# NEW NEWS: horses can recognise their owners!



## Exploding Chestnuts (14 February 2014)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...eate-a-mental-picture-of-familiar-humans.html

I am just amazed that this is not well known, but it is nice to see that someone has done some scientific research.
As some of you may know I had to rescue my boy last year.
I recall visiting the field where the problem was, the first day he was too lacking in energy and depressed to come to see me, but once I made sure he had some food and ad lib water, he would come running, even if I was surrounded by nasty people, he would push his way through!


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## PolarSkye (14 February 2014)

MrsD123 said:



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...eate-a-mental-picture-of-familiar-humans.html

I am just amazed that this is not well known, but it is nice to see that someone has done some scientific research.
As some of you may know I had to rescue my boy last year.
I recall visiting the field where the problem was, the first day he was too lacking in energy and depressed to come to see me, but once I made sure he had some food and ad lib water, he would come running, even if I was surrounded by nasty people, he would push his way through!
		
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This is news?  Kal also knows my footsteps and the sound of my car . . . ditto the mare I turn out four days a week.  

P


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## fatpiggy (14 February 2014)

I once turned up to the yard dressed in a very long black wig (I have short fairish hair) and dressed in high heels and a leather skirt  - before you ask it was for Red Nose Day and my bullwhip and I did very good business among all the naughty boys I knew at work    My horse didn't even put her head up when I went into the field, but when I whistled to her the confusion on her face was extremely obvious.  Sounded like Mum, but didn't look like Mum one jot - hmmm.   Another time she was out in the field and her companion was hacking out.  Some distant hoofbeats sounded and she immediately put her head up and called. A few minutes later her companion came around the corner. There was no way she could have seen him and she had totally ignored other horses going past.  We are the dumb animals, not them!


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## dogatemysalad (14 February 2014)

So the phone calls I made to my mare when I was away, weren't daft at all.


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## Exploding Chestnuts (14 February 2014)

dogatemysalad said:



			So the phone calls I made to my mare when I was away, weren't daft at all. 

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I couldn't possibly comment.


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## applecart14 (14 February 2014)

PolarSkye said:



			This is news?  Kal also knows my footsteps and the sound of my car . . . ditto the mare I turn out four days a week.  

P
		
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What??? Like Polar Skye, I am amazed they think this is research.  How much do these people get paid??????!!

 Bailey recognises my whistle from across the barn and looks instantly for me, he lifts his head high and tries to find where I am - sometimes I am round the side of the barn and looking at him through bars, other times I am in front of him, but instantly his head comes up and more often than not he whinnies for me.


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## thewonderhorse (14 February 2014)

I can't believe that his is not well known. All mine know me from the other ladies on the yard and will come running when they hear my car or see me. My big lad will only call if i'm on the yard and he is in the field, he won't call to anyone else.


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## LaMooch (14 February 2014)

PolarSkye said:



			This is news?  Kal also knows my footsteps and the sound of my car . . . ditto the mare I turn out four days a week.  

P
		
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agree. I hadn't seen my old share for 6 months (due to pregnancy), and when I first saw him after 6 months he nearly jumped out of his stable in excitement. It brought a tear to my eye tbh


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## Billy the kid (14 February 2014)

old news...like others say, my horse knows the sound of my car aswell as me.


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## fburton (14 February 2014)

Old news, surely? The article is dated May 2012.

I agree with MrsD123 that it's good to see scientific research on this topic.

I think the original research and article goes a bit further than just confirming that horses can learn to recognize people's faces or voices. The more interesting aspect is the recognition is "cross-modal" - that, given the sound of someone's voice, horses can make an association with their appearance (probably not just face) suggesting they form some kind of mental picture.

There's some other interesting stuff in the paper, such as the finding that female horses were better at this (or more motivated to perform the task well) compared to males, and that they are better at telling whether or not people were paying attention to them - something which was new and a bit surprising to me. Or that the horses were better at the matching task when the person stood on the right, suggesting a degree of brain laterality (left vs right). In this regard, horses appear to be like macaques and dolphins.

I don't know how much the authors, Leanne Proops and Karen McComb, get paid. They will almost certainly be busy with other things, like teaching, too, and have published on other research.


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## humblepie (14 February 2014)

Years ago I had my horse in a stable where she could see the road.  I had a red Mini (car not skirt hasten to add).  One day I was at the yard having cycled down and was off to the side doing something else and a red Mini went down the road - horse neighed at it.   Not a scientific experiment but has always stuck in my mind that she associated that shape/colour (whatever shade they would see that as) and sound as me turning up with food.


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## Dry Rot (14 February 2014)

It is surely not so incredible that animals that vocalise can recognise different sounds and so the voices of their owners? That doesn't need science but logic. I suppose they have eyes so they can recognise different shapes and colours. Gosh!

Why do scientists always waste their time proving stuff we already know?

Horses also recognise scents. No scientific study that I know of but they would be pretty silly spending as much time as they do sniffing people and things if they couldn't!


