Finding a way how to communicate with animals is a true success. Sometimes we wish we could understand what they say, but have we ever thought about the opposite? What if the horses try to communicate with us? Studies by Ph.D. researchers have concluded that horses are capable of such a thing.
The researchers have determined for the first time that horses are capable of heterospecific referential communication—essentially, the ability to communicate about something, specifically to someone else. More precisely, to us. So does that mean our horses actually “talk” to us? “They sure do,” said Rachele Malavasi, Ph.D., of the School of Ethical Equitation, in Moncigoli Di Fivizzano, Italy.
Malavasi carried out her research in association with Ludwig Huber, Ph.D., professor at the Comparative Cognition Unit at the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine of Vienna in Austria.
“Horses are social animals which have evolved skills to maintain their social unity: affiliative relationships, protection from outsiders, social facilitation, and even social learning,” Malavasi explained. “We know now that their skill set also includes the ability to communicate intentionally with humans.” In their study of 14 horses’ behavior, Malavasi and Huber placed two buckets just out of each horse’s reach. Each bucket contained either carrots, apples, or oats—as at least one of these treats would be likely to attract each horse, they said.
The horse and handler stood inside a fenced-in area where they could see the buckets on opposite sides of the enclosure, just past a gate. The handler did nothing but stand there. The horse, therefore, had to figure out a way to communicate to the handler: “Get me that bucket!” And so they did. In fact, for the most part, they did whatever it took to get the message across. “The horses would alternate their gaze between the human and the reward (bucket), with the aim of conveying the attention of the experimenter to the desired reward,” Malavasi said.
“But if that didn’t work, the horses would demonstrate real flexibility in their communicative strategies. They would nod their heads, turn their tails, and move their heads quickly toward the rewarded bucket in a ‘pointing’ kind of behavior.” To understand more about the results of the studying, follow the link below:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301558403_Evidence_of_heterospecific_referential_communication_from_domestic_horses_Equus_caballus_to_humans
