Are horses "Dumb"

[Waikato Valuta]

There is a saying that I think is great. "It's amazing as how you get better at training the horses get much more intelligent"

Yet I come across a lot of people who tell me how incredibly dumb they are. I know there not as smart as humans and not as affectionate as dogs (that would be hard considering there size).

It doesn’t normally worry me but the teacher from horse studies keep going on and on about how dumb they are, because they run through fences and do stupid things.

I understand that and often think to my self how dumb some of the things they do are, but i find they incredibly alert, and willing to learn. Some are easier to teach than others but that is often because bad treatment has switched them off to anything you may ask them to do slightly out of the ordinary.

So how "dumb" do you think horses are. and do you have any stories about dumb and clever things your horses have done?

[Yann]

Horses are NOT dumb or stupid, I find it very annoying when people say that. We are predatory animals, as are dogs, and our minds and instincts work accordingly. Horses are not, they are prey animals and as such are programmed differently from us. Once you realise how they tick their behaviour is far from dumb.

I think dumb better describes the people who use that kind of language - their approach to training and handling horses will most likely be similarly ignorant.

[entreat]

Dogs have also been domesticated longer, so most are more removed from their primal instincts.

But some horses are just plain dumb - but not all. Pippin for example is the dumbest horses I've met in many senses, but in otherways he's very clever & so willing to learn.

When ever I think our guys are being particularly dumb, I look at the great drooling bull in their paddock & realise they're far from being that dumb! What kind of self respecting animal gets kicked in the tongue?!?:rolleyes::p :D

[cvb]

depends a lot on how you define intelligence...

our 3 all have varying degrees of e.g. spatial awareness, problem solving, pattern recognition

One is very quick, and will happily train US to do what HE wants. He seems to have a sense of humour too - will do things that have no real purpose but seem to be just for "fun" or to show us up (like dancing on top of the muck heap).

One is quite quick at working things out but a bit of an airhead. Learns quickly and has a strong work ethic. The other day I laid out an arena in the field and she went and checked out EVERY item I had used as a marker, either picking them up or knocking them over - so a distinct sense of curiosity.

And one is a bit slow, definitely a follower not a leader, takes a LOT of repetition to learn anything (unless it involves food !).

[lisae]

Well, I think they are very bright until they are scared, then adrenalin pushes all reason out the window!

My mare is very astute, I may have told this story but last fall when we had just gotten a new weanling in the barn, I saw Monday (my mare) standing there but no other horses. (They were out of sight in the run-in barn). I called out to my mare "where's Grace?" (new horse) and she looked into the barn. I called again, where's Grace? and my mare walked into the barn, out of sight, and came back in view with Grace following behind her!

So she knew 1) the name of the new horse 2) that I wanted to know where she was and 3) to pull the weanling out of a group of three and show her to me so I would shut the heck up!

;)

[Bay Mare]

ITA with Yann, I don't believe that they're dumb at all, they just work differently from us (and there's a LOT of dumb humans out there). Like any species some are slower to learn than others.

I actually find a lot of horses to be very affectionate, the boy that I ride is, I am convinced, a cob x labrador :D He'll lick you to death given half a chance and likes nothing more than a hug and to nuzzle your neck.

One of the other horses can get out of his stable door and regularly unties his lead rope, you can see him figuring it out (little git).

[cvb]

yeah - our old guy (32) will pick things up (like rugs) and drop them on the floor if he gets bored and wants attention. (He;s the one who danced on the muck heap).

And my mare (9) is the one who has started to pick things up. Tried to do a bit of target training some time ago with one of those horse balls and she couldn't see what I was getting at. But now she's picking all sorts of things up. The other day she was standing in the yard and picked up the fork of the pooperscooper by its handle and waved it about. Whislt its amusing, she could hurt herself, so I try and make sure certain things are out of her reach !

(by the way, does anyone know how to deflate those horse balls ? I have one in Sweden I want to bring back for her, but its inflated and we can't get it to let the air out !)

[T-bred]

They are not dumb at all!!! I agree with what Yann said. Horses are not as smart as people[most] I mean they are a totally different species I mean you should expect them to behave and act differently then we would. They are born with instincts just like cats and other animals are and therefore will act as an animal. It takes a pretty DUMB person to say that horses are dumb because they act like an animal.

Anna

[kedwards]

Oh no, they aren't "dumb" at all. They certainly don't have the long term planning abilities of humans or the problem-solving capabilities of dogs, humans, or other apes, but they have skills of their own. They have excellent memories, quick reflexes, great kinesthetic abilities, and quite adept "social" skills when it comes to their herd interactions and ability to perceive subtle signs of intent in other animals (including us).

I might add, that if I were lost in the woods, I would trust my horse before I'd trust a human to find the way home.

[k8schmutz]

Originally posted by kedwards
I might add, that if I were lost in the woods, I would trust my horse before I'd trust a human to find the way home.

I'll second that, but only because Jas, however much you try to confuse her, always knows the quickest way back to her stables! But shes clever (or is that lazy?) enough to know that if I fall off in a field she'll wait for me (i tested this out by jumping of her while she was cantering, all shes did was stop dead turn around and look at me like, what are you doing down there? and started eating, I'm glad she has her priorities right lol)

[Wally]

This person has never worked with ICelandics then has she. They don't run through fences, they have a very strong sense of self preservation, get on one and he'll extend that to his rider.

No, you'll not train then to do the same as a dog or a human, but that's not a fair comparrison, a horse is not a dog or a human.

They have talents that lie in a different direction. No wonder they think they are dumb if they approach the horse with a dog in mind!:rolleyes:

I know plenty of horses who have studied thier human in the most minute way and have them under thier control, so what do we learn from this? some horses are a lot cleverer then thier owners!;) ;) They have trained thier owner to do thier bidding without the owner being aware of it!:D :D who's dumb now?