Have you ever seen a horse playing the piano? The horse is really talented and it is not very common for a horse to do things like that. Studies have found that relaxing music can help ease a horse’s agitation levels, especially during travel or when their amount of stall confinement needs to be increased. Learn how the right type (and volume) of music for horses can be a useful tool in helping with stressors, like vet visits, trailering, or pre-performance jitters.
Music is a language that involves pitch, tone, frequency, and volume. These elements of sound are what horses and other animals use to communicate with; they also help animals assess their environments for survival purposes. In some clinical research over the past ten years, experts have observed that horses prefer being in a barn with music instead of one without. Playing music helps balance equine behavior because it helps mask outside sounds and vibrations, such as tractor engines, high-pitched tools, thunder, and other intense sounds.
Horses usually respond best to music with short melodies and strong rhythmic patterns.
According to Carter and Greening (2012), the effect of music on a horse’s behavior depends on the music genre.
What type of music for horses and when?
Experts at the French National Stud found that playing excerpts of classical-style film music to horses, such as passages of the theme from Forrest Gump, by Alan Silvestri, would significantly reduce their anxiety. Other scientists have revealed the dramatic calming effect of Mozart on their horses.
This brown horse from the video deserves an Oscar for his talent, and the owner that trained him did amazing and very rare things.
