Friday, July 31, 2009

Compared to other animals has a horse good intelligence?


Answers:
Dang..you put me on the spot here. I am a huge horse lover and been around them all of my life. But to be honest.not really. A horses natural response is to flee, so this makes them seem skittish but if you understand their natural instincts isnt to stand and fight its fright and flee like a deer. Does this make them any less intelligent then the dog whose instinct is to fight. Not really when you look at it from their perspective. Are we any smarter to sit there and argue then the person who will sit quietly and walk away. Maybe. Maybe not. Some horse breeds seem more intelligent then others and this might be true but its also a handlers responsiblility in understanding that particular breed and working w/it in away that they understand. Is this the fault of the breed.NO A quarterhorse may handle rougher hands then an Arrabian. Not meaning the arab is any less smart..Infact I have worked w/both breeds and I find the arab w/the right handling can be brilliant more so then the dead head quarter. I have chosen to raise the Paint. So I am not being judgemental here..its facts, but other animals tend to be more intelligent then my dearly loved equines. Darn!!
pigs, monkeys, dolphins and dogs are some of the smartest.. followed by some birds.

horses are kinda mid range, with some breeds being considered more intelligent than others.. donkeys are actually more intelligent than a horse
If you take into consideration all the things that a horse can learn and remember in their lifetimes I would say that yes a horse has very good intelligence. Of course I am a horse person and love them dearly. I have been around them all my life and am amazed at some of the things that they remember.
what animals? I have 3 including 1 quarter horse, 1 missouri fox-trotter, and a saddlebred. All breeds differ in intelligence. My Saddlebred can lay down on command, and do everything a dog could do. Go watch a Dressage competion, or a Hunter/Jumper Competition. That will give you a good idea what they can do. They can remember just about everything you teach them, and are sensitive to cues.
Depends on what you consider intelligence.

Horses exhibit astounding "emotional intelligence" which they've adapted throughout their existance. Many grazing animals have this ability to read a predator's state of mind. Is the predator on the hunt? Is the predator just passing through? It's not just about body language, there is another sense kicking into play. How do they know to run when they can't even see the danger?

Horses are well adapted to "read" a human's emotional state, which is why a lot of horse show competitors have to tame their nerves before going into the ring, because if the rider is strung out, the horse will pick up on it, channel it and will exhibit nervous behavior, however you can put a calm relaxed rider on the same horse and all of a sudden the nervous horse is focused and calm.

Some scientists have found that horses who are buddies have the ability to know when their buddy is nervous, in danger, happy or calm, even if they're miles apart.

Besides this intelligence, horses can problem solve and do simple tricks just like dogs. Look up the book about Beautiful Jim Key, a horse who was taught math, reading and spelling among other problem solving skills.

Additionally, it is fairly simple to teach a horse to jump a course, or do a dressage test or a reining pattern without a bridle, even if the horse doesn't know the pattern, the course or the test beforehand. Horses are able to follow the most simplistic and the most smallest of movements from the rider in the saddle or on the ground, sometimes no movement is needed at all and the rider just has to think of what they want next. Many riders have had this experience.

Some horses are so intelligent they are known as being "too smart for their own good". These horses know how to bully humans and they usually have various techniques to get out of work from laying down before the rider mounts to testing every new rider that gets on with bucking to rearing to just planting themselves in one spot and not moving. Once you teach these horses not to do one bad behavior, they figure out another behavior to replace it.

Compared to dogs and cats, which I have at home, I feel that they are both so much more simple in terms of understanding them, however their intelligence is more than what humans give them credit for.

The best way to decide what animals have intelligence is by looking at how successful they are in their environment. That is where they learn, so that is where they apply what they've learned.
yes a horse has good intelligence!
Horses are extremely intelligent animals.
These display their intelligence in many ways every day - an example of this is I recently purchased a young gelding who this time last month did not know how to pick his leg up for me to clean the dirt out of his hoof - now by merely saying up - he recognises the signal and lifts each leg up without me even having to touch his legs.
Horses know routines as well - every evening at 5 o clock my horses gather at the gate waiting to be brought in and fed - once the gate is open the all walk up the field and each into their individual stables - each knowing which one is their stable.
TO BE TOTALLY HONEST NO ONE KNOWS BECAUSE NO ONE PERSON AND UNDERSTNAD THE COMPLEXITY OF THE HORSES TRUE MIND. FROM THE RESEARCH I HAVE DONE I COULDNT TELL YOU BUT THEY ARE VEY MUCH SMARTER THAN WE THINK!! WHY ELSE DO YOU THINK ITS TAKING US SO LONG TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE ANIMAL!
Well, sort of. the horse has an incredible memory and a great capacity to learn by repetition and reward. But they have poor powers of reasoning, they don't analyze too well and they don't understand the concept of time.

I'd argue that some horses are indeed smarter than others. I've had a few that seemed incredibly bright, as well as a couple that were dumber than dirt!

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