Behavior or Pain? What Your Horse Is Really Telling You.

When a horse acts out under saddle, most riders assume it’s a training issue. The horse might be labeled as difficult, lazy, or disobedient. However, research has shown that many of these behaviors are actually early signs of pain—signs we can learn to recognize before they turn into something more serious.

If your horse is being difficult to ride, it may be due to discomfort. Since horses can’t tell us where they’re in pain, they rely on behavior to communicate. The challenge is knowing how to interpret that behavior. That’s why Dr. Sue Dyson developed the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHPE)—a tool designed to identify subtle signs of musculoskeletal pain in ridden horses. Backed by years of research, the RHPE outlines 24 specific behaviors that, when seen together, can indicate that a horse is experiencing pain. If a horse shows eight or more of these during a five- to ten-minute ridden assessment, it’s highly likely they are in discomfort—even if they’re not visibly lame (Dyson et al. 47).

Many of these behaviors are easy to overlook on their own: a horse holding its ears back for a few seconds, blinking more than usual, or carrying its head slightly behind the vertical. Others are more obvious, like stumbling, bucking, or rearing. But it’s the pattern that matters. The RHPE isn’t about catching a single moment; it’s about noticing how your horse moves, reacts, and carries itself over time. This tool helps remove the guesswork from evaluating behavior. It’s been used successfully in lameness exams, pre-purchase evaluations, competition settings, and saddle fit assessments. While it doesn’t replace a veterinary diagnosis, it helps start an essential conversation: Is my horse uncomfortable, and if so, why?

At Nashaway Equine, we offer spinal manipulation as a therapeutic treatment aimed at improving a horse’s mobility and comfort. Equally valuable, however, is the use of this technique as a diagnostic tool, often identifying sources of discomfort and abnormal movement before the horse shows overt signs of pain.

Restrictions along joint surfaces—identified during spinal palpation—often reveal broader movement issues beyond the area where the restriction is found. “Horses are very good at protecting themselves, compensating their movement to avoid discomfort” (Dyson, Train with Trust Project).

These behaviors don’t automatically mean your horse is injured—but they shouldn’t be ignored either. Pain-related behaviors often appear long before more obvious signs like limping or swelling. Catching these issues early gives you a chance to make changes before things get worse. That could mean adjusting tack, modifying training, or involving your veterinarian before a minor issue turns into a major one.

By learning to read the signs, we can support our horses’ comfort, improve their performance, and build stronger partnerships based on understanding—not force. Recognizing pain isn’t just about welfare—it’s about responsibility. When we know better, we do better.

References

Dalla Costa, E., et al. “Development of the Horse Grimace Scale (HGS) as a Pain Assessment Tool in Horses Undergoing Routine Castration.” PLoS ONE, vol. 9, no. 3, 2014, e92281. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0092281.

Dyson, Sue, et al. “Development of an Ethogram for a Pain Scoring System in Ridden Horses and Its Application to Determine the Presence of Musculoskeletal Pain.” Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, vol. 23, 2018, pp. 47–57. https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=108696.

Dyson, Sue, and Danica Pollard. “Determination of Equine Behaviour in Subjectively Non-Lame Ridden Sports Horses and Comparison with Lame Sports Horses Evaluated at Competitions.” Animals, vol. 14, no. 12, 2024, 1831. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/12/1831.

Gleerup, Karina B. S., et al. “An Equine Pain Face.” Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia, vol. 42, no. 1, 2015, pp. 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1111/vaa.12212.

Lesté-Lasserre, Christa. “Bad Behavior, or Is Something Else Going On With Your Horse?” The Horse, 2024, www.thehorse.com/articles/114012/bad-behavior-or-is-something-else-going-on-with-your-horse. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.

Mad Barn. “The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHPE).” Mad Barn, 2024, www.madbarn.com/ridden-horse-pain-ethogram. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.

Torcivia, Caroline, and Sue McDonnell. “Equine Discomfort Ethogram.” Animals, vol. 11, no. 580, 2021. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159124003381.

Train with Trust Project. “24 Behaviors of the Ridden Horse in Pain.” www.24horsebehaviors.org. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.