A research team wanted to determine how much repetition horses need to learn a new skill. So they trained each of 20 horses to back up, lower the head, lift the hind legs, and turn the head for two days a week over six weeks. As a cue, they put pressure on parts of the…
The best way to think about this is to picture a horse working to move a 33-pound weight 1000 feet in the air in one minute. That’s one horsepower.
The current limited knowledge on equine smells poses a risk that horse behavior does not match human expectations, they said, as horses might react fearfully when exposed to certain odors, which humans do not consider as frightening. Learning more about equine smell could therefore boost our understand of horse behavior and reduce the risk of…
They’ve roamed free for hundreds of years, but is that freedom harming the ecosystem they call home?
Proper management of horses by humans may be more respectful of their well-being than life in the wilderness. Italian researchers based their findings on an analysis of cortisol levels in horse hair, which is considered an indicator of chronic stress levels. Horse hair provides a matrix where cortisol can accumulate over time, forming a stress…
For humans, shoes fit the movement; running, jumping, sliding, whatever the tasks, we have footwear for it. Our equine friends, on the racetrack and off, are no different. For every pursuit is a shoe fitted to both the competitor and the competition. To understand how that works, we must understand a horse’s hoof and what…
Having prey brains, horses are ruled primarily by fear. External stimulation enters their brain via one of the senses and is immediately shuttled to the motor cortex for instant reaction. There is no neural way station or prefrontal cortex for evaluation of the event. Why? Because evolution is based on survival, and it takes too much time to…
Is green always good? What if it’s brown? How do I know if it meets my horse’s nutritional needs? These are just a few of the questions owners might ask when trying to assess their horses’ forage.
The horse world is filled with “rules” many horse owners and caretakers follow, often without knowing why. One such myth that has been followed for years is that horses should not be fed before exercise. With updated research, that mindset has shifted: now, scientists suggest that feeding forage before a ride may be beneficial.
Fresh research has put forward a strong case for speaking kindly to horses and pigs. The way we speak matters to animals, the scientists concluded. In the study the researchers played recordings of animal sounds and human voices from hidden speakers. To avoid having the domesticated animals react to specific words, positive and negative human…