Have you ever wondered why, on some days, before even getting on our horse’s back, we get the feeling that our ride won’t meet our expectations? Chances are, you are speaking to your horse without even noticing exactly what message you are sending to them – whether you are doing it by shifts in your body posture, or even by showing a different facial expression. Understanding how intelligent your equine partner is may help you understand him/her more effectively, but it can also contribute to making your rides and training sessions more efficient. Best of all, it will make your time with them more enjoyable and ultimately safer. HOW SMART ARE HORSES COMPARED TO OTHER ANIMALS? Compared to humans, some scientists have stated that horses possess the intelligence of a 3-year-old child. Also, that most horses can recognize themselves in the mirror, understand human emotion as well as learn complex tricks or commands. To answer the question of whether some horses are smarter than other animals is not a simple answer. The reality is that direct comparison of intelligence across species can’t work, because the standards to measure what is considered smart are not the same from one animal to another. For instance, if you measure intelligence by the ability to climb a tree, the monkey will score very high, whereas the elephant will score very low – therefore trying to measure intelligence across species doesn’t make much sense. So, there is no IQ score for animals as we can find for humans. ARE HORSES SMARTER THAN DOGS? Horses’ intelligence is often compared to dogs and cats. Cats and dogs are predators and will have a very different set of skills compared to horses. According to Dr. Robert M. Miller, horses have the ability to learn faster, but dogs are better problem solvers. Additionally, many scientists believe that dogs have been bred to be more intelligent to help humans, more so than horses. One such example would be the sheepdog. ARE SOME HORSES SMARTER THAN OTHERS? Literature review tends to demonstrate that some breeds of horses are smarter than others. Although experienced horse trainers believe that we must measure the intelligence of each horse differently. Thoroughbreds and Arabian horses are two breeds that seem to come on top of the list in terms of intelligence.
How smart are horses, really? By Dani Mc Neill
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SEPTEMBER 2021 | PETPRINTS
