As a horse lover, you know at some point in time you’ve looked at your horse and thought, are horses smart? Are horses smarter than dogs? How smart are horses, really?
Well, we have some answers for you. Sort of. One of the most important things to understand about measuring a horse, or any animal’s intelligence, is that every animal is different. You can’t really compare a horse to a dog or even a human. Dogs are natural-born predators and have very different skill sets than horses. Throughout the years, they have been trained to be more attentive and responsive to humans than a horse. So it’s never going to be an apple to apple comparison when it comes to horses and other animals.
That being said, there are some important aspects of horses that make them particularly unique and intelligent animals.
1. Horses Recognize Emotion – While we may not know everything a horse is thinking, we do know that horses can read human emotions, much as a dog can. Horses can tell when owners are upset or angry and have even proven to perceive emotions just through a photo.
2. Horses Communicate – If you’re a horse owner it probably comes as no surprise that your horse tries to communicate with you. Different mannerisms can mean different things and paying close attention to your horse’s actions can tell you a lot.
3. Horses Learn Through Repetition – Horses learn by repeating behaviors. They learn tricks, they learn feeding times, they master common commands and they learn how to read your mood.
4. Horses Can Ask for Help – When horses are faced with challenges they don’t know how to face, they can use visual and tactile signs to alert a human they need assistance. They can even alter their approach based on a human’s understanding of certain situations.
Essentially, horses are remarkably impressive when it comes to their cognitive skills. But just like every other species, every horse is different and unique in their level of intelligence. So, when you find yourself wondering if horses are smart, you can concretely answer that they are probably even smarter than you realize.
