Meaning of the "Dragon Snort"

[quietann]

So I got into a … situation with my 22 year old mare a couple of days ago. I was trail riding solo, as usual, on one of our usual routes. It goes past a polo field, but one that is used mostly for lessons, practices etc. Over time, she’s become less nervous about it; I can ride her past a small group of polo ponies and people doing whatever, and most of the time she just gives them a good hard stare and we go on our way.

But … on Thursday, when we went out, there were a couple of lessons going on, and maybe a few more trailers than usual, but I didn’t think much of it. If anything, my mare was less bothered than she can be. We walked past, went into the woods, and went on our way.

On the way back… she was antsy as soon as she heard noises coming from the field. We came out of the woods to find a full-on polo match – 8 riders shouting and galloping up and down the field. And my mare… lost her brains.:eek::eek::eek: I was smart enough to bail pretty quickly, and hung onto the reins while she lost her brains some more. Most distinctive was the “dragon snort,” a very loud snort that she did repeatedly while doing circles around me. Her tail was up over her back and she was prancing around, but somehow I got her away from the polo and back into the woods (and I was too busy managing her, but I think someone noticed us, and they took a short break), down the usual hill I walk her down, got back on at the bottom as always (she tends to get her brains back into her head when there’s a known routine), crossed the river (as usual, except she didn’t want to stop and chill for a bit in the river), and returned to the barn at a, hm, very fast walk.

I repeated the same ride yesterday, sans polo ponies (they usually aren’t around on Fridays or Sundays), and she was a little frisky, but had no meltdowns. We even ran into a friend on the polo field, and chatted for a bit, and my mare was 100% good about just standing there. We got a nice photo from it too.

So … that dragon snort! WTH is it? Fear, excitement, anger???

[x-halt-salute]

I know that snort. The head-high, tail flagged, muscles coiled, million-decibel snort. Morgan mares have perfected the art.

I’ve always thought it was a more or less communicative (social) noise that indicated curiosity and fear (as in, trying to evaluate a threat and make sure companions are aware and ready to respond). In English roughly, “Hey, this looks really dodgy. Stay alert. We might need to bail pronto.” Or if horse has already decided to flee and I’m insisting on staying near to the source of anxiety it means, “Seriously. I think you underestimate the value of a flight response in an odd situation like this. You’re the boss but … are you sure we shouldn’t split?”

Glad there were no monsters added to the mental map after that encounter. Sounds like your detour and restoration of routine were effective at calming her down and convincing her there wasn’t a problem. Nice photo, too!

[Equkelly]

Lol dragon snorting means “hang on” and “say a prayer” in my experience. No but I think it has something to do with not just communication but breathing. When my horse does it, she’s saying something is very very very terrifying and we should leave ASAP.

[Bluey]

We had a kid safe reining gelding that we found was not quite so safe.
He turned into dragon when someone put some pigs where we walked to and from the barn.
He never got over it, always sounded the alert getting close.
He would walk sideways by the pig pen, even if other horses would walk over to visit with the pigs.
Before, the pens had two llamas most horses acted up when first seeing, but he had never cared.

Curious that it is horses that sets the mare off.
Good that you could get out of the situation without harm.
At least she warned you, didn’t just teleport leaving you behind.

[SugarCubes]

One of my horses does the dragon snort (love that name for it btw!) when he’s excited…he’ll almost always do the snort while prancing around with a flagged tail if he’s turned out in the indoor after being in due to weather for a couple of days. He’s done it a couple of times when I’m on him, and like the OP’s experience, it’s been when running into other horses by surprise.

[demidq]

I have always assumed it means “HOLY SHIT! WTF is THAT?”
In this situation, maybe she thought the galloping polo ponies were fleeing something menacing or perhaps she wanted to play?

[Maythehorsebewithme]

I think I read somewhere that the “dragon snort”, as well as being a fear/flight response, pulls a lot of air across the nasal receptors (on the intake) so the horse can determine by scent what the threat is.

[CCook]

@Maythehorsebewithme

I think I read somewhere that the “dragon snort”, as well as being a fear/flight response, pulls a lot of air across the nasal receptors (on the intake) so the horse can determine by scent what the threat is.

