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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Horses know a predator when they see one – even if it’s only on a video screen they’re watching in a stall, with no sounds, smells or previous experience providing context to what they’re viewing, a new study suggests.
And though sensors indicated the horses’ heart rates increased when they were looking at wolves on the screen, they otherwise kept a poker face. They didn’t bob their heads or swish their tails, and their gaze wasn’t fixed in a way that would indicate their brain was processing a threat, results showed.
“Rather than just spooking, horses show remarkable cognitive restraint when evaluating a potential threat,” said lead author Zeynep Benderlioglu, a senior lecturer in evolution, ecology and organismal biology at The Ohio State University. “And not all fear or stress will result in overt behavior. They’re not in fight-or-flight mode, but they’re assessing, and they’re doing it in a remarkably fast way. But their hearts are racing at the same time.”
The findings are relevant to horse and human welfare, Benderlioglu said: Riders and handlers may not be able to tell when a horse is agitated.
