Horses are much smarter than previously thought, researchers said.
Their findings came during a study in which animals performed better than expected in a complex reward-based game.
When they were denied rewards for not following the rules of the game, the researchers found that the horses were able to instantly change strategies to obtain more rewards.
Scientists from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) said this showed that animals have the ability to think and plan ahead – something previously thought to be beyond their ability.
Carrie Ijichi, senior lecturer in equine science at NTU, said: “Horses are not natural geniuses, they are considered mediocre, but this study shows that they are not average and are in fact more cognitively advanced than we realize. they deserve credit.”
The study saw researchers set 20 horses a task consisting of three steps.
In the first stage, the animals touched a piece of card with their nose to receive a snack.
But things got more complicated when a light was introduced and the horses could only get a snack if they touched the card while the light was off.
The horses kept blindly tapping the card regardless of whether the light was on or off, and were rewarded for correct answers.
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In the final phase of the game, a penalty was applied whereby touching the card with the “stop” light on resulted in a 10-second time-out.
But instead of indiscriminately touching the card, the horses were following the rules – just making a well-timed move to receive their gift.
Louise Evans, PhD candidate in NTU’s School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, said: “Animals often need several repetitions of a task to gradually acquire new knowledge, whereas our horses improved immediately when we introduced a cost for errors.
“This suggests that horses always knew what the rules of the game were.”
The findings were published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science.
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