horses lips

Question
had horses growing up, just read article about a gal taking lessons and wondering about a horse curling lip and bobbing head,
i have seen this alot, it is always funny, is not associated with biting, and we said as kids "the horse is laughing". I know this is not true, when i am greeting a new horse and hold my palm up the horse will often lick my hand and then curl his lip up, which at the same time his nose raises higher, I began to believe the horse is trying to get a "better sniff" what do you think?

Answer
     Hi Kathy,
  You are quite right. It is believed that this action enables the horse to better analyze the components of a particular smell. The action is called  "Fhleming". I hope this answer is sufficient, but if not, please get back to me.
  Best of luck,
            Slan,
                  Brendan