This is what I have always been told and assumed was correct, but no idea if it is true.

[merrygoround]

Razzberry is good with those knees! But he better not land hard or he’ll launch his on his neck rider.

Antique eventer.

[MsM]

LOL at the Dragon Snort. I always thought of it as a “Challenge Snort” Fun when your horse is playing in the field - not so nice when you are on his back. Especially not nice when you are hit in the back by his tail while you are on his back! :eek:

[Bluey]

@MsM

LOL at the Dragon Snort. I always thought of it as a “Challenge Snort” Fun when your horse is playing in the field - not so nice when you are on his back. Especially not nice when you are hit in the back by his tail while you are on his back! :eek:

Here those are called nose rollers.
I like Dragon Snort better.

Once our very gentle, fat feral horse was standing in front of the tack room, grountied.
Was thru saddling him and started spraying him with OFF.
He may have been half asleep, snorted, passed gas and exited the barn bucking.
He stopped about 50’ outside, stood there, still half snorting, but not knowing at what.

[Hej]

I had an older boarder mare who did the ‘dragon snort’ at feeding time. She lived out with another retiree (gelding), she was not aggressive but definitely the alpha. She always seemed to be saying “MY feed tub! MINE!! NOT yours, MINE!!” The old guy would just calmly stroll over to his feed, completely unimpressed.

[quietann]

“Dragon snort” is what my mare’s breeders called it, mostly referring to her paternal grand-dam, an ex-Park Harness horse whose mind had been blown by the show ring (and had been drugged at the sale where my mare’s breeders got her.) She did calm down eventually… It took about a year to re-teach her how to walk under saddle. The rest of my mare’s bloodlines are pretty sensible, but Grandma Julie was … special. When my mare, who kind of looks like a prettier-than-average cow pony most of the time, channels Grandma Julie, there is no mistaking her for anything but a Morgan.

I think my mare was more afraid than excited, but it’s so hard to tell. She does not like horses in chaos – wants to protect everyone. So yes. Polo matches punch alllllll her buttons.

[merrygoround]

Razzberry is good with those knees! But he better not land hard or he’ll launch his on his neck rider.

“Antique eventer.”

Dragon snort indicates a time to take proactive and if necessary evasive action. Better not to fight but to run away, and live to fight another day:yes:.

[quietann]

@merrygoround

Dragon snort indicates a time to take proactive and if necessary evasive action. Better not to fight but to run away, and live to fight another day:yes:.

Yes, and that is why I bailed – I didn’t know whether she’d bolt, bolt and buck, or something else. In general, when she’s scared, she won’t try to dump me, but no guarantees, and the ground is SO hard right now from the drought. From the ground, I could have let go of the reins if it had been impossible to control her – but her brains were enough in her head that she allowed me to slowly get her away from the polo match.

[cayuse]

All three of mine “dragon snort” for various reasons. Mostly when they are “on alert” because something has alarmed them, but they will do it playing around in the paddock when their just high and happy. One of the ponies will “snort back” if I give his initial “dragon snort” an answer with a snort of my own. We can snort back and forth with each other a half a dozen times. I have no idea what the heck we are communicating to each other but he’s happy with it so I play along :lol:.
The tiny mini has his own version of the snort, Mr. Cayuse calls it the “dragon squeak”.

[Denali6298]

Oh man do I know that snort!! I love the name! Last time I had a horse do that I wasn’t as lucky as you and lost my horse for about four hours. A neighboring farm saw her so that was helpful.

[Garnet_Z]

Oh no…something similar happened to me. I was riding and my horse was fine, until some out of site dirt bikes began doing a bunch of circles up ahead of us. They were ultra-loud and my horse couldn’t see what they were. He snorted, became very tense, and started backing up. He was obviously scared and we were on top of a hill. I just pulled his head to the side and got off and led him away.

[Fillabeana]

I’m not totally sure what it means, but I think it has something to do with llamas.

[endlessclimb]

The snort generally means to me that all hell is about to (or already did just a moment ago) break loose. Don’t blame you for bailing, and props for hanging on!

That quieter nasal purr they do when excited but not mortified is such a pretty sound.