Blog ·
Why does my horse nicker at me?
You walk into the barn and your horse greets you with a low, soft rumble. That is a nicker, and it is one of the most common sounds a horse makes at people.
What a nicker sounds like
A nicker is low, soft and short, made with the mouth closed while the nostrils vibrate. It is a close-range sound: you hear it from a few metres away, not across a field. Some people call it a whicker. It is the same sound.
When horses nicker at people
- At feeding time, often the moment a bucket rattles or the feed room door opens.
- When the person who usually feeds or turns them out comes into view.
- When you come back after being away for a while.
- When you walk up to the stable door or the field gate.
Is it about the food?
Often, at least in part. Horses learn the sounds and the times that come before a meal: a bucket, a gate latch, a particular car pulling in. Many owners notice the nicker starts earlier and earlier as the horse learns the routine.
Trainers point out the flip side. If a nicker reliably earns a treat, a horse learns to nicker for treats. That is worth knowing if your horse has started nickering every time you walk past.
Nickers between horses
Horses nicker at each other too. A mare nickers to her foal, horses that live together nicker when they meet up again, and a stallion has a longer, deeper nicker when he approaches a mare. Researchers describe the nicker as a close-range contact call, used when another horse or person is near or coming nearer.
Do horses know who you are?
There is good evidence they do. In a 2012 study at the University of Sussex, two people a horse knew stood on either side of it while a recording of one of them calling played from a hidden speaker. Horses looked sooner and for longer at the person whose voice it was, which suggests horses link a known voice to a known face.
Catch a nicker on video
Because a nicker is quiet, get close. Film from inside the stable door at feeding time, with fans and radios off. Neigh, the horse translator for iPhone, picks out the nicker in your clip, names the call type and writes a translated line onto the video.
Questions
Is a nicker a good sign?
A nicker is a normal, everyday horse sound, heard most at feeding time and when a familiar person or horse comes close. If anything else about your horse worries you, talk to your vet.
Why does my horse nicker when I walk into the barn?
Usually because your arrival comes before something that happens every day, such as feed, turnout or grooming. Horses learn routines quickly.
Do horses nicker at strangers?
Less often. Horses nicker most at the people and horses they know, and research from the University of Sussex shows horses can tell a familiar handler’s voice from a stranger’s.
What is the difference between a nicker and a whicker?
There is none. Whicker is another name for the nicker, used more in some places than others.