Horses have different approaches to completing a task, and each one reacts in its own way when faced with obstacles. Anyone who is passionate about horse riding knows this well: out on a hack, our equine companion might go around a tree on the right rather than the left, or step over a log instead of going round it. Scientists believe this is because every horse has its own character: some are reflective, others more impulsive. Just like human beings.

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Scientists observed how horses react when faced with obstacles

Researchers at the Università di Pisa, in collaboration with colleagues from Liverpool John Moores University and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, studied the behaviour of 26 Standardbred broodmares as they tried to reach a bucket of food: in the first phase, the available routes to reach the reward were of equal length, while in the second phase the mares — the term used to denote female individuals — had one shorter and one longer route available to them.

Some of them were slow in making both decisions, but showed they could choose the shorter route when it was available. Others, by contrast, were hasty and often, when faced with the alternative, took the longer path because that was the direction they had turned the first time. Eight mares, finally, were quick to solve the easier task, while taking their time to work out which was the better choice when things became more complicated, demonstrating a good balance between speed and accuracy and an ability to adapt in the face of change.

The hypothesis is that their way of acting depends on personality

Scientists had already shown that horses are skilled at processing spatial information and that some individuals are more hasty than others when making decisions. In light of the new experiment, these animals "have shown that they have different cognitive styles that allow them to use different intellectual strategies to solve a given problem," explains Paolo Baragli of the Department of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Pisa. "The very important element is that these different cognitive styles appear to be closely connected to the personality of the individuals." In other words, every horse has its own character, and its decisions depend on that.

According to the researchers, some mares were more cautious because they have a shy and reflective personality, which leads them to carefully evaluate every scenario. Others, by contrast, are impulsive: they aim to reach their goal in the shortest possible time, taking greater risks. The individuals that adapted best to the different situations demonstrated a remarkable degree of cognitive flexibility — a valuable quality in nature, where the unexpected is never in short supply. Studying the character of horses and understanding how they react when faced with problems is extremely useful during training, both for anticipating their behaviour and helping them manage difficulties, and for respecting their nature and ensuring their wellbeing.