Similar to children, horses can mimic actions they see others taking in specific situations. This is particularly true if the horse completing the action is more dominant than the horse observing, which can be both good and bad news for equine owners and caretakers.
An EQUUS magazine reader asked Dr. Katherine Houpt of Gaylord, Michigan, if her horse could have learned to unload from a trailer quietly from watching other horses. Houpt cited research out of Germany which indicates that horses possessed the social cognition to learn by watching others. This ability has been shown in cats, chickens, dogs, rats and primates, among other species.
The study found that a horse observing a more-dominant horse approaching a person in the center of a round pen is likely to approach the person more quickly when placed in the same situation than a horse that did not observe the behavior.
The key was that the horse doing the watching, and eventual replication of the action, had to be of a lower social rank than the horse being observed.
Houpf also noted that a potentially frightening action is more likely to be observed and replicated.
Read more at EQUUS magazine.
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