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## LaMooch (14 February 2014)

Think some people don't give credit to animals intelligence. TBH some are more intelligence then most humans


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## AdorableAlice (14 February 2014)

LaMooch said:



			Think some people don't give credit to animals intelligence. TBH some are more intelligence then most humans
		
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My lot know my car and my footsteps on the gravel.

My broodmare had to go away in April last year, she foaled in June  and I did not see her until July.  She spotted me at 100 yards, neighed and trotted over to me, made my day.


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## Doris68 (14 February 2014)

My old mare recognises my cough when I'm in the bedroom with the window open...!!


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## fburton (15 February 2014)

Dry Rot said:



			It is surely not so incredible that animals that vocalise can recognise different sounds and so the voices of their owners? That doesn't need science but logic. I suppose they have eyes so they can recognise different shapes and colours. Gosh!
		
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It was a _bit_ more than just that - see my post above.


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## springtime1331 (15 February 2014)

My old mare knows my car, footsteps and voice. I did confuse the hell out of her when I visited her on my wedding day complete with large white dress. It was only when she heard my voice did she realise it was me. Was lovely though, spring is usually quite hot and not keen on standing still for more than a few seconds. Still, amazingly for my wedding photos with her she picked a point in the distance and obligingly stared at it whilst I posed around her.


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## numptynoelle (15 February 2014)

If anyone is interested, you can get a pdf of the article here: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing....html?sid=f1e90e52-06d4-4eed-a0fd-1fa7d98597f1 

It's generally good practice to read the original publication instead of tearing it apart based on press releases, which will never be able to cover the research in the appropriate depth :tongue3:

I can't comment on the science itself as it's not in my area - I'd maybe query the sample sizes and some of the stats if I were being picky BUT it's published in a decent journal, I'd have been well chuffed as a student (which Proops was I think, judging by the acknowledgements) to publish in a journal with an impact factor of 5.7.


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## Eboni (23 February 2014)

I think all horse owners know this already  . My horse recognises my shape/body from quite a large distance .


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## Peregrine Falcon (23 February 2014)

My mare recognises my voice.  I can be walking out in the forest and suddenly hear hoofbeats behind me.  One time I was calling her and I heard her whinny from the other side of the valley.


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## fburton (24 February 2014)

Yes, I think it's pretty clear that horses recognize (because they remember) people's outlines and the sound of their voices (or vehicles). The interesting thing about the research cited is it went a small yet arguably important step further than that.


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## amandap (24 February 2014)

fburton said:



			There's some other interesting stuff in the paper, such as the finding that female horses were better at this (or more motivated to perform the task well) compared to males, and that they are better at telling whether or not people were paying attention to them - something which was new and a bit surprising to me.
		
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I don't find this surprising thinking about mares and foals and the need to nurture and protect in the rough and tumble of band take overs etc.


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## FinnishLapphund (24 February 2014)

Even if some of it have been known by horse owners for a very long time, I still found it interesting to read. If nothing else, sometimes when I've talked about horses with persons who doesn't know much about them, they often seemed to think either that horses function and think the same way we do, or that horses can only think of two things - eating grass and being afraid of that there might be a cave lion lurking somewhere in the grass who wants to eat them, and if that happens in the future, I'll be able to say that I've read about a study that showed that horses can recognise their owner's look and voice, just like dogs can.



fburton said:



			Old news, surely? The article is dated May 2012.

I agree with MrsD123 that it's good to see scientific research on this topic.

I think the original research and article goes a bit further than just confirming that horses can learn to recognize people's faces or voices. The more interesting aspect is the recognition is "cross-modal" - that, given the sound of someone's voice, horses can make an association with their appearance (probably not just face) suggesting they form some kind of mental picture.

There's some other interesting stuff in the paper, such as the finding that female horses were better at this (or more motivated to perform the task well) compared to males, and that they are better at telling whether or not people were paying attention to them - something which was new and a bit surprising to me. Or that the horses were better at the matching task when the person stood on the right, suggesting a degree of brain laterality (left vs right). In this regard, horses appear to be like macaques and dolphins.

I don't know how much the authors, Leanne Proops and Karen McComb, get paid. They will almost certainly be busy with other things, like teaching, too, and have published on other research.
		
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amandap said:



			I don't find this surprising thinking about mares and foals and the need to nurture and protect in the rough and tumble of band take overs etc.
		
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I wouldn't use the word surprising, but I do think that it sounds fascinating to hear that there was a gender difference.


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## Mia&Vin (8 March 2014)

The bit I hate is when your nervous of strangers horse makes you strip off your hat and water proofs in the middle of a storm just so they know its you and let you catch them!!


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## Nessa4 (10 March 2014)

Yet another peice of news from the Department of the Blindingly Obvious - who orders these "studies"?  And more to the point who pays???


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## fburton (10 March 2014)

Except that it isn't "blindingly obvious".


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## LaMooch (10 March 2014)

fburton said:



			Except that it isn't "blindingly obvious".
		
