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Home / Equine Research Bank / Anim Cogn / What drives horse success at following human-given cues? An ...
Animal cognition2023; 26(4); 1283-1294; doi: 10.1007/s10071-023-01775-0

What drives horse success at following human-given cues? An investigation of handler familiarity and living conditions.

Abstract: Cues such as the human pointing gesture, gaze or proximity to an object are widely used in behavioural studies to evaluate animals' abilities to follow human-given cues. Many domestic mammals, such as horses, can follow human cues; however, factors influencing their responses are still unclear. We assessed the performance of 57 horses at a two-way choice task testing their ability to follow cues of either a familiar (N = 28) or an unfamiliar informant (N = 29). We investigated the effects of the length of the relationship between the horse and a familiar person (main caregiver), their social environment (living alone, in dyads, or in groups) and their physical environment (living in stalls/paddocks, alternating between paddocks and pastures, or living full time in pastures). We also controlled for the effects of horses' age and sex. Our results showed that horses' success rate at the task was not affected by the familiarity of the informant and did not improve with the relationship length with the familiar informant but did increase with the age of the horses. Horses living in groups had better success than the ones kept either in dyads or alone. Finally, horses housed in small paddocks had lower success than those living on pasture. These results indicate that with age, horses get better at following human-given indications regardless of who the human informant is and that an appropriate living and social environment could contribute to the development of socio-cognitive skills towards humans. Therefore, such aspects should be considered in studies evaluating animal behaviour.
© 2023. The Author(s).
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Publication Date: 2023-04-19 PubMed ID: 37072511PubMed Central: PMC10113126DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01775-0Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Journal Article

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.

The research article is an investigation into what influences horses’ ability to understand and follow cues given by humans, including factors like familiarity of the handler, the horse’s living conditions, and their age and sex.

Objective and Methodology

  • The main objective of this research was to understand which factors influence a horse’s ability to follow human-given cues. To study this, the performance of 57 horses was assessed during a two-way choice task where horses were presented with cues from either a familiar or unfamiliar person.
  • The study also took into account the length of the horse’s relationship with the familiar person, their social environment, and their physical environment. Besides, the results were controlled based on the horses’ age and sex.

Findings

  • The study found that the horses’ success rates at the task were not affected by the familiarity of the person giving the cues, nor did the success rate improve with the length of the relationship with the familiar handler.
  • The research found that the age of the horse had a direct impact on their success rate. Older horses had a higher success rate at following human-given indications, regardless of the familiarity of the handler.
  • The social and physical environment too had an impact on the horses’ success rate. Horses living in groups performed better than those living alone or in pairs, and horses living in larger pastures had higher success rates than those kept in smaller paddocks.

Implications

  • The research concludes that, as horses age, they get better at understanding and following human indications, regardless of who is giving the cues.
  • The study also suggests that providing an appropriate social and living environment could contribute to improving the horses’ socio-cognitive skills, and these factors should be considered in future studies evaluating animal behaviour.

Cite This Article

APA
Liehrmann O, Cosnard C, Riihonen V, Viitanen A, Alander E, Jardat P, Koski SE, Lummaa V, Lansade L. (2023). What drives horse success at following human-given cues? An investigation of handler familiarity and living conditions. Anim Cogn, 26(4), 1283-1294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-023-01775-0

Publication

Animal cognition
ISSN: 1435-9456
NlmUniqueID: 9814573
Country: Germany
Language: English
Volume: 26
Issue: 4
Pages: 1283-1294

Researcher Affiliations

Liehrmann, Océane
  • Department of Biology, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, Natura Building, 20500, Turku, Finland. oceane.liehrmann@gmail.com.
Cosnard, Camille
  • Department of Biology, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, Natura Building, 20500, Turku, Finland.
Riihonen, Veera
  • Department of Biology, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, Natura Building, 20500, Turku, Finland.
Viitanen, Alisa
  • Department of Biology, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, Natura Building, 20500, Turku, Finland.
Alander, Emmi
  • Department of Biology, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, Natura Building, 20500, Turku, Finland.
Jardat, Plotine
  • CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC, 37380, Nouzilly, France.
Koski, Sonja E
  • Department of Biology, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, Natura Building, 20500, Turku, Finland.
  • Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
Lummaa, Virpi
  • Department of Biology, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, Natura Building, 20500, Turku, Finland.
Lansade, Léa
  • CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC, 37380, Nouzilly, France.

MeSH Terms

  • Humans
  • Animals
  • Horses
  • Cues
  • Social Conditions
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology
  • Social Environment
  • Recognition, Psychology
  • Mammals

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest or competing interests.

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