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What’s my horse saying? Horse sounds, and a translator for fun
Every horse owner has wondered it at the gate. Nobody can hand you the exact words a horse would use, but you can learn the sounds, notice when they come, and, for fun, turn them into a line on your video.
The honest answer
No person, vet or app can give you a word-for-word account of what goes on inside a horse. What you can do is learn the four sounds horses make most, notice the moment each one comes in, and look at the whole horse and its surroundings rather than the sound alone.
Learn the four sounds
- Whinny (or neigh): the long, loud call with a high start and a shaky finish. You hear it most when a horse is apart from its herd mates, when another horse comes into view, or when a horse is led away from the field.
- Nicker: a low, soft rumble made with the mouth closed. A close-range sound, heard most at feeding time and when a familiar person walks up to the stable.
- Snort: a sharp blast of air through the nostrils. Heard when something new or sudden appears, when a horse clears its nose, and often during work.
- Squeal: a short, high, piercing sound, most often when two horses meet and sniff noses.
Notice the moment
A sound makes more sense next to what was happening when you heard it. Was it feed time? Had a field mate just been led away? Did a tractor start up in the next field? Keeping a note of when each sound comes, horse by horse, is the closest thing to a guide any owner has.
Look at the whole horse
Riders and trainers never go on the sound alone. Ears, head height, tail, feet and where the horse is standing all change from moment to moment, and they are read together with whatever is going on around the horse. One call on its own tells you much less than the horse and the setting it came from.
If anything about your horse worries you, from a change in the sounds it makes to how it is eating or moving, talk to your vet.
Turn the sounds into words, for fun
Neigh is a horse translator for iPhone, made for fun. Film your horse and it finds the whinnies, nickers and snorts in the clip and translates each one into a line in your horse’s own personality, written onto the video as a subtitle. With Neigh Plus you can pick a voice and hear the line read aloud in English.
The lines are playful, not a word-for-word account of what your horse thinks. And if a take is too quiet, too short or too windy, Neigh says so instead of making something up.
Questions
Can an app tell me exactly what my horse means?
No app can give you a horse’s exact words. Neigh is a horse translator made for fun: it turns the calls in your video into a playful line, and says so when a take is too quiet, too short or too windy to translate.
Why does my horse nicker at me?
A nicker is a soft, low, close-range sound. Owners hear it most at feeding time and when they walk up to the stable.
Why does my horse whinny when I leave?
Whinnies are heard most when a horse is apart from its herd mates or its people, and when another horse comes into view.
Is Neigh veterinary advice?
No. Neigh is made for fun, and its translations are not veterinary or behavioural advice. If you are worried about your horse, talk to your vet.