like to know if horses are smart or dumb.....I know basically you can train them but are they dumb animals...?

Answer 1

Your question is very subjective. Horses are very smart at being horses.
In relation to their experience with humans, horses have the ability to learn but also the ability to work things out for themselves such as opening stable bolts, freeing themselves from accidents in the field, etc.

A horse is a fast learner with correct and consistent training. Horses will also learn their daily routine and come to know when it is feeding time, or when they can expect treats, etc.

Horses are easily upset but reward training can overcome many problems. Horses make associations with many things and these associations can cause problems - for example if a horse is kicked when mounted a few times it will start to associate being mounted with being kicked and may become reluctant to be mounted. Often problems can be traced to unpleasant experiences and work done to rectify the association. A task or experience which the horse considers unpleasant can be overcome by feeding treats or using something else to give the horse something nice to associate with the unpleasant experience. This can then help to turn the unpleasant experience into a pleasant one. Force and punishment may cause the horse to resent such a task or experience further and so worsen the situation.

Horses can be taught to recognise short words and their meaning but the tone in which commands are given is also important and should remain consistent with the associated word.

Answer 2

Dumb Horse

Answer 3

Horses are really smart animals, many miniuture horses can be house trained just like a dog or cat.

Answer 4

Depends on what you call smart.

They're highly intelligent when it comes to emotion. They read you like a book. They know immediately what kind of mood you're in, they know if you're hiding an emotion from the world, they know if you're lying and they know your intentions, regardless if you've put on a happy face. In that sense, they're smarter then us.

That is what has made herbivors successful in the animal world. They must be able to look at a predator and within a few moments determine if the predator is on the hunt or if they are passing by. They have to predict/read intent.

Now horses can be trained to the most minute cues. They can learn quickly and they will retain that information for the rest of their life. Riding in itself, when trained properly, is a highly complex series of cues that when executed correctly are barely perceived by the naked eye. If a rider makes it look easy, then it's hard. At the same time I know some humans who can't even take a blantant verbal cue. Who is smarter? :) My horse, in her most basic training at this point knows that when I squeeze my inside rein, push with my inside leg, while my outside leg rests against her side, I'm asking her to bend into a turn without allowing her hind end to swing out from underneath her. While this is happening, you won't see me move. Your show horses that yearly make the show circuit rounds will begin a gait just from hearing the announcer call it, while the rider will reinforce it with the cue; Inadvertant training really.

Some horses can read a rider's intent from under saddle. I know some riders who only have to think of what they want their horse to do and their horse will begin executing the movement without the rider getting to the point of actually asking for it. Some believe, including me, that riding and relating to your horse can be done on a more intuitive level, the ultimate in horse and rider communication.

If you are still interested in learning more about equine intelligence, I recommend a book called, The Tao of Equus. It gives a whole new perspective on equine intelligence outside of human standards, IQ tests and behavior studies. All of the author's research is well done and can stand on it's own, along with the additional research cited within from other sources. An excellent book about the depth and capabilites of every horse, but it will leave you unable to look at any animal in the same light.

Plus, I know my horse has a sense of humor. I've felt her laughing at me before! Any horse owner will agree with that. ;)

~Jenn

Answer 5

Horses are very very smart. Some more than others, for sure.

The reason people often think they're dumb is because they are prey animals. Which means they use their intelligence to frustrate us or to avoid us. You usually won't get to see how incredibly smart they are until you gain their trust and respect.

Answer 6

Horses are incredibly bright and very very sensitive animals. They can sense the emotions of people and other animals around them often better than people can, and are frequently used as therapy animals. But, like all creatures, some are smarter than others. There's a horse in my sister's barn that can unlock the metal slide on it's stall, get out, and then let out all the other horses. Locks can't hold him! btw, as to another person's answer, elephants are about as smart as animals can get.

Answer 7

i think that horses run pretty close to us.. so well what does that make us.. dumb animals too..you can train a human to do most anything too but are we dumb animals maybe .. at least some are.or well then i am giving less credit maybe most are.. but what are humans other than another animal.

Answer 8

yes they are smart....they....
can tell if you have never been on a horse before and run you into the fly tape before bucking you off
can knock the door down if they want to came in
know how to open the other door in 2 seconds flat
were on the planet's most extreame most intellligent
come running if they hear a pepperment crinkle
run into the shed the second it starts drizzeling
then when the gate is open he will literally trot from the shed to the overhang as not to get too wet

Answer 9

like most animals especially humans some are smart and some are dumb

Answer 10

Ahahaha that's funny. Ahem. Yes, anyway, horses are actually kinda smart, ugh Monty the pony I used to look after was ALWAYS escaping his stable by undoing the bolts. we had to use a padlock in the end. Should've called him Houdini. They sense emotions rather than using logic though.