Why Horses are Attached to Human Beings?

Storytellers have portrayed horses as loyal and reliable friends to their owners. 

It's because in real life, horses get attached to human beings, and recognize them and respond to them whether it’s their rider or the person who looks after them every day.

The News From Discovery

According to a news story published at the Discovery news website, horses possess excellent memory, which helps them not only in problem solving but also in remembering complex events and identifying their human friends.

The study had been conducted in Chamberet, France, where Sankey and colleagues from the University of Rennes studied the behavior and memory of three Saddlebred horses and 20 Anglo-Arabian horses. The female trainer was separated from her horses for eight months.

Meanwhile, the horses were trained in the course of 41 different types of training sessions. The practices included bearing a thermometer in the rectum, lifting a foot on instructions, and basic grooming and medical care training sessions. 

In the beginning, some horses showed negative behavior like kicking and running. However, the trainer started reinforcing the training by giving delicious food as reward to obedient horses. Soon, all horses started showing positive behavior.

Later, when the old trainer got back together with her horses, all the horses showed affection and pleasure on her return.

Horses are Social Animals

Horses show different behaviors based on their species. Horses have a clear perception of ‘self’. They love to socialize with animals and humans. Wild horses are friendlier with animals inside and outside their communities whereas domestic horses are friendlier with animals of their community and with humans.

Horses Have Strong Emotions

Horses show all emotions – pleasure, excitement, sadness, relief, stress, and others. Different horses have different brain sizes, just like humans. Some horses show stronger emotions while others show weaker emotions. To understand this phenomenon, take the example of a little child who is scared of his own shadow. 

The child may be sharp or dull to interpret different situations. The parents of the child would not scold or beat him for fearing his own shadow. On the other hand, some children easily understand that the shadow belongs to them.

Due to their strong capability of interpreting different situations and solving complex events, horses prefer to leave their owner with bad behavior towards them instead of fighting back or mistreating the owner. Some horse species are not wild but revengeful.

Horse owners can easily establish strong connections with their horses simply by understanding their species and incorporating behavior-altering strategies in training sessions. For example, reward the horse when it shows positive behavior. 

Talk with the horse and show affection by hugging it and conditioning its hair. Stop talking to show anger if your horse shows negative behavior. In the end, you will also be able to take perfect selfies with your close-to-heart animal.