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Scientific reports2023; 13(1); 3864; doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-30830-6

Horses cross-modally recognize women and men.

Abstract: Several studies have shown that horses have the ability to cross-modally recognize humans by associating their voice with their physical appearance. However, it remains unclear whether horses are able to differentiate humans according to different criteria, such as the fact that they are women or men. Horses might recognize some human characteristics, such as sex, and use these characteristics to classify them into different categories. The aim of this study was to explore whether domesticated horses are able to cross-modally recognize women and men according to visual and auditory cues, using a preferential looking paradigm. We simultaneously presented two videos of women and men's faces, while playing a recording of a human voice belonging to one of these two categories through a loudspeaker. The results showed that the horses looked significantly more towards the congruent video than towards the incongruent video, suggesting that they are able to associate women's voices with women's faces and men's voices with men's faces. Further investigation is necessary to determine the mechanism underlying this recognition, as it might be interesting to determine which characteristics horses use to categorize humans. These results suggest a novel perspective that could allow us to better understand how horses perceive humans.
© 2023. The Author(s).
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Publication Date: 2023-03-08 PubMed ID: 36890162PubMed Central: PMC9995451DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30830-6Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research article examines whether horses, using visual and auditory cues, can recognize and differentiate between men and women, proving that horses can associate a person’s voice to their face based on gender.

Understanding the Purpose of the Study

  • The study was initiated to understand if horses could not only recognize human voices and associate them with the corresponding physical appearance but also differentiate between the genders of humans. This understanding would open new pathways in our current knowledge regarding how horses perceive humans, which could be crucial in bettering our interaction and communication with this species.

Research Methodology

  • A preferential looking paradigm was utilized for this study. This implies that the experimental design was based on the presumption that the subject would spend more time looking at what they prefer or recognise.
  • Two videos – one of a woman’s face and the other of a man’s face – were played simultaneously for the horse. While these videos were being played, a recording of a human voice from either gender was played via a loudspeaker. The gender of the voice was kept as a variable, sometimes matching the gender in the video, sometimes not.

Outcome of the Research

  • The results pointed towards the fact that horses tended to look more towards the video that was congruent with the gender of the voice being played. This indicates that horses can recognise humans cross-modally, associating women’s voices with women’s faces and men’s voices with men’s faces.

Avenues for Future Research

  • While the study successfully found that horses can differentiate and categorise humans based on their gender by associating human voices with their faces, it couldn’t identify the exact traits or characteristics the horses used for this differentiation. Therefore, future research could aim at uncovering these specific characteristics.
  • Understanding these specifics could provide meaningful insights into improving human-horse interaction and possibly unravelling more complexities about how animals perceive the human world around them.

Cite This Article

APA
Gouyet C, Ringhofer M, Yamamoto S, Jardat P, Parias C, Reigner F, Calandreau L, Lansade L. (2023). Horses cross-modally recognize women and men. Sci Rep, 13(1), 3864. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30830-6

Publication

Scientific reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
NlmUniqueID: 101563288
Country: England
Language: English
Volume: 13
Issue: 1
Pages: 3864
PII: 3864

Researcher Affiliations

Gouyet, Chloé
  • CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC, 37380, Nouzilly, France.
Ringhofer, Monamie
  • Department of Animal Science, Teikyo University of Science, Yamanashi, Japan.
Yamamoto, Shinya
  • Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
  • Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Jardat, Plotine
  • CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC, 37380, Nouzilly, France.
Parias, Céline
  • CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC, 37380, Nouzilly, France.
Reigner, Fabrice
  • UEPAO, INRAE, 37380, Nouzilly, France.
Calandreau, Ludovic
  • CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC, 37380, Nouzilly, France.
Lansade, Léa
  • CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC, 37380, Nouzilly, France. lea.lansade@inrae.fr.

MeSH Terms

  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Horses
  • Animals
  • Voice
  • Cues
  • Recognition, Psychology

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Citations

This article has been cited 2 times.
  1. Jardat P, Liehrmann O, Reigner F, Parias C, Calandreau L, Lansade L. Horses discriminate between human facial and vocal expressions of sadness and joy. Anim Cogn 2023 Sep;26(5):1733-1742.
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  2. Ricci-Bonot C, Brosche K, Baragli P, Nicol C. A systematic review on the effect of individual characteristics and management practices on equine cognition. Anim Cogn 2025 Nov 26;28(1):96.
    doi: 10.1007/s10071-025-02016-2pubmed: 41296132google scholar: lookup
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