The effects of age, rank and neophobia on social learning in horses.

This research tests the social learning capabilities of horses by assessing how age, social rank, and degree of fear of new things (neophobia) influence the animals’ ability to learn by observing their peers. Findings suggest that younger, socially subordinate, and more exploratory horses are likely to learn from the older horses in their group.

Objective and Methodology

The researchers aimed to examine whether horses (Equus caballus) possess social learning abilities, a subject previously unexplored due to misconceptions about the sociality of horses. They formulated an experimental set-up where 30 socially kept horses of varying ages were divided into ‘demonstrator’ horses and ‘observer’ horses.

• The ‘demonstrators’ were tasked with opening a feeding apparatus.
• ‘Observers’ were then allowed to observe the ‘demonstrators’ and learn from their actions.

Key Findings

The study revealed a variety of aspects related to social learning in horses. These findings include:

• The horses that were young, low-ranking, and more exploratory successfully learned by watching older horses from their group.
• Conversely, older horses took more time to learn new skills, potentially to avoid learning potentially harmful behaviours from their younger counterparts.

Conclusions and Further Implications

Based on the findings, the researchers suggested that social learning in horses might be an adaptation to their social environment. They emphasized that future research on social learning in horses should account for this social context. The study closed by arguing that certain misconceptions about horses’ social behavior may have hindered prior research in the field.