Horses Can Read Human Facial Emotions--So What is Your Face Saying?
A clever study revealed the stunning fact that your horse can tell what you’re feeling
After the terrible day he had at work, Mike was looking forward to taking his horse out for a bit of trail riding. There was still about an hour of sunlight left on this warm spring day. When he got to the barn, he tried to keep his temper under control as the two fussy, spoiled teenage boarders kept getting in everyone's way. Then he found someone had moved his saddle in the tack room, and his hoof pick seemed to be missing.
By the time he got his Appy out of his stall, he was in a pretty bad mood, but he prided himself on always staying in control. That's why it took him by surprise when his horse took one look at him and wheeled away.
If you had seen the scowl on Mike's face, you'd have kept your distance, too.
Many horse owners have suspected that horses can read human emotions and human facial expressions. Now science shows they are right.
In a recent study published in Biology Letters, animal science researchers from the University of Sussex Psychologists studied how 28 horses reacted to seeing photographs of happy and angry human facial expressions. The horse's were fairly indifferent to the happy faces, but the angry faces revved up their engines—and not in a good way.
When viewing the angry faces, the horses' heart rate increased, and they exhibited stress reactions. They also turned their faces in order to view the face more closely with their left eye. While this may seem odd to us, it turns out that many species view negative events with their left eye. This is because the right hemisphere of the brain is specialized for processing threatening stimuli, and information from the left eye is processed in the right hemisphere.
(Yes, I know. All this talk of "right brain" or "left brain” sounds like psychobabble, but hemispheric specialization of vision, communication, and movement is well documented in many species, including humans. So, for example, your left arm is controlled by your right brain. That’s just a fact.)
Dr. Karen McComb, a co-author of the research, explained the findings this way: "There are several possible explanations for our findings. Horses may have adapted an ancestral ability for reading emotional cues in other horses to respond appropriately to human facial expressions during their co-evolution."
Horses aren't the only animals who can distinguish among human emotional facial expressions. It turns out dogs can, too.
Happy riding!
As long as you’re here, check these out!
Six Vital Horse Facts That Every Horseowner Needs to Know
How To Earn Your Horse's Trust and Respect
Equestrian Products That Make Your Riding and Horse Care Easier and Better!
Copyright Denise Cummins, PhD March, 2016; Updated June 3, 2024
The Thinking Equestrian
Photo Credit: Dreamstime.com image14887508#res9815805
By the time he got his Appy out of his stall, he was in a pretty bad mood, but he prided himself on always staying in control. That's why it took him by surprise when his horse took one look at him and wheeled away.
If you had seen the scowl on Mike's face, you'd have kept your distance, too.
Many horse owners have suspected that horses can read human emotions and human facial expressions. Now science shows they are right.
In a recent study published in Biology Letters, animal science researchers from the University of Sussex Psychologists studied how 28 horses reacted to seeing photographs of happy and angry human facial expressions. The horse's were fairly indifferent to the happy faces, but the angry faces revved up their engines—and not in a good way.
When viewing the angry faces, the horses' heart rate increased, and they exhibited stress reactions. They also turned their faces in order to view the face more closely with their left eye. While this may seem odd to us, it turns out that many species view negative events with their left eye. This is because the right hemisphere of the brain is specialized for processing threatening stimuli, and information from the left eye is processed in the right hemisphere.
(Yes, I know. All this talk of "right brain" or "left brain” sounds like psychobabble, but hemispheric specialization of vision, communication, and movement is well documented in many species, including humans. So, for example, your left arm is controlled by your right brain. That’s just a fact.)
Dr. Karen McComb, a co-author of the research, explained the findings this way: "There are several possible explanations for our findings. Horses may have adapted an ancestral ability for reading emotional cues in other horses to respond appropriately to human facial expressions during their co-evolution."
Horses aren't the only animals who can distinguish among human emotional facial expressions. It turns out dogs can, too.
Happy riding!
As long as you’re here, check these out!
Six Vital Horse Facts That Every Horseowner Needs to Know
How To Earn Your Horse's Trust and Respect
Equestrian Products That Make Your Riding and Horse Care Easier and Better!
Copyright Denise Cummins, PhD March, 2016; Updated June 3, 2024
The Thinking Equestrian
Photo Credit: Dreamstime.com image14887508#res9815805
