I have been trying to find a way to ask this question in a non accusatory way for years, so please bear with me! Not at all trying to start a fight or point fingers, but I would love to have a discussion on why, from a behavior standpoint, do horses often pin their ears when they are working at liberty? I am not referring to lunging or basic groundwork, but true liberty work (think Double Dan Horsemanship).
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I don’t know the videos you are talking about.
I do a lot of liberty work and I have never seen this
Do you mean true pinned ears snakehead look? What else is going on with the horse? Are they having a moment to spook or bolt?
Or do you mean “listening ears” at half mast where the horse is paying attention to your cues?
In general I have never seen a horse going around in a relaxed confident way with truly pinned ears.
Ok, I Google Double Dan. I saw horses with pricked ears and I saw horses with listening ears in his liberty videos, but I saw no pinned ears. Do you have a link or screen shot of what you mean?
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I thought of this question based on videos from Tik Tok, so that was likely my first mistake! Here is a quick example:
https://www.tiktok.com/@vollgeflashtt/video/7276791192912792865?_t=8j932JBmZFj&_r=1
I would call this horse’s ears pinned through the majority of the video. His expression softens a bit at the very end, but through the majority of the (short) video I would say his ears are pinned. Curious to hear if you interpret his expression differently? The expression this horse has is a common one in many liberty videos.
Regarding Double Dan Horsemanship- I should have clarified, I bring them up as an example of the style of liberty work I am referring to. I am in no way criticizing or questioning their methods, their horses look lovely and the liberty work if very impressive!
Ok. I’d actually call that listening ears based on everything about the horses posture. I also honestly tend to have no opinion at all on Tiktok horse videos because they are such short snippets, they are usually children or very young adults, and you don’t get to see any context.
Ha. Since I am not a member of TikTok I could see that video only one time and now when I want to look again, ans click on the link or even cut and paste, I get sent to random other "for you’ videos. So I can’t view it again. Maybe better to find a YouTube video because I’m sure I’m not the only person here who will have that problem.
Here is a useful chart.
https://images.app.goo.gl/pbhgQPHZaoLoT3yM6
When I trail ride with another person it’s guaranteed horse in front will have ears forward and horse behind will have ears quite far back to focus on anything behind us.
I have to say I find liberty work, ground work and trick training easy with my horses, so something simple like this video just seems really basic.
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Interesting! You make a very good point that tik tok videos are usually too short to get accurate context. I think it’s important to note, when searching for examples on Youtube I noticed that the more experienced liberty trainers seemed to have horses with softer expressions. This issue at hand is most likely that I was referencing whatever random tik tok videos came across my screen 
Thank you for the good discussion!
Then the takeaway is that the more experienced trainers prioritize softness in their work and they are more sophisticated about what they post online. The goal of liberty work is to get softness. I do think that the closer the horse to the trainer, ie the smaller the circle, the more pressure there is inherently on the horse compared to farther away. Also the horse is listening to a trainer who is very close and effectively behind them.
Anyhow kids on Tiktok post all kinds of clips of all kinds of things (food, makeup, clothes, horses, etc) that are just beginner stages of whatever they are doing. Its nice this kid is starting to play with her horse at liberty. What she’s showing is not complex or difficult, I don’t see any need to jump down her throat for not being a pro trainer 
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I’ve noticed the same thing, OP. Like you, I don’t want to sound accusatory or whatever, but I just wanted to chime in that I’ve absolutely noticed the pinned ears thing too when watching videos of horses being worked at liberty. And they aren’t just listening. They look annoyed/pissed. I’d have to go looking for videos now, because it’s not something I set out to find. It’s just that on multiple occasions when I have happened to be watching a video that has some liberty work in it, I’ve noticed the ear-pinning and wondered about it. But then I continue with life until the next time I just happen to be watching a video that has a horse being worked at liberty and I notice the ear-pinning again.
I don’t know the answer, but I thought I’d let you know that I’ve noticed.
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I’ve noticed the same thing, and have asked about it here a bit. Parelli-ed horses have a similar expression. They look miserable.
