Licking and Chewing
Look at the signal, then look at the whole horse and the situation around it.
NOTICE
The horse begins licking the lips, moving the tongue, chewing without food, or working the jaw.
Sometimes this happens briefly. Other times, several licking and chewing movements appear together.
Pay attention to what happened just before it began.
WHAT IT MAY TELL YOU
Licking and chewing can happen in several situations. You may see it when a horse is eating or expecting food, investigating a taste or sensation, adjusting something in the mouth, becoming more physically relaxed, settling after greater tension or arousal, or responding to handling, training, or bodywork.
Sometimes licking and chewing appears as part of a broader shift toward a calmer state. That can be useful information.
DON'T ASSUME
Licking and chewing doesn't automatically mean the horse understands, learned the lesson, accepts someone as the leader, is completely relaxed, or has “released stored emotion.”
Instead, ask: “What changed before the licking and chewing began?”
LOOK AGAIN
Watch the before-and-after pattern. Was the horse tense beforehand? Did the head or neck lower? Did the eyes soften? Did the ears become less fixed? Did breathing become quieter? Did the jaw and muzzle soften? Did the body become less braced? Does the horse remain calmer afterward?
If several changes appear together, licking and chewing may be part of a larger shift toward greater calm.
About “Emotional Release”
In human therapy, people sometimes use release to describe a shift from greater tension or activation toward more calm, regulation, or relief.
That idea can be useful when watching horses—but only carefully. If licking and chewing appears alongside a long exhale, head lowering, softer eyes, looser muscles, quieter breathing, and a calmer body afterward, it is reasonable to say the horse appears to be shifting into a calmer state.
It is not enough to say that the horse released trauma, a specific emotion, a particular memory, or stored emotional energy. Those claims go beyond what we can observe.
Research / Learn More
What research shows
Licking and chewing has been recorded alongside other relaxation-related behaviors in recent massage and manual-therapy studies. These observations support treating it as one possible part of a broader state change.
What it does not tell us
These studies do not show that licking and chewing proves emotional release, learning, trauma processing, or one specific internal state. Some are pilot studies with important design limitations.
Sources
- Behavioral Assessment of Equine Relaxation Following Manual Therapy — records licking/chewing with head lowering, yawning, lip relaxation and other relaxation-related behaviors; the study had no control group or baseline.
- Effect of Massage on Stress Indicators in Recreational Horses — discusses licking/chewing among behaviors considered in relation to relaxation and stress during massage.