Do horses have emotions,a soul and are they smart as people?

[sporthorse]

http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/article/item_9281.html
Some things to think about for sure.Here is some beautiful art.
http://spiritofhorse.com/[/url]

[Linda Y]

Yep. Some are more in tune with their people than others...or maybe the others don't care to be. Desi has my wavelength all the time. He will stare at me until I click in and know what he wants.

[Pam M]

Not enough choices! Yes, they have emotions - can show happiness, depression, annoyance, anger, hold a grudge. Do they love? Maybe each other - not me. Out of the 8 at my place only 3 show what I would call love - my gelding and mare that are utterly devoted to each other and the mare's filly who the gelding is essentially raising as his own (except for the nursing part!). My geriatric gelding has no use for anyone without food so his affection definitely comes with strings attached. And my riding gelding obeys me but he obviously prefers the company of his peers. My mare probably "loves" me best because, along with her gelding boyfriend, I'm her security blanket and she's not very confident so she's always attentive and she "talks" to me constantly.

However, they do know when I need them to be better than they are, such as when I'm sick or there's little kids around. And if my husband is not liking farm life or even horses very much at the moment, they seem to realize this and they will all come and lay down at his feet - literally -and let him use them for pillows to take a nap.

As for just being smart (or maybe just conditioned), I have a few examples:
-Mare who opens the gates and stall doors and lets everyone out (she never leaves herself)
-Hurricane blew the gate off and some fencing down and for one whole week, they stayed home despite being able to leave if they wanted to. Not one left the property, when normally they'll go visiting neighbors if they have the chance.
-Gelding who knows where my bedroom window is and will knock on it in the morning if he thinks I'm late for breakfast (new fencing put a stop to that)
-They never rip open the dog, cat or chicken feed bags - only their own.
-They know which vehicles "belong" on the farm. They yell at strangers.
-They recognize the vet's truck and run.
-When the trailer gets hooked up they know whether it's for a trail ride or a vet visit - they come to the gate for a trail ride.
-Mare who kills rats but not kittens or bunnies.

I don't know what kind of higher emotions they have but I know they're smart enough to keep me guessing!

[PASOFAN]

What a great art link! I loved it, free ecards too! yyyiippppeee

Yep horses love and have great emotions. I also agree some more than others and depending on there realationship w/there human. Just all around loveing animal. :D

[sporthorse]

tried to put third choice but it went to the fog.I had ;maybe= at feeding time but no Mr. Ed, Frances talking mule stuff

[Ginger]

I think that horses are "faithful and loyal" to a degree, but like our Slytherin house, if it's down to their carcass or ours, MOST, many, if not all- I won't say "all"- would flee to save themselves.

I know that Zumi has become very intuitive. When J had so many problems this winter, he had to "go somewhere to escape"- and that would be out to my pasture with my horses.

Zumi'd never really cottoned on to him, but something about seeing a grown man try very hard to tighten the bolts that made his eyes leak made Zumi come sniffing around. Eventually, you could look out the window and see Zumi's chin resting on J's shoulder, his nose blowing smelly Zumi-breath right in his ear.

It's particularly odd, because J and Zumi had never "clicked" before. They were on amiable speaking terms, sweetened with the promise of food, of course. Now, Zumi seeks him out if he can "smell a bad day on him".

Ickis has always been a "run to mama" type (like a lot of pseudo-men with whom I've spoken recently)... when he's scared, here he comes... unless it's "bigger than the both of us"... then he runs to his brother.

I'm wondering if animals know the familial congruence- if these two remember one another from years gone by, and then re-remembered (that isn't a word, oops) after their "herd-sorting-process" had settled.

When we're around, they are always biting, butting, kicking, and otherwise subtly abusing one another, but when you watch them out in the pasture, they lie down together, groom each other, rest up against each other, play, et.

It's easy to anthropomorphose (ise?) animal behavior. Walter Farley made himself a legend with it- but then, there are flames in the midst of all that psycho-suppositional smoke echoing strongly from Anna Sewell, and C.W. Anderson, however fictitiously, palatably glossed-over.

