Interspecific communication from people to horses (Equus ferus caballus) is influenced by different horsemanship training styles.

This research paper explores whether different training methods influence a horse’s ability to understand human pointing gestures. It finds that the natural horsemanship training method assists horses to understand these gestures at a quicker pace, implying a relationship between the type of training received and cognitive capacities for interspecific communication.

Training Styles and Horses’ Communication Skills

• The study focuses on how domesticated animals, specifically horses, learn to follow human pointing gestures, specifically a momentary distal point (a brief pointed signal at a distance). The motivation for understanding this is to better understand the origins and development of such skills.
• This research falls into the broader scientific debate on whether domestication (that is, the institutionalized breeding and raising of animals by humans) or individual experiences have a more significant influence on the development of these skills in animals.

Comparison of Parelli and Traditional Horse Training

• The researchers compared two distinct training methods: Parelli natural horsemanship and traditional horse training.
• Ten horses were involved in the study, all of which had previously been trained using one of the two specified methods. The horses were then put through an standard object choice task, which served as a test to determine their ability to interpret the momentary distal point.
• Initial findings showed neither group of horses could follow the momentary distal point. This challenges the argument that domestication inherently teaches animals to follow human gestures.

Impact of Training Styles and Experimental Experience

• With more exposure to the momentary distal point, horses previously trained using the Parelli method began to interpret and follow the point significantly faster than those trained with traditional methods. This suggests that individual training techniques and experiences can impact a horse’s ability to comprehend human gestures, supporting the two-stage hypothesis.
• The horses ultimately being able to understand these gestures after exposure contradicts the assumption that such understanding is inherent due to their domesticated status. It instead points out that additional experience can lead to success in these tasks.

Conclusions and Suggestions

• The poor initial performance of horses in interpreting the momentary distal point, combined with the fact that the horses gradually learned the gesture, contradicts the domestication hypothesis – the theory that domestication inherently imparts knowledge to follow human directions to animals.
• The findings support the two-stage hypothesis, which suggests that an animal’s ability to interpret distal points like these is not solely dependent on domestication but is indeed influenced by previous individual learning experiences and training methods.