Scientists at Nottingham Trent University (UK) have recently discovered that horses possess the ability to understand and accurately perform a number of simple games.
In this study, 20 horses aged between 11 and 22 years at the Brackenhurst Riding Centre, part of Nottingham Trent University, were tasked with gently tapping their noses on an A3-sized plastic card when a signal light was off. At that point, a whistle would sound, and the horse would receive a reward.
Initially, most horses struggled to complete the test, often touching the card randomly without regard for whether the signal light was on or off.
Horses possess intelligence beyond researchers’ expectations (Illustrative image: Shutterstock).
In the next round, researchers implemented a new rule, introducing a specific penalty for horses that made mistakes, meaning those that touched the card while the light was still on. The penalty included the horse being unable to continue playing or receiving a reward for 10 seconds.
Surprisingly, the number of errors dropped sharply, and all participating horses seemed to understand what they were doing and the consequences of making mistakes.
Researchers believe that horses may have understood the game from the start, but they simply did not care about it. This suggests that the cognitive processing level in horses is much higher than previously thought. They can immediately change their strategy and behave differently when there is a risk of losing something.
This approach requires horses to think about the future and be highly motivated toward their goals. They also have the ability to focus on what they want to achieve and master the necessary steps to reach their objectives.
Louise Evans, a co-author of the study, argues that most animal species need to repeat a task multiple times to gradually acquire new knowledge. However, with horses, they improve immediately when the rules of the game change. The horse’s brain has the ability to analyze strategies and weigh options to move towards the ultimate goal.
“Horses are not born geniuses. In fact, they are considered average in terms of thinking ability,” Evans said. “But this study shows that they have advanced awareness beyond what we think.”
