Did you know that horses are able to read the emotions on your face? We tell you what a study has revealed about it!
SHOWN: Horses can read your emotions
A group of researchers from the University of Sussex has shown for the first time that the horses are able to distinguish if a person is happy or angry about the expression on their face.
The team of psychologists analyzed the way in which 28 horses reacted to see photographs of people with cheerful or angry expressions.To avoid interference, the researchers could not see the images that were shown to the animals, they only focused on studying their reactions.
The results showed that before angry faces , horses used their left eye more to observe photography, a behavior associated with negative stimuli, while increased their heart rate and exhibited stress-related behaviors.
“The reaction to the facial expressions of anger were particularly clear: there was a faster increase in their heart rate and the horses shook their heads to look at the angry faces with their left eye, ”explains Amy Smith co-director of the research.
In this sense, many species examine the negative events with their left eye because the right hemisphere (which is responsible for processing the information that comes through the left eye) analyzes the threatening stimuli .

“What is really interesting about this research is that it shows that horses have the ability to read emotions through the species barrier.We have known for a long time that horses are a socially sophisticated species, but this is the first time we've seen that they are able to distinguish between positive and negative human facial expressions ”says Amy Smith.
In the case of positive expressions, horses did not experience a strong reaction, a situation that the researcher links with the fact of that for animals "it is particularly important to recognize threats in their environment. In this context, the recognition of angry faces can act as an alert system, allowing horses to anticipate negative human behavior , like an abrupt handling, ”he explains.
According to experts, this ability of horses may be due to an ancestral adaptation in order to read the signals of emotions and respond appropriately to human facial expressions.Although, it might also be something they learn throughout their lives.
"It is surprising how accurate assessment of a negative emotion is possible through the species barrier s, despite the great difference in facial morphology between horses and humans, ”says the researcher.
After knowing this, surely the next time you see a horse, you look at it with other eyes.
And if you are passionate about horses, do not miss: «Do you like horses? Meet the most curious! «.
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