Through a Horse’s Eyes: Investigating Cognitive Bias and Responses to Humans in Equine-Assisted Interventions

TL;DR

This study explores how horses used in equine-assisted interventions perceive humans and their environment, finding that facility management influences their cognitive biases more than the type of work.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel approach to understanding how facility management interacts with work type to influence horse cognition.

Findings

EAI-RS horses in facilities with restricted food access and high workload showed increased pessimism.

Facility management conditions modulate the effects of work type on horse cognition.

No direct link was found between work type and negative perception of humans.

Abstract

This study investigated how horses involved in different types of work—specifically, conventional riding school lessons and equine-assisted interventions—perceive environmental stimuli and interact with humans. We investigated the cognitive judgement biases (such as a tendency to be more or less optimistic in ambiguous situations) and the perception of humans (such as a tendency to be more or less aggressive toward humans) in horses from three different facilities. Some horses participated only in riding school lessons (RS), while others were used for both riding school activities and equine-assisted interventions (EAI-RS). We hypothesised that EAI-RS horses would be more negatively impacted than RS horses because two types of work may be demanding. While we found no clear link between the type of work and a more negative view of humans or increased pessimism, EAI-RS horses in facilities with restricted access to food and high workloads appeared more pessimistic and indifferent toward unfamiliar humans. We thus suggest that the additional workload associated with EAIs may have been mitigated by other environmental conditions related to the overall living conditions and facility management.

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have become increasingly popular, with horses being one of the most commonly used species. While the effects of equine-assisted interventions (EAIs) have been widely studied in humans, research focusing on animals involved in such work is limited. Understanding how animals perceive their world is ethically important because their perception reflects the valence of their underlying mood. We investigated the cognitive judgement bias (pessimistic vs. optimistic) and perception of humans (negative vs. positive) in horses from three different facilities, divided into two groups: horses involved only in riding school lessons (RS, N = 14) and horses participating in both riding school and EAI lessons (EAI-RS, N = 16). We hypothesised that horses engaged in both types of work would be more negatively impacted than RS horses because the two activities may be demanding. No significant effects of work on pessimistic bias and negative perception of humans were found. However, a modulating effect was found in the interaction between work type and facility management. These findings highlight the impact of both the type of work and facility management on the cognition and underlying affective states of EAI-RS horses.

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