Researchers have found that horses have distinctive facial expressions when they are disappointed or frustrated

According to a study, horses have different facial expressions for disappointment and frustration.

University of Lincoln researchers gave 30 horses a food reward task that either disappointed or frustrated them.

When disappointed, the horses tended to blink a lot, raise their nostrils, stick out their tongues, and make chewing motions.

When frustrated, they revealed more of the whites of their eyes and turned their ears back.

dr Claire Ricci-Bonot, lead author of the study, said that horses “are generally gregarious animals that live in a complex social system.”

According to a study, horses have different facial expressions for disappointment and frustration

She added, “They can communicate with other horses through subtle visual cues like the position of their ears.”

“These signals will play an important role within a group, especially in social interactions.”

The team hopes their research will enable equestrians to take better care of their animals’ mental health by understanding their emotions.

dr Ricchi-Bonot added, “It’s easier to assess a horse’s physical health.” But it’s more difficult to assess mental health.

“Better recognizing and understanding horses’ emotions through their facial expressions can lead to better management of these animals – that is, trying to eliminate situations that can evoke negative emotions in horses.”

“From the riders’ point of view, if one could interpret the horses’ facial expressions, e.g. B. when you realize that the horse is afraid of something.”

For the study, the researchers trained 30 male horses—intact and neutered—and female horses to perform a task in which they expected a food reward.

A bird feeder was attached to the outside of their coop, closed with a transparent Plexiglas panel.

dr Claire Ricci-Bonot, lead author of the study, said that horses “are generally gregarious animals that live in a complex social system.”

A researcher poured feed into the feeder while the horse watched, and after ten seconds the transparent panel was pulled back to allow the horse access to the feed.

This was repeated so that the horse learned to expect the food after waiting ten seconds.

Next, the trials began. For some of them, the transparent panel stayed in place after ten seconds, allowing the horse to see the food but not access it, causing frustration.

The other attempts had the transparent panel removed but were left with an opaque panel making it appear as if there was no food at all, leading to disappointment.

The horses were filmed continuously so the researchers could analyze their facial expressions and behavior.

The results were published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science.