I think it’s the helplessness they feel. Sure, they’re “at liberty” and could leave, but that would more than likely lead to more repetitive drills/asks. I don’t think most horses actually enjoy the work.
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IME horses do enjoy liberty work if they are not chased and nagged and pressured beyond their tolerance level. Project mare will longe w t c halt on voice cues with no longe line. She also loves to do shoulder in on small.volte around me for treats. If I was working a horse that habitually pinned it’s ears I would switch things up. Fast.
Also because when mares pin their ears they aren’t joking. They are telling you they are about to bite or kick.
I do see lots of young women playing with loose horses in ways that look potentially dangerous because the horses are pinning their ears, snaking their necks, kicking up in their direction when they are far too close, chasing the person.
This isnt coherent liberty work. It’s just teens messing around with Pivo running.
I will say quite confidently that anyone on SM who posts “liberty” work with a horse with pinned ears as cute or a brag can be ignored. It’s just like hanging on the reins or popping off over cross poles or what not, bad horsemanship.
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I agree, and if WTC halt with no rope is considered liberty work, then I guess my horses do that too. For me that’s more just good voice cues.
You see the mega angry liberty horses in professional performances, too - it’s not just the unskilled “R+” whackos that do it.
This horse looks mad probably 75% of the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA1NOehaeaw
The guy here, his horses generally don’t look mad, but there are times. It’s hard to tell if they’re upset at what they’re doing or the proximity of the other horses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVX8pAuGKI4
If the reality is that you need to skills of ^ that guy to do this without making your horse miserable, I think most people should probably just lay off of it and not torture their animals (mentally).
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Is it raining in this video?
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Glad to hear that I’m not the only one noticing these expressions in horses being worked at liberty! I find it interesting that this is a topic that is largely not being discussed throughout the industry. In my chosen discipline, if a horse went around with the same expression that we often see liberty horses display, it would certainly raise some eyebrows. Of course, there are horses displaying grumpy or even painful expressions across all disciplines. Some are addressed and sadly, some are ignored by their owners. I am not at all trying to say that we exclusively see grumpy horses working at liberty-- that simply would not be true. However, it does seem fairly common to see horses being worked at liberty displaying these expressions at a much more consistent rate.
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I wasn’t there for either video so I can’t say.
Horses also frequently pin their ears when they are making EFFORT. Watch horses playing in the paddock. Watch race horses. Watch grand prix jumpers, etc.
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I don’t disagree, but a horse jogging a circle around the owner is not making such a substantial effort that it would justify the expression, IMO.
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But the horse may be concentrating on something. I’m just chiming in to let the OP know that there are a lot of reasons that horses may pin their ears. Pain is usually a more subtle expression, like nose wrinkles. The “thousand yard stare” of a horse with learned helplessness, may just look like boredom. And licking and chewing can be a sign of anxiety- not submission.
Horses’ body language also can be unique to the individual, the breed and the sex. It’s easy for people unfamiliar with a particular animal to draw an inaccurate conclusion.
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They have those too, I’ve mentioned it in the past. Glassy eyes, pinned ears, and pulled nostrils. The horses look just… miserable all around.
Can you share images of the pinned ears! Are we talking focus or irritated? There’s focused ears and then pissed “forced” pinned. And what about the rest of the face. TIght nostrils? TIght eyes?
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Here’s a good case in point to challenge thinking. Frederic Pignon - a master on this planet with his horses at liberty and if you own or have read Gallop to Freedom you know how kind and thoughtful they are with their horses. I remember reading their book back in 2002 or so and reading them say when they ask their horses to come out of their stall to work if they don’t want to they leave them. Like what?
And they don’t believe in any force or anger.
Yet, if you were to look at this picture one could question if his dear Templado was irritated? But I don’t believe for a second he was angry, forced or unhappy in this moment. He and Frederic shared a relationship so deep. Also, Templado didn’t want to be ridden and they accepted that and did not ride him. And, HIGHLY suggest you buy a copy of his book Templado about their journey and life with this horse. It’s a must for any library of animal lovers.
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