(Note: I like to re-post this every few years as a reminder.)
Up until very recently, knowledge and appreciation of the equine mind has been noticeably lacking. Sure, we’ve learned rudimentary things about horses through the years, but only enough to breed and maintain pliability. Now, though, scientific curiosity is leading some to dig deeper. Biologist Dr. Evelyn Hanggi, co-founder of the Equine Research Foundation, is among the leading experts on equine intelligence. From her 2005 paper “The Thinking Horse: Cognition and Perception Reviewed”:
“A review of the scientific literature, as well as practical experience, shows that horses excel at simpler forms of learning such as classical and operant conditioning…. Furthermore, horses have shown ease in stimulus generalization and discrimination learning. Most recently and unexpected by many, horses have solved advanced cognitive challenges involving categorization learning and some degree of concept formation.” In short, she says, “Horses, both feral and domesticated, are faced with varied conditions that require an assortment of learning and perceptual capabilities.”
The small-brained horse, Dr. Hanggi points out, is an unkind myth: A horse’s brain is not the size of a walnut (400-700 grams compared to 15); in fact, this “complex organ” has many folds and “more folds, more brainpower.” It is equally untrue that their “flight instinct” (“spook-and-bolt”) is a sign of low intelligence. Dr. Hanggi (Horse Illustrated, 2001): “Horses spook not because they are stupid but because they are smart enough to have survived a few million years.”
Although horses do seem to have a propensity to hurt themselves on doors and fences – seen as “dumb” animal behavior by some – it’s because they are supposed to live on wide-open ranges, not “in small, dark enclosures with sharp edges.” This cruel confinement – for most racehorses, over 23 hours a day – causes mental anguish, as evidenced by “cribbing, weaving, head bobbing, pacing, and self-mutilation.”
Horses can sort geometric shapes into specific classes and have demonstrated an ability to conceptualize. By virtue of an “exceptional memory,” they can “generalize about things they have never seen before.” Oh, and they can count. In short, Dr. Hanggi says, “[H]orses possess some learning abilities akin to those of the more accepted animal intellectuals, i.e., dolphins, sea lions and chimpanzees – the result being a far cry from simple conditioning.”
But when questioning the morality of horseracing, the relative intelligence of the horse is inconsequential. 18th Century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham:
“The day may come, when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of tyranny. The French have already discovered that the blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor. It may come one day to be recognised, that the number of the legs, the villosity of the skin, or the termination of the [tailbone], are reasons equally insufficient for abandoning a sensitive being to the same fate.
“What else is it that should trace the insuperable line? Is it the faculty of reason, or, perhaps, the faculty of discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day, or a week, or even a month, old. But suppose the case were otherwise, what would it avail? the question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”
Rose our Thoroughbreds are so smart that if we forget to lock the garage or barn doors from the inside they will open the roll up doors faster than we can despite the doors having no outside handles! We have also had 1 come up our 3 back steps, open the back sliding door & come into our house! We had a hard time getting him to leave as there was a cold rain at the time outside. He went right to our LPG fireplace in the living room & parked himself by it to warm & dry out. Later we compromised & opened the small door & let him in the garage until we could clean the barn. Horses are incredibly smart at figuring out things at times. Have just finished reading the memoriam to the horses of Saratoga. Sad that those horses lives were cut so short at just 2 or 3 years of age with some unnamed.
We know horses are exceptionally sensitive animals. They navigate both animal and human (inhumane) worlds.
My 26 yr. old mare is wise and smart. She spent yrs. at the track and then as a broodmare. She has such a calming influence on humans and her own kind.
She opens doors from the inside and from the outside – no problem! The problem is when her human forgets to lock them!
And they learn from each other . Now every door has extra security!
Another thought … horses vision in addition to their size also contributes to bumping into things. Because horses only have a narrow band of binocular vision directly in front of them, their depth perception is limited compared to humans. Horses often raise or lower their heads to help judge distance and depth. Their clarity of vision is lower than humans’, so they rely heavily on other senses such as hearing, smell, touch, and memory.
Not only can horses suffer, horses do suffer. It is repulsive, among other things, to find out what kinds of things that people do to horses and at the same time call themselves “horsemen” especially in the higher levels of competition.
Horses have their own way of communicating. One thing is that they lift their tails and sometimes switch their tails as a way of communicating. In the reining classes in American Quarter Horse Association shows, the muscle (that makes it possible for the horse to communicate pain or displeasure with its tail) is cut so that the person riding the horse in competition can get a higher score.
This is not horsemanship — it’s a form of abuse.
To silence your victims is not a sign of a great trainer or horseman.
The severe bits, tongue ties, the different pieces of tack to strap the horse’s jaw and mouth shut so he/she can’t get away from the pain of the bit and tongue tie and heavy-handed rider (with a whip and buzzer) are ways to dominate the horse and silence the victim.
Being heavy handed is a sign of abuse and brutality, not horsemanship. It should be obvious that riders using hand-held electric shocking devices and whips is CRUELTY TO HORSES and another way to dominate the horse and silence the victim.
Thank you for reposting this piece; it is my first time reading it. Sharing to my Facebook page.
Among other comments, the explanation for why horses can hurt themselves in small spaces makes so much ( heartbreaking) sense. There ought to be laws for all species: that we must never impose on any one of them conditions which are in conflict with their nature. This essay confirms the utter physical and mental cruelty and abuse of horses confined in stalls at race tracks.
For a truly humbling peek into the superior intelligence of a horse’s mind and soul, find a trainer who can teach you how to use mental communication to “train” your horses (right, Dominique?!).
Denying a horse the opportunity to express natural behaviors such as grazing, moving freely, and socializing can lead to psychological suffering, just as physical neglect or abuse can lead to bodily pain.
To recognize horses as sentient is to acknowledge not only their ability to suffer, but their capacity for joy, curiosity, affection, and connection. Treating them with care, empathy, and respect is not simply humane, it is a moral obligation to another feeling, thinking being.