It is difficult to prove whether horses realize that their own behaviour is the source of the behaviour they are seeing in their reflections. Mirror self-recognition was recently studied in horses by Italian equine behaviourist Paolo Baragl.
Most equine nutritionists consider water to be the most important nutrient because of the various functions it performs. These include regulating body temperature, digestion, absorption, and utilization of nutrients, moving feedstuffs through the digestive tract from mouth to rectum, and removing waste products.
A Swiss study looked at how well human selection stacks up against a horse’s hay preference for palatability.
PhD students at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax are helping to create a database for future research about the species. The almost mythical Sable Island horses have bewildered generations of scientists eager to learn more about their existence on the remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia.
California resident and naturalist William Simpson explains how the grazing behaviour of a herd of wild horses helped mitigate the 2018 Klamathon Fire, keeping his land and much of his local community safe.
Horses might pass up one treat to wait for a “better” one. Researchers in Germany said this kind of self-control might help horses cope with new environments and training situations.
Horses that have a long-term relationship with an owner or caretaker respond to novel situations with less anxiety. A horse that has had several owners, or one that has multiple riders or who has only been with an owner for a short time, may respond with more wariness.
What makes a great horse great? As described in a recent Animal Frontiers article, the mitochondria, or powerhouse of the cell, is at least partially responsible for athletic performance.
Reading a horse’s facial expression might help you determine whether being led to the mounting block causes them stress. According to results from a new study, a group of recreational riding school horses tended to show signs of stress in their faces when approaching the mounting block.