14/04/2026
YOUR HORSES ARE WATCHING YOU – AND LEARNING MORE THAN YOU THINK
As you go about your daily routine looking after your horses – maybe opening gates, switching on lights, lifting latches – it’s easy to assume your horse is just waiting. But research suggests they may be watching closely, and learning from what you do.
A study from the University of Regensburg investigated whether horses could learn a completely new task just by observing a human. Twenty-four horses were introduced to a feed box that could only be opened by pressing a switch positioned a short distance away. All horses were first allowed to eat from the open box so they understood it contained food, before being tested on how to access it once closed.
The horses were then split into two groups. One group watched a familiar human demonstrator press the switch, walk to the box, and take food from inside. The other group received no demonstration and simply explored the setup themselves. Horses were given repeated trials over several days to see whether they could learn to operate the switch.
The results showed clear differences between the two groups. Eight out of twelve horses who observed the human learned to press the switch and open the box, compared to just two out of twelve in the control group. This strongly suggests that the horses were learning through observation, not just trial and error.
Individual horses also differed in how they solved the task. Some used their lips, others their teeth, and some pawed at the switch. One horse succeeded almost immediately, while another required many more repetitions. The demonstrator was always someone familiar, which is important, as horses are known to pay more attention to people they recognise.
So, if horses can learn to manipulate a novel object like this just by watching us, how much are they learning from us every day, without us even realising?
Study: Social learning across species: Horses (Equus caballus) learn from humans by observations, Animal Cognition (2016)
