Enhanced Understanding of Horse-Human Interactions to Optimize Welfare.
Abstract: Horses () have been domesticated for millennia and are regularly utilized for work, sport, and companionship. Enhanced understanding of human-horse interactions can create avenues to optimize their welfare. This review explores the current research surrounding many aspects of human-horse interactions by first highlighting the horse's sensory capabilities and how they pertain to human interactions. Evidence exists that suggests that horses can read humans in various ways through our body odours, posture, facial expressions, and attentiveness. The literature also suggests that horses are capable of remembering previous experiences when working with humans. The interrelatedness of equine cognition and affective states within the horse's umwelt is then explored. From there, equine personality and the current literature regarding emotional transfer between humans and horses is examined. Even though horses may be capable of recognizing emotional states in humans, there remains a gap in the literature of whether horses are capable of empathizing with human emotion. The objective of this literature review is to explore aspects of the relationship between humans and horses to better understand the horse's umwelt and thereby shed new light on potential positive approaches to enhance equine welfare with humans.
Publication Date: 2021-05-09 PubMed ID: 34065156PubMed Central: PMC8151687DOI: 10.3390/ani11051347Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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This study reviews existing literature on human-horse interactions to improve our understanding of horses’ perceptions of their environment (umwelt), potentially leading to improved welfare practices for them. The literature not only suggests that horses can interpret human behaviors, emotions, and physical signals, but also assume that horses can retain experiences with humans.
Sensory Capabilities of Horses
- The research initially dwells on the sensory capabilities of horses and how these abilities relate to human interactions. Studies suggest horses can pick up cues from our body odors, physical postures, and even facial expressions.
Horses’ Understanding and Remembering Human Interactions
- Evidence shows that horses are capable of reading human attentiveness and remembering previous encounters. Horses remember experiences when interacting with humans, suggesting a level of cognitive understanding and social memory in equines.
Equine Cognition, Affective States and Umwelt
- The paper also explores the interconnectedness of equine cognition and affective states within the horse’s umwelt, or their perception of their environment. This concept digs deeper into how horses perceive and interpret their surroundings, which includes the humans they interact with.
Equine Personality and Emotional Transfer
- The review dives into aspects of equine personality and literature related to the emotional transfer between humans and horses. It acknowledges that while horses can seemingly recognize human emotional states, there is not enough research to definitively state if they empathize with human emotions.
Objectives and Implications of the Review
- The core objective of this review is to explore aspects of the relationship between humans and horses, to develop a deeper understanding of the horse’s umwelt. Such an understanding is hoped to highlight new, positive approaches to enhance equine welfare when humans are involved.
Cite This Article
APA
Merkies K, Franzin O.
(2021).
Enhanced Understanding of Horse-Human Interactions to Optimize Welfare.
Animals (Basel), 11(5), 1347.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051347 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
- Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
- Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
- Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Citations
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