Cute Bites?

The sense of touch in an equine.

Wild horses interacting  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The sense of touch is an important but usually overlooked element in the lifestyle of a horse.  Most people think that horses have a thick tough hide.  But they really do not.  Although tougher than the human epidermis, horse’s skin is rich in nerve endings.  If you watch horses interacting, you will see lots of evidence that horses communicate using touch.  Mares reassure their foals with a brush of the muzzle, friends scratch each others backs with their teeth, and sometimes horses just stand next to each other for comfort and/or support.  When interacting with humans, a rub, pat, or massage in the right place will tell the horse that the human is his friend  and sometimes the horse will respond.  Which is cute when the  horse nuzzles or sniffs you, but is not so cute if the horse bites or stomps you.