Many scientists believe there is a correlation between brain weight and intelligence. The adult human brain weighs from two and a half to three pounds. A cat’s brain weighs about a third of a pound. Dog brains weigh about three-fourths of a pound. The brain of the horse is the size of a human child’s and weighs from one and a half pounds to two pounds. Oddly enough, although smaller, the horse’s brain is similar to our own with a few differences. The most important difference is that much of the human brain is used for fine-motor skills and language development, while most of the horse’s brain is used for analyzing and communicating information received from the environment.
Some scientists have said that horses have the intelligence of twelve-year old humans. At the turn of the twentieth-century, the American horse Beautiful Jim Key could perform basic arithmetic, read, write, and spell. A few years later the famous German horse Clever Hans demonstrated his expertise at reading unconscious human behavior. Almost monthly, new studies are published confirming the complexity of equine intelligence.
Besides over-all brain size there are other interesting differences between equine and human brains. The roundish protuberances at the base of all mammalian brains, the cerebellum, is much larger in the horse-brain than the human brain. This is the part of the brain where the integration of sensory perception, coordination and motor control takes place. Horses, as prey animals, must be able to run within an hour after they are born. Coordinating the movement of four legs while sorting out information received from the environment is necessary for the horses’ survival as a species. All gross motor movements are quickly and permanently stored in the large cerebellum. Therefore, once a movement is taught to a horse it won’t be forgotten.
Additionally, humans rely in large part upon their sight and hearing to understand and participate in the world around them. Besides sight and sound, horses rely heavily on their sense of smell. The equine sense of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than the human counterpart. The smell of a rose or a good meal compliments the human world of sights and sounds. However, with their two different olfactory organs the world they perceive through their noses is one that we can only imagine.
The differences in the two types of brain mean that people are experts at oral and written language development and using their hands for creating and using tools. On the other hand, horses are experts at reading, understanding, and communicating about the environment. Horses learn many times faster than humans and preserve what they learned for the rest of their lives, while humans only retain information for a short time unless the information is regularly reviewed. If horse handlers keep the differences in the horse and human brain in mind they can make better use of the horse’s potential.
By Chris Forté
More interesting articles about horse behavior:
For further reading:
Proops L, Rayner J, Taylor AM, McComb K (2013) The Responses of Young Domestic Horses to Human-Given Cues. PLoS ONE 8(6): e67000. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067000
Sankey C, Henry S, AndreıN, Richard-Yris M-A, Hausberger M (2011) Do Horses Have a Concept of Person? PLoS ONE 6(3): e18331. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018331
Gabor, Vivian et al. Cognitive Testing in horses using a computer based apparatus, Applied Animal Behaviour Science , Volume 139 , Issue 3 , 242 – 250
Hanggi, Evelyn B, MS, Phd, (2005) The Thinking Horse: Cognition and Perception Reviewed
Rivas, Mim Eichler (2005) Beautiful Jim Key: The Lost History of a Horse and a Man Who Changed the World Hardcover – February 1, 2005
This article provides much insight into how our horses perceive their world.
The information will be extremely helpful in working with the horse, and
provides a better understanding, even to those among us who have worked
with horses for many years. I have been working on new areas in ground exercises
and games, and through gentleness and understanding, I see so much potential
in improving my relationship with my horse and in our learning new areas together.
Thank you.
Thank you Nuala! I am thrilled when I receive messages from people who, like me, understand that developing a trusting relationship with horses is the most important thing we can do.