Socio-perceptive skills of domestic horses toward humans

Abstract

Domestic horses, along with dogs, have the longest history of cooperating with humans. The roots of modern domestic horses can be traced back to more than 4200 years ago. Domestic horses have assisted humans in many ways ever since. Over the past 15 years, research on the psychology of horses has been growing, especially in understanding the interaction between horses and humans. This paper focuses on the following socio-perceptive abilities of domestic horses: understanding human pointing, recognizing human attentional and knowledge states, social learning from human behaviors, emotional contagion with humans, perception of human emotion from human facial expressions and voices, and long-term memory of human emotions and impressions of humans. Finally, as a perspective on comparative cognitive science research for the symbiosis between horses and humans, we will discuss and propose measures for elucidating the interaction between horses and humans toward mutual understanding and evaluating and improving the welfare of native Japanese horses and retired racehorses and riding horses.