is holding physical stress. This often shows up before obvious behavioral signs. Horses will brace internally before they express it externally.
If you mount a horse who’s already braced through the neck, don’t be surprised when they feel stuck or resistant under saddle. It started before you got on.
3. Watch the Mouth
Licking, chewing, and soft lips indicate processing and relaxation. A tight, closed mouth or grinding teeth suggests tension or conflict.
Some horses will yawn when they’re releasing stress — that’s a good sign. Others will hold their breath. If your horse seems unusually still and quiet, check that they’re actually breathing deeply. Shallow breathing = stress.
4. Feet Tell the Truth
A horse that can’t stand still — pawing, shifting weight, walking off during grooming — is telling you their nervous system is unsettled.
This isn’t bad behavior. It’s communication. Their body is saying, “I’m not ready to focus yet.”
5. The Nostrils Don’t Lie
Flared nostrils with visible tension in the muzzle indicate arousal. Soft, gently moving nostrils suggest calm.
Research shows that stressed horses have measurably higher respiratory rates before any obvious behavioral changes appear. Your horse’s breathing pattern is a direct window into their nervous system state.
What to Do With What You See
Reading these signals is only useful if you respond to them.
If your horse looks calm and soft: Great. You’ve got access to their brain. Proceed with your planned work.
If your horse is alert but not panicking: Start with simple, familiar work. Long, low stretching. Walk patterns they know. Give them time to settle before asking for anything mentally demanding. A lot of horses need 10-15 minutes of “decompression” before they’re truly available.
If your horse is clearly stressed: This is not the day for learning new things. Stick to maintenance work, or consider whether a ground session or hand walk might be more productive. Pushing through stress doesn’t build resilience — it builds anxiety patterns.
If your horse shows pre-panic signals: High head, braced body, inability to stand still, wide eyes fixed on something in the distance — these are pre-flight indicators. Do not mount until you’ve addressed what’s triggering them or allowed them to settle. A 600kg animal in flight mode doesn’t care where you wanted to go today.
The Two-Minute Investment That Changes Everything
I’ve started building a habit into my routine: two minutes of standing quietly with my horse before I mount. No agenda. No asking for anything. Just observing.
During those two minutes, I learn more about what kind of ride I’m about to have than any warm-up tells me afterward.
Your horse’s nervous system state isn’t a fixed thing. It shifts throughout the day, influenced by turnout, the weather, other horses, ulcers, soundness, and a hundred other variables. The horse you ride at 7 AM might be neurologically different from the same horse at 4 PM.
Meeting them where they are — instead of where your plan says they should be — is the foundation of good training. It’s also the foundation of safety.
The Bigger Picture
Here’s the truth: most of us are so focused on what we want to accomplish that we forget to check whether our partner is in any state to accomplish it.
Your horse can’t tell you “I’m stressed” in words. But they’re telling you constantly — with their eyes, their muscles, their breath, their feet. Once you start seeing it, you can’t unsee it.
And once you start responding to it, everything changes.
Want to learn more about nervous system regulation and how it affects your horse’s suppleness? Check out From Stiff to Supple in 28 Days — because a tense horse can’t become a supple horse.
