emotions

Horses recognise when we are happy or sad

Horses can tell when we are happy or sad by our facial expression and voice

anatomy, emotions, Horses, human-to-horse relationship / By MikeB / August 16, 2023 / horse emotions, horse intelligence, horses, human animal relationship, human-to-horse relationship, science, study

A scientific study recently published online conducted by researchers from the University of Turku in Finland, concluded that horses can distinguish between the human facial expressions of sadness and joy and they can combine that visual appreciation with the sound of our voice. The study is called: “Horses discriminate between human facial and vocal expressions …

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How territorial are horses? It depends on how much space they have.

emotions, horse behavior, Horses, territorial attitude / By MikeB / April 1, 2023 / defensive aggression, emotions, home range, horses, territory

When a group of horses live in wide-open spaces and have a home range in the order of 30-80 mi², they are not particularly territorial or at all territorial. If a herd is within this space and another herd enters it all that happens is that they avoid each other and go about their business …

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Horse signals excitement with its tail held high

What does a horse signal with its tail (video infographic)?

anatomy, emotions, Horses, tail signalling / By MikeB / March 5, 2023 / horse anatomy, horse emotions, horse signalling, horse tail signalling, infographic

The infographic covers the basics and a little more on horse tail movement signalling. There is some additional information below it. Firstly, I am thankful to Desmond Morris PhD who is an author and zoologist. Excitement and alertness In general, the tail rises upwards in the words of Morris “like a needle on a dial” …

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Isolated horses become stressed with weakened immunity

emotions / By MikeB / August 22, 2022 / horse emotions, horse ownership, stress, study

An interesting study has recently been published on the PLOS ONE website. It is called: Single housing but not changes in group composition causes stress-related immunomodulations in horses (link at base of article). On my understanding, the basic conclusion is that when you stable a horse in an isolated manner, they become stressed and their …

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Talking to your horse in melodious tones is the right way

Tone of the human voice affects emotional state of domestic animals including horses

emotions / By MikeB / May 25, 2022 / animal welfare and rights, caregiving, communication, horse emotions, human animal relationship, science, sounds, study, wild horses

Domestic animal caregivers should talk to their animal companions politely in melodious and pleasant tones as they know when you’re angry and when you are expressing that anger in your voice. As a result, they become upset according to a study of horses and pigs. Observant cat owners and scientists who have run studies know …

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Cat and horse nuzzle and snuggle each other

emotions / By MikeB / April 24, 2022 / horse emotions, interspecies relationships, video

A classic cat/horse relationship of which there are many. Cats and horses go together despite the huge barrier of size-difference. This makes nuzzling and snuggling up tricky to say the least. Invariably the cat jumps onto a fence as we see here. At one stage the horse thinks about giving their feline friend a love …

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Male stud and female mare encounter each other

Can horses be racist?

emotions / By MikeB / March 15, 2022 / horse behaviour, horse emotions, horse racing, mating, racehorses, stallion, stud horse

The question sounds extraordinary, even ridiculous. However, a study concluded that free-living stallions in the USA preferred mares of a certain coat colour. For example, one stallion preferred buckskin mares while another chose bay mares. And a third favoured very pale-coloured mares. I tried to find this study on Google Scholar but failed. I am …

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Horse plays dead every time I want to ride him

Horse does not want to be ridden and pretends to be dead. Why?

emotions / By MikeB / March 14, 2022 / horse behaviour, horse body language, horse emotions, horse ownership, human-to-horse relationship, video

This TikTok video begs the question as to whether horses like being ridden. It seems to me that the average person almost automatically believes that horses like to be ridden because we see so much of it. Because we don’t see horses rejecting their riders or demonstrating a reluctance to be ridden, we assume that …

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Can donkeys love their owners?

emotions / By MikeB / December 10, 2020 / donkeys, horse behaviour, horses, human animal relationship

Donkeys are sentient beings. They have feelings and if you don’t believe that I would respectfully suggest that you are badly mistaken. As they have feelings they have the potential to love although the word “love” is a very elastic word. It means to have strong affections, one for another. And they don’t regard their …

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Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Speciesism - 'them and us' | Cruelty - always shameful

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.