The Eyes Have It--A lesson on the windows into a horse's soul

The eyes of horse are extremely expressive; capable of showing excitement, fear, contentment, concentration, delight, you name it. I find such joy in drawing and painting the eyes of my horses---they can reveal so much about the horse's character. Above is the close up of a young and flighty thoroughbred.
The above image is a close up of my painting Fiery Bay. This horse's eye is showing excitement with a tinge of fear. His eye whites are blazing, he is very alert of his surroundings, and his brow muscles are slighty furrowed.
The paint horse's eye is showing a calm curiousity as she turns her neck slightly to get a better look at something. (Perhaps her owner with a carrot?)The brow muscle is relaxed, and the white is showing because she is moving her eye in its socket to get a better look. She may also have a bit of eye white that shows all the time, and this eye position accentuates that characteristic.
This mare shows a kind, sweet and trusting eye. Her brow is relaxed as she calmly regards her surroundings. The whites of her eyes are not showing, and her lids are open and friendly.
This spirited Arab, (a close up of my rendering of the Godolphin Arabian), shows a majestic, confident and spirited expression with a white-rimmed eye that is focused squarely on YOU. The white is prominent, and the brow muscle and eyelid are lifted so that the eye is wide open to completely take in his surroundings. This horse is energetic and fiery.
This dressage horse has a furrowed and somewhat tensed brow that is deep in concentration as he listens to the rider's leg, hand and seat aids. He is clearly focused on the tasks his rider is asking him to do. This shows a horse in complete "listening mode."
This depiction of Man O' War shows an eye without fear that is brimming with dominance. Stay on the other side of the fence, please! This eye shows a horse that is wary and on high alert. His eye follows you, but his head does not. He does not feel like he has to expend that much energy to tell you to stand back from his space. He does it only with his eye. The message is quite clear!

The horse has muscles all around the eye in order for the horse to show different moods and states of being. Combine the eye with some ear expression, and you can create a plethora of moody equines!

There are many ways to show expression in a horse's eye. Show the whites of the eye and you can automatically create a horse that is curious or on alert. When the eye is showing white, it is out of its "comfort zone." A calm, contented eye usually does not show white, but instead it is large and liquid, without a tensed brow muscle. However, due to breed characteristics or other factors, a horse's eye may show white in a restful state. In this case, the muscles around the eye play a big role in depicting moods with the eye. The "brow" muscle can be tense or relaxed, and lids can be wide open or partially closed to show alertness, contentment or sleepiness. :-) (think half closed lids, zzzzzzzz...)

Practice some eyes and see how many horse moods you can capture! It's fun!
(and study some real horses up close if you can...)

Happy drawing!