Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

firepow24 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:54:26 GMT

Great thread.

I worked with Deck of Stars, a quarter horse legend. Though not a thorough bred, he was a big horse. Anyway, I used to go in his stall and draw pictures of him....a hobby of mine. Every time I went in, he stuck out his tongue and would walk toward me. The handler told me he just wanted his tongue scratched. He did it every time anyone got near him. Great horse.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

fire — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:26:44 GMT

i dont think tying a horse's tongue should be seen as "helping" the horse breathe better, just another example of the harshness in some industries. horses will place their tongues over the bit to avoid the pain some bits cause on the palate, obviously this effects the control of the rider. horses "playing" with the bit or sticking out their tongues is more likely just a sign of discomfort. a bitless bridle can work just as well as any other control mechanisms by just understanding the horse better.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

alleycat — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:45:26 GMT

my horse yawns and sticks his tongue out a lot. is something wrong? or is he just bored or anxious to eat. i just want to make sure something is not wrong. He does not do it when he is riding. any ideas

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

kashmir — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:40:25 GMT

I don't think racehorses should have their tongues tied while they are racing or at any other time. Can you imagine athletes running with their tongues tied?

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

equine paparazzi — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:22:29 GMT

My wife visited Winstar to see Tiznow and made friends with Victory Gallop. He let her pull on his tongue forever. It made Tiznow jealous as she had been paying attention to him up to the tongue pulling session.

Also, Bluesthestandard, who ran 2nd in the 2003 BC Sprint, loved getting his gums massaged. He would let us rub his gums for as long as we could do it. He was a notorius for biting; in the beginning it was a leap of faith

to stick your hand in his mouth. He never bit us, but he was the devil with his grooms.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

aspradling — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:36:48 GMT

Justbecause: Tongues are an added bonus. I admit I started following Pyro when he started his 2YO racing career due to his name. What a sweet name. Then I was very impressed with how well he did and thus still support him today.

I am guilty of often liking horses for their names...but it seems the horses I pick do great anyway. I still need Jedi Code to get healthy and prove more of himself.

Tiago is just a cute horse. We have pictures, which I can't post, of him eating strange shrubbery and trees ect...he just has a day dream demeanor about him hehe.

FloridaMel:Not just Belmont winners but Preakness winners too huh?

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

julia b — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:26:04 GMT

Thats funny you write an article about this - I got a kick out of photographing horses at the Breeders Cup at Churchill a couple years ago - some of them had their tongues hanging out so I took pics of them all- we like to look at them and laugh !

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Ofelia — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:13:44 GMT

Also, the great race mare, Bayakoa, ran with her tongue hanging out!

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Ofelia — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:12:31 GMT

Eddington, Unbridled's son, will stick his tongue out for a peppermint and leave it hanging until his handler produces the treat. Adam, you are a genius! That's it! The secret of speed and endurance is in the tongue!

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

FloridaMel — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:46:18 GMT

I have a tongue tale. "Back in the day" I used to work with sales 2yo's and hold horses for the blacksmith. One of the 2 year olds I worked with was a colt that loved for you to play with his lip and pull his tongue. He was eventually named Louis Quatorze, & went on to win the Preakness! So, there MUST be a connection there.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Justbecause — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:13:37 GMT

So Adam, do you like these horses because they stick their tongues out, or is that just an added bonus?

One of my friends and I got to see Victory Gallop and Real Quiet on the same day (after they had been retired). Victory Gallop had licked her hand and let her pull on his tongue, so she felt guilty when she was petting Real Quiet a few hours later!

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Jen — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:36:39 GMT

Not a racehorse story, but my best friend used to ride a little bay gelding who spent his days in his stall with his tongue lolling out (he licked and slobbered on people, too). The joke around the stable was that he was half Thoroughbred and half...beagle.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Liz — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:50:56 GMT

I had a horse that turned his tongue sideways between his front teeth and played with it all day. He loved for you to scratch it or pull on it, but if he didn't have anyone to play with, he would entertain himself. I also had horses who would spend hours playing a gentle tug-o-war over a fence with their tongues. It was almost like they were holding hands. I am always amazed at people who don't realize that animals have individual personalities and intelligence comparable, in some ways, to that of a human.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Denise — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:15:21 GMT

We had the pleasure of owning a quarter horse, Nervous Engery until he was 28 years old. After racing through age 12, I kept in pasture to enjoy his life. He was always chewing on his tongue, sideways. It was pretty funny. He would stand in front of the window when it was time to eat and just chew away. I sure miss my friend.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

TEN — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:37:54 GMT

Thank-you LIZ. You know what you are talking about. Some of these other comments are from left field...

