26/12/2025
One of the first things that budding equestrians are taught is that horses can sense what your thinking, and that horses a very adept at sensing fear.
This post gives a good simplified explanation of the science behind this connection
Here’s a little horse science to kick off your Boxing Day, folks 🧠🐴
I know a lot of people spend what feels like a million bucks on gadgets, gear, and the next best thing, but none of that really matters if you don’t understand that your horse is engaging with you through the emotional and survival part of the brain.
It’s not about equipment, training, or techniques. It’s about understanding that your horse is meeting you through the limbic system, the part of the brain that governs connection, emotion, and safety.
This is called Limbic Resonance.
Limbic resonance is the deep, non verbal emotional and physiological syncing that happens between individuals through the brain’s limbic system. In humans, this is how empathy, bonding, and emotional understanding develop. It’s that feeling of being on the same wavelength, where one person’s inner state naturally influences another’s.
We see this everywhere. A calm person can settle someone who feels anxious. A baby relaxes in the arms of someone who feels safe. Dogs will often choose to sit near certain people or lean into them, while reacting nervously around others. None of this relies on words or deliberate behaviour. It’s about how that person feels on the inside.
This is limbic resonance at work.
So what does limbic resonance actually look like in the body?
Inside the brain is a group of structures called the limbic system. This system is responsible for emotions, memory, bonding, and survival responses. It is constantly scanning the environment for information about safety, danger, and connection.
The limbic system does not work on its own. It is directly linked to the central nervous system, which carries electrical impulses throughout the body. These impulses influence breathing, heart rate, muscle tone, posture, facial expression, and subtle movement. Together, they create your internal state.
And that internal state is not private.
We are constantly broadcasting it outward in several ways at once. Through our body signals like posture, tension, breath, and rhythm. Through chemical signals such as scent and pheromones. And through electrical impulses moving through the nervous system. Other mammals pick this up automatically, without thinking about it.
This is limbic resonance in action. It is nervous system to nervous system communication. No words needed.
Horses excel at this.
As prey animals that have survived for over 55 million years, horses have developed this system to an extraordinary level. Their survival has always depended on being able to sense and respond to subtle changes in others. They are masters of limbic resonance.
Within a herd, horses are constantly reading each other’s emotional and physical states. This silent communication keeps them safe. It is their primary language.
When we spend time with horses, we step into that system.
Horses do not tune into our words first. They sense how we feel, how present we are, and what we are carrying inside. Long before we act or speak, they already know whether we feel calm, unsure, confident, or unsettled.
Your internal dialogue plays a big role here.
And to be fair, it is completely understandable that you might feel uneasy when you see something worrying ahead, especially when you are out riding. A flapping tarp, a banging gate, or something unfamiliar in the distance can easily trigger a moment of tension. That does not make you a bad rider or handler. It makes you human.
If you are standing there thinking, oh no, he’s going to freak out, your nervous system is already broadcasting tension. Your horse feels that immediately, often before anything actually happens, and that is very often the moment that actually sets him off and makes him freak out.
If instead you can gently train yourself to pause, breathe, and think, it’s fine, nothing to worry about, I’ve got this and I’ve got you, that provides him with a sense of reassurance and safety that often keeps him calm.
You do not need to say it out loud. When your thoughts, breathing, and body line up, your horse can feel that steadiness and borrow it. If you see something as just a thing, your horse is far more likely to see it the same way.
This is why breathing matters so much.
Slow, steady breathing slows the heart rate and settles the nervous system. When your nervous system settles, you are not pretending to be calm, you actually are calm. That genuine calmness then flows naturally through your body, your chemistry, and your nervous system.
Horses pick this up instantly.
When a horse feels that real steadiness, they feel safer. And when a horse feels safe, they are more likely to want to be near you, connect with you, and stay relaxed. Not because you asked them to, but because your presence feels good to be around.
And no, you do not need to be a Tibetan monk sitting on a mountain to do this.
Simply slowing your breathing, softening your body, and being present is enough. Even a few conscious breaths can change what you are broadcasting.
Horses do not need perfection. They just need you to be real.
In humans, limbic resonance builds connection and understanding. In horses, it is about safety and survival.
When you understand this, working with horses becomes less about trying harder and more about slowing down, breathing, and being present.
And honestly, that probably is the most valuable Boxing Day gift you can give your horse.
