If you've ever been a pet owner, you've probably wished that your pet could just tell you what was going on.
Sure, animals have ways of letting you know they're hungry, or that they want to play, or that they have to pee. But sometimes, you wish they could just walk up and ask for what they need.
Well, it turns out, they can — in a way.
A team of researchers at the University of Life Sciences in Norway found that horses can communicate with us, with a little help, and that they seem to enjoy being able to "talk" with humans!
Now, it's no secret that horses are not only smart, but also sensitive, so maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise that they're all about communication. What really surprised the researchers was how quickly the horses were able to catch on to the system they set up, and how eager they were to learn.
Humans and other animals do share special bonds, and we already know that communication isn't just about words. In fact, we recently realized that dogs can actually understand most of what we're saying.
The study was carried out with 22 horses in two separate stables, and involved using symbols that represented a request that the horse could make. In this study, the symbols stood for whether they wanted a blanket or not.
Read on to learn more about the study, and how we might be able to "talk" to horses all around the world!
[H/T: Treehugger]
The researchers at Norway's University of Life Sciences spent 10 to 15 minutes every day teaching a team of 22 horses these symbols.
They're just lines, but the horses were trained to understand that there was a meaning behind each one.
The horizontal line means "put blanket on," and the vertical means "take blanket off." The blank square in the middle means "no change."
And after just 11 days, all 23 horses learned.
During the winter, the horses wearing blankets selected the "no change" option, meaning they were comfortable with the blankets on.
In the warmer months, though, the horses began requesting that their blankets be removed.
The horses were tested during various weather conditions, and separately, showing that their decisions were individual and stemmed from considering the temperature outside.
And the results taught the researchers something else.
Not only were the horses able to "read" the symbols and understand that there was a meaning behind them, but they were also able to form fairly complex thoughts.
For example, this horse, choosing not to have the blanket removed, is actually thinking, "It's cold out, but the blanket is keeping me warm. If the blanket is removed, I'll be cold. So I'll opt to keep the blanket on."
All choices made by the 22 horses were recorded, and showed that their desire for blankets was related to the weather. This means that horses make choices and decisions based on external information, just like we do.
And as for the horses? They seemed to really like being able to communicate with the human researchers!
"When horses realized that they were able to communicate with the trainers, many became very eager in the training or testing situation," the research paper notes.
"Some even tried to attract the attention of the trainers prior to the test situation by vocalizing and running towards the trainers."
It's pretty incredible how we can learn to communicate with animals (and other humans) that on the surface seem so different from us.
With a little cleverness and patience, we learn that maybe we're not so different after all!
If you have horses, let us know if this is something you'd try, or if you've developed your own system.
And if you think all animals have their own special way of communicating with us, please SHARE this fascinating research!