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obviously researcher was non-horsey lol


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## amandap (10 March 2014)

Mia&Vin said:



			The bit I hate is when your nervous of strangers horse makes you strip off your hat and water proofs in the middle of a storm just so they know its you and let you catch them!!
		
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Don't wear a coat with a large pointy hood. I inadvertently really scared one of mine that way! Took ages to get him happy with me wearing that hood up. I did look a twit in it though!


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## marmalade76 (11 March 2014)

Cripes, even my guinea pigs recognise me, allow me to pick them up yet run away from others


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## FinnishLapphund (11 March 2014)

marmalade76 said:



			Cripes, even my guinea pigs recognise me, allow me to pick them up yet run away from others 

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But e.g. have you noticed any gender difference, and is it a sign suggesting that the Guinea Pig is making a mental image of you in their head, or is it just a matter of them recognising the sound of your voice and/or your smell?


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## fburton (11 March 2014)

LaMooch said:



			obviously researcher was non-horsey lol
		
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Is it blindingly obvious to horse owners that horses can see colours just like we can, or that they are colourblind? Is this kind of research even justifiable?


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## amandap (11 March 2014)

fburton said:



			Is this kind of research even justifiable?
		
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Definitely! The horse world is full of opinion and received wisdom, trying to learn 'truths' about horses is very relevant to their welfare and our management and training!


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## marmalade76 (16 March 2014)

FinnishLapphund said:



			But e.g. have you noticed any gender difference, and is it a sign suggesting that the Guinea Pig is making a mental image of you in their head, or is it just a matter of them recognising the sound of your voice and/or your smell?
		
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I don't know, all I do know is that they are frightened of everyone but me!


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## Elsbells (16 March 2014)

Haha! This did make me laugh. We all know they hear us be it your car,  your footfall or a whisper. Many a time I've tried to sneak onto the yard and do a few jobs without being seen, but no, there's always a whinny and a face from the gate saying hi mum!


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## Elsbells (16 March 2014)

And..........how come they know their owner is on their way a good 5 mins before their car pulls in the yard? This applies to dogs too. Perhaps they ought to research that.


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## fatpiggy (17 March 2014)

Ooh yes, that reminds me of our old cat.  Mum would be late home one day a week as she would go and do a supermarket shop.   We had an old morris minor and anyone who has ever driven a morris will tell you about the lovely friendly hoot they make when you change gear!  The cat used to jump up into the front window and we would always say, mum must be nearly home. About 1 minutes later the car would pull up outside.  How on earth did he know?  He was never wrong.


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## fburton (17 March 2014)

I think this ability in dogs was mentioned in the Channel 4 documentary "Dogs: Their Secret Lives". Anyone see that?

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dogs-their-secret-lives/4od


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## linperrie (18 March 2014)

Of course they know us and know others too. My mare gets clingy at shows and will whinny at me and oh when we come into view near her. One time I brought her out of the trailer and OH tied her up and went off to get coffee. Next min she started whinnying at some random bloke with red top, jeans and wellies on. I was just wondering why when OH comes back round the corner wearing.....red top, jeans and wellies!! I couldn't have remembered what he was wearing if asked but she obviously could!!!!


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## lizbet (11 April 2014)

dogatemysalad said:



			So the phone calls I made to my mare when I was away, weren't daft at all. 

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  just found this LMAO  so funny  arrrr.


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## ILuvCowparsely (11 April 2014)

MY late mare  knew my special sound to call her, her head lifted and she would come down the field.
One of my liveries who's stable faced the gate and those side on to the yard gate always know their owners car and call or whinny. 
 Its how they do it in the wild like Zebras have to identify mum from birth.

 We don't give these animals enough credit IMO

  Also  I have done this many times, walked up the field not saying a word walking past the horses and mine look up and watch me as if to make sure who it is,  then they either ignore my and back to grazing or they have been known to come over to me.

 MY little pony always knows my car coming down the drive.


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## lizbet (11 April 2014)

I know what you mean arrr. I have a wicked cough and wicked laugh.He knows my both whinnys.my car to.Been told he knows when on my way knows me by sight my whistle my voice.such a bond.so special.You must miss it.They say horses are incapable of love.I dont agree not when treated right .


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## fburton (11 April 2014)

I would say that horses are incapable of human love in all its depth and complexity, but I also think they can behave towards people in ways that are undeniably affectionate. I personally wouldn't like to get the two mixed up.


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## lizbet (11 April 2014)

Well for sake then lets call it affection.May be they are not for real.But what i do know is many people have told me without being prompted who are of your belief as much as a horse is capable that horse loves you and it would be cruel to part with him this is vets farriers and instructours to.I am not nieve.But he has got me and himself out of many a scrap through my voice etc.maybe a trust thing.when you have a true bond with a horse it is incrediable.maybe you have yet to experiance it.As i say i am not nieve there just does not seem any way to discribe it.affection does not come close.


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