Yes?

Study: Horses Ask Humans for Help With Unsolvable Tasks

TheHorse.com | 20 December, 2016

Last summer, European scientists confirmed what we’ve all suspected—horses try to communicate with us. Now, a group of scientists in Japan has gone a step further. Their new study shows that they even try to tell us things they think we don’t know ourselves.

In other words, it’s no longer just, “Hey, Favorite Human. Can I have that carrot in your hand?” It’s more like, “Hey Favorite Human. You don’t know it, but there’s a carrot in that bucket. And if you ask me, it has my name on it….”

Horses will use eye contact and touching to try to “tell” humans that food has been hidden, if they think the human didn’t see it being hidden, said Monamie Ringhofer, PhD, of the Graduate School of Intercultural Studies at Kobe University, in Japan.

“It was clear that they wanted to teach the human that there was food in a place that the human didn’t know about, and that they wanted to ask for help in getting it,” Ringhofer said.

In their two-part study of eight Thoroughbred horses from the Kobe University Equestrian Club, Ringhofer and fellow researcher Shinya Yamamoto, PhD, associate professor at Kobe University, observed horses’ reactions to food being hidden in a covered bucket. At first, horses stood alone in a paddock where they could see two buckets just out of their reach. Then a familiar caretaker stood next to the paddock, reading a book and ignoring the horse. After a minute, the caretaker left, and an assistant came up and showed a carrot to the horse before placing it in one of the buckets and covering it up. The assistant left, and the caretaker (theoretically unaware that there’s a carrot in one of the buckets) returned, still reading the book.

The second part of the experiment was similar, except that this time, the caretaker stayed next to the paddock when the assistant came with the carrot. This way the caretaker could see that the carrot was placed in a bucket and covered up.

Ringhofer and Yamamoto found that in both parts of the experiment, the horses tried to communicate with the caretaker about the hidden carrot, by looking at and touching the caretaker.

However, the horses were much more active about looking and touching the caretaker in the first part of the experiment, when the caretaker “didn’t know” about the carrot, they said.

“There was a very obvious difference in the horses’ behavior when they thought the caretaker didn’t know about the food,” Ringhofer told The Horse. “There was much more effort on their part to communicate to her not only that he wanted the food, but that there actually was food in one of the buckets.”

Before the European study on horses communicating with humans, researchers had previously looked at how aware horses are of humans’ attentional state and subtle communication tactics like eye gazing and pointing. While those studies showed that horses are capable of picking up such signals, Ringhofer said her study indicates horses seem to be capable of much more.

“Our study suggests that horses may possess a more advanced cognitive ability,” she said. “We show that it is possible that horses are sensitive to humans’ past attentional state, and that they can alter their signaling behavior accordingly.”

Ringhofer’s study shifts to a different point of view of human-horse communication, looking into the ways horses make the effort to communicate with us, instead of the contrary.

“It’s important to know how horses read us, but I also wanted to know how horses send signals to humans, because that’s also important!” she said. “Horses sometimes hide their feelings, but I want to find out what they have inside their minds. And that’s the overall theme of my continuous research: Why is it that horses become so close in their relationships with us, and what is their underlying interspecies social behavior?”

Z O D I A C G U I D E  / /  I G

Aries: actually pretty mellow but they can get feisty

Taurus: practically the greatest getaway driver you could have

Gemini: has the most bomb ass playlists going at all times

Cancer: either wayy too concentrated or wayy not

Leo: doesn’t even drive yet so is just chillin

Virgo: has major road rage issues and gets mad at everyone on the road

Libra: speedy driver but is somehow safe about it wtf

Scorpio: literally the best ever no questions asked

Sagittarius: makes everyone in the car nervous cuz is always worried

Capricorn: pretty normal driver tbh is aggressive when necessary 

Aquarius: follows the rulebook and is the best designated driver

My extremely conservative Muslim parents are keeping me under strict lockdown (I’m not allowed to leave the house aside from attending class, they have a printout of my uni schedule, they drop me off/pick me up immediately, I’m not allowed a copy of the housekeys, they’re forcing me to quit both of my jobs, I’m not allowed to wear makeup in public ‘because it makes me look beautiful’, they’re withholding my citizenship/birth certificate/passport/other documents from me…. their demands/orders go on). 

They are also forcing me into an arranged marriage once I finish my undegrad. I’m 21 years old and from the Toronto area and am legally able to leave but because I’m still enrolled in university for another semester, I’m too afraid to leave now in fear that they’ll be able to find me when I leave (I have family that attend the same university as me.) The day that I leave, I don’t want them to be able to have any way of finding me. 

I have plans to live with my partner when I leave in April but any donations to help support us would be so appreciated. Neither of us are in the greatest financial situations. I want to legally change my identity so that they won’t be able to track me down and I need money for that; I also don’t know if I can work until I can have my identity legally changed - there’s a lot about this situation that I have no clue out about and would appreciate any sort of support. I also have a history of mental illness (depression/anxiety/borderline personality disorder) and my mental stability has been deteriorating as a result of my current state. 

A link to my paypal is here: paypal.me/zararaz | alternatively, [email protected]

Never turn around to check behind you. You’ll see nothing, but once you start doing it you won’t be able to stop, and an ominous feeling will follow you until you don’t lock your house’s door behind you. 

If you stand very still and listen you will hear the woods calling for you. Don’t answer. Never answer. 

You’ll hear things quietly following you, hidden in the trees by your sides. It’s okay, they’re just checking on you. 

Don’t be scared, but be really, really wary.

If you have a bad feeling about taking a certain path, don’t. You’ll avoid whatever is waiting for you at the end of it. 

You never know what may be buried under the soil you’re walking on. Remember that every time you take a step. Pray that whatever it is, it won’t wake up. 

Be careful not to step on any beetle, or you’ll never get rid of them. 

If you bring a knife with you, name it. Otherwise the blade will turn against you as soon as you try to use it.