[Jasfino]

I think the answer to that question is yes..yes.. and yes. I know they have emotions. Most are smarter than me.. on the average. I do believe they have souls, to me that is the part that I can feel when I am around them. As far as their different personalities go, they are just like humans. Some make us smile, some make us frustrated, and others make us wonder. :D

[CarolU]

Of course! My evidence:

Look how many horses have their 'people' outsmarted! ROFL!!!!

You also notice WHO works to feed WHO!

[Terry Wallace]

Not enough poll choices....

Do horses love...sure (each other..not humans)
Do horses have emotions...absolutely...so do dogs, cats, ducks...etc

[DebbieS]

When we're around, they are always biting, butting, kicking, and otherwise subtly abusing one another, but when you watch them out in the pasture, they lie down together, groom each other, rest up against each other, play, et.

I have HUMAN kids exactly like that!

I believe horses are MUCH smarter than humans give them credit for. They can tell, instantly, how 'savvy' the person is who gets on them. They can sense fear from us and act accordingly, and they can tell if we're pretending to be relaxed (Listo won't budge if I'm not totally relaxed), and know if we really are relaxed (like going into a huge parade and trusting us because we think it's fun, they relax and have fun too).

I think horses can read us WAY better than we can read them ;-)

[motorgypsy]

The horse is an alien species. Not only are they a prey animal which makes them completely different but they are also a herd animal with all the social skills needed to survive in a herd. Yes we belong in a troop but we're agressive predators. We're like people born blind having visual experiences described to us and trying to understand them when we try to communicate with horses. Their world is so alien and their needs are very different but they do love and grieve and problem solve and read body language so well. You can't lie to your horse. They read your mind at a level far below consciousness. It's amazing how we hold ourselves superior to other species when we can't even communicate with many of them. I suspect they understand us a lot better than we understand them. So who's dumber?????

[GeorgeGuns]

The stuff I have been going through with Bri, and a few other horses here - if I didn't already KNOW horses are emotional and telepathic, I'd be darned convinced now. There is a LOT that has happened that has not made it to the BB, if anyone wants to know specifially why I am adamant that horses not only have these qualities but surpass us in the purity and nonjudgemental use of them, you may PM me.

The Horse Ancestors ROCK!

[Edurne]

Certainly they show concern, I was witness this past weekend to a group of horses, licking and pawing at their dead companion (he had coliced overnight).
They show protectiveness - momma & uncle watching over two foals lying flat asleep by the fence, we worried foals would get stuck and went over, other momma (queen momma who had been munching a few yards away) came over to check out what we were doing.
Sense of humour - Primero is a smartypants alec.
:lol:

[sporthorse]

how can we socialize humans now:-??I'd like to see the way the horse opened up for all that can reach for help.and :smile: also for the disabled.I am a dreamer and romantic admittedly but I believe in the goodness in people and horses can bring that about :idea .That is the way I feel :roll: if that seems a touch much, : so Sorry!

[Carol Nelson]

I will never forget what the dear woman who trained me and taught me 90% of what I know about horses told me when we started together. She said in the 25 years of working with horses (she barrel raced, team penned, did endurance riding, and studied dressage with German masters in Denver)...she told me, "After all these years of working with horses, I knew lots of "stuff"!" But she said, "It was only until I learned to observe and to really "live with" the horse that I started to really "know" about horses."
I've taken what she taught me and I've expanded on it in myself. Instead of telling the horse...I ask it. Instead of mastering it...I listen to it. And boy, do they speak volumes!
Do they read our minds? Yes...sometimes I will be working outside and carrying on a sort of mental conversation with a horse, only to look up and find that horse staring at me intently. Then I wonder...was this only in my imagination...or were we really communicating?
Another woman who has really opened my mind to such things is a good friend who is an animal communicator. She has shown and taught me things I couldn't even fathom before.
We need to shut our mouths more and just pay attention to what these creatures are telling us. Are women the only ones in-tune with horses, no, I believe there are some men that really "get" it once they put aside their masculine macho acts and become sensitive to this creature called Equus that they are working with.
What a place to start learning about this world around us...with this magnificent partner we call Horse!