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Chase — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:40:24 GMT

Add this to the list of great (good, rather) horses who run with their tounges sticking out-Dreaming of Anna ran the entire Breeders' Cup Juvinile Fillies with her tounge sticking out-you can see it on the replays.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Bellwether — Sat, 31 May 2008 22:16:02 GMT

Oh yea Second of June was a hell of a Race Horse...$7,500 2yo in training purchase @ Ocala sale...

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Liz — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:20:49 GMT

Chewing or licking can definitely be a sign of thinking or understanding, and I agree that often a horse that likes to play games with his tongue is of above average intelligence. I have had many wonderful animals with that trait that were a dream to train and several world champions in the group.

It is also true that "spitting the bit" or a horse pulling his tongue up over the bit is a sign that he has had enough. Actually, a horse with his tongue over the bit can put his rider in a very dangerous situation, the bit sits on the very fragile bars of the horse's mouth, leaving the rider with a steering wheel that is too far sensitive and prone to injure the horse. Preventing the tongue from getting on top of the bits is a primary reason for tying the tongue for most breeds, but it is NOT a practice for an uninformed user. It is VERY easy to actually kill the horse's tongue with misuse. (just in case someone new to the business wants to try this...please ask a skilled professional)

I can say that at least in some cases those horses are racing with their tongues intentionally tied flapping in the wind. The point is that the trainer pulls the tongue out as far as he considers "comfortable" (hard to imagine isn't it?)in order to minimize the bulk of the tongue that fills the upper cavity of the horse's palate. The idea is that this helps increase the breathing room for some horses, particularly those with unusually long or bulky tongues. We are talking about the top winning trainers, not uninformed rookies either. This is highly preferable to the practice I have seen (although very rarely) in several other breeds where the tongue is actually shortened by 3 or 4 inches surgically. Again, I am talking about top professionals, not barbarians out in the plains...

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Racingfan — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:38:15 GMT

I'm a Pyro fan too! I read he is next scheduled to run in the Northern Dancer Stakes on June 14th!

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Katherine — Sat, 31 May 2008 01:55:21 GMT

While under tack, the main reason a horse sticks their tongue out is discomfort. You never see horses running around in the field with their tongues stuck out.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Chrystal — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:09:04 GMT

Remember ***BAYAKOA?***

That champion mare loved to run with her tongue hanging all the way out. It would just hang out the side of her mouth during the race.

Given that she was a front runner, it would seem that she was literally sticking her tongue out at the competition!!! It was hilarious.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

Stephanie — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:52:10 GMT

Anyone remember the Woodward a few years back when Premium Tap and Second of June battled down to the wire and Premium Taps' tongue just flapped the whole way down. That was the first time I really started to notice that A LOT of horse run with tongues flapping.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

s lee — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:55:54 GMT

They say that some horses stick their tongue out when they've had enough. In the match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral in deep stretch War Admiral supposedly flipped his tongue out of the side of his mouth and Seabiscuit's jockey said to himself, "that's it, he's done" and they started to draw away.

As with so many things, each horse is probably a little different!

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

aspradling — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:30:58 GMT

flyinhome: thanks a lot, I believe Pyro peaked early, but will be back in the game here soon. He needs to stay in a few graded races that work for closers. Then the confidence will come back.

J McM: That is a good question and topic, I will look into that and post more on it.

Sarava Partners: That is great! Another Belmont winner with a tongue fixation. Not just that, but I was told he is the largest long shot ever to win the Belmont.

re: Horses and Their Tongues: What's up with that?

'rene — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:46:35 GMT

I know a couple of dressage horses that seem really licky while tacking up. I take it as a sign that the horses are paying attention to the rider on the ground.

On good days, my horse will stick his nose into my tummy while I'm bridling him (when I'm standing in front to make sure everything is even) and chew the bit. On really good days, he'll do that *and* lick me. Which leaves a slobbery green mess on my shirt, but oh well.

(A "good day" is when the horse is attentive, energetic, and responsive. A "really good day" is when they're so eager to please that sometimes they try to anticipate what I want.)