It's hoped the findings lead to more humane horse training regimes and improvements to welfare.

You can lead a horse to water and, it turns out, convince it to drink if the reward is great enough, researchers have found.

A new study has suggested horses are more intelligent than previously thought, having been observed to quickly adapt to a treat-based game with changing rules.

Researchers from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) said they were surprised by how the horses quickly grasped the game, busting previous theories that equine brains respond only to immediate stimuli and are not complex enough to strategise.

“This teaches us that we shouldn’t make assumptions about animal intelligence or sentience based on whether they are ‘built’ just like us,” she said.

  • @[email protected]
    34•3 months ago

    previous theories that equine brains respond only to immediate stimuli and are not complex enough to strategise

    Who held those theories? And have they ever been around horses?

    Just this weekend my spouse and I had to move our mare and almost 4 month old colt. She’s quite used to riding in a small horse trailer, but the little guy was terrified of getting into it. When his mom realized it, she started getting on and off the trailer several times to show him it was fine. Then she went behind him and kept nudging him towards the trailer. Seemed pretty obvious to me that she knew what was going on and was trying her best to help the little guy understand it was all ok.

    I’ve certainly met some horses that could have made me question the species’ intelligence if they were the only ones I knew. But there are plenty of intelligent horses out there. I’m really surprised that the prevailing theory was that they only respond to immediate stimuli.

    • @[email protected]
      11•3 months ago

      I sent this article to my wife who trains / rides horses daily and she was just like, “Duh.”

      She says anyone who has spent any time with horses knows this.

      I guess a formal study proving something has some clout though?

    • @[email protected]
      9•3 months ago

      The arrogance of our species is quite astonishing. Look at the morons who get offended at the idea that we’re evolved apes.

      Obviously, nothing could have any amount of actual thought if it wasn’t human! /s

      • @shalafiEnglish
        1•3 months ago

        Mammals and birds, yeah, but reptiles and fish are dehydrated rock-hard stupid. They just don’t have the brain structures.

    • @[email protected]
      2•3 months ago

      We had a stallion that could jump the 6-foot fences of his corral. My dad would yell at him and he would jump back in. He was a bit of a jerk (stallion), but he definitely wasn’t stupid.

      We had a Shetland mare, and she wasn’t stupid, either. Pure evil, as is the Shetland way, but not stupid.

      Our Welsh was neither stupid nor evil.

      Our thoroughbred might have been stupid, or could have come from an environment as unstimulating as a rat cage with nothing but food and a single wheel.

    • @count_dongulus
      2•3 months ago

      Yeah some horses are super smart. I had one that learned to open doorknobs with his mouth after seeing it used up close for a long time. Very annoying, had to start locking that barn door.