Understanding how a horse uses his five sense to perceive stimuli can be key to his training and horse-human interactions.
Drs. Maria Vilain Rørvang, Birte Nielsen and Andrew McLean reviewed more than 180 studies that investigated equine vision, smell, taste, hearing and touch, and how information about the horse's environment is perceived. Though horses and humans have the same sensory modalities, how the information gathered from them are perceived can be drastically different.
Understanding how a horse perceives sensory information is key since sensory ability, perception and behavior are closely linked. The researchers determined that horses have a highly developed sense of smell; in some cases, their hearing is better than humans. Additionally, horses have a wider field of vision that people, but they see similarly to humans who are red and green colorblind.
The scientists concluded horses perceive the world in the following ways:
Vision
A horse's vision is adapted for detection of and escape from predators; they have a wide focus that allows them only a small blind spot directly behind them. Horses do not have good acuity, and will lift, lower or tilt their head and neck to focus on an object. Horses also have good vision in low light, seeing details better on cloudy days than during bright, sunny days.
Hearing
Equine ears can pivot toward sounds to enhance their hearing. While larger animals tend to hear lower frequencies well, horses are the exception; the lowest frequency detectable by horses is higher than the lowest sound a human can hear. Conversely, horses can hear higher frequencies than humans can. Horses can also recognize people from vocal cues even if they can't see them.
Smell
Little research has been done on horse's sense of smell. Horses have distinct odor profiles; similar profiles can shape a horse's response for interactions with other horses that have a similar smell. The research team notes that a horse's sense of smell could be exploited to draw the horse to certain locations, limiting the need to manually move horses. Additionally, riding in or around areas where a horse might encounter the smell of a predator may pose a safety risk to the rider.
Taste
Horses rarely breathe through their mouth, so it is unclear if horses can differentiate odor and taste from flavor, like humans. Horses can detect sweet, sour, salty and bitter; it is not known if they can detect umami (savory).
Touch
Horses are sensitive to touch; this sense is the main mode of communication between a horse and human, whether riding or handling. Horses are most sensitive around their eyes, nose and mouth; other areas of the body vary in their sensitivity, with the neck, withers, flank, shoulders and back of the pastern generally being the most sensitive.
The study team suggests that tactile stimulation be used with caution, especially when there is force applied, like during twitching. Future studies may investigate how a horse's age, breed, personality and experience may influence how touch is perceived.
The trio conclude that identifying specific sensory reactions in horses may be a way to optimize management and training to improve equine health and welfare.
Read more at HorseTalk.
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