Are horse people less intelligent than the average population?

Pale Rider

Pale Rider

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A quote from an Epona TV article, published today.

"Are horse people less intelligent than the average population? Less empathetic? Less patient? Or do we simply live in a constructed reality where keeping a 500 kilo pet is supposed to be cheap and easy? Are we in denial as to what it takes to care for a horse? Have we forgotten or perhaps never learned what a privilege it is to own one, let alone sit on top of one and ride?

We humans certainly aren't too keen on being confronted with our own shortcomings when it comes to our horsemanship. In fact, we're willing to spend good money silencing the one honest critic who could actually teach us something about horses if only we would listen.... the horse."

The whole article is well worth a read. You really have to think about some of the threads and posts on the Horse and Hound Forum over the years when thinking about the answer to the question.
 
Not me, measured IQ over 150.

However, I must say I have met some proper idiots who are horsey, but also some who are not.

You'll get a normal distribution as intelligence (if measured in now outdated forms like IQ) is a spectrum of values.
 
scarymare said:
Not me, measured IQ over 150.

However, I must say I have met some proper idiots who are horsey, but also some who are not.

You'll get a normal distribution as intelligence (if measured in now outdated forms like IQ) is a spectrum of values.
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me too and there are allsorts of intelligence levels amongst horse owners just as in every other field whether they listen to their horse has very little to do with intelligence I am afraid
 
I read the article from a link on my facebook page. It was basically saying that if a horse has a problem the owner needs to sort it out and not leave doing anything about it till it impacts on the owners use and enjoyment of the horse.
 
Ha probably ... After all, I get up at silly o'clock every day to shovel poo, spend all spare time out in all weathers, begrudge buying myself clothes and yet think nothing of spending out in a new combo rug. And so it goes on.
(wouldn't change a thing though).
 
Are horse people less intelligent than the average population?

No, I'd say idiocy is fairly endemic. They do say that the two most common things in the universe are stupidity and hydrogen...
 
Pale Rider said:
You really have to think about some of the threads and posts on the Horse and Hound Forum over the years when thinking about the answer to the question.
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Honestly I just think its forums, you should see what some people ask on the children/ pregnancy forums about babies !!!!! That is more scary.

I think the population in general has less and less common sense (there's no exam in that so why bother to learn it) and less and less self responsibility (everything is always someone else's fault) the two combined result in lots of people doing lots of stupid things.
 
LOL - what a complete and utter waste of paper. That is if anyone was interested enough to print it! Personally there would only be one use for it if I had been stupid enough (ha ha) to waste ink, paper and time!
 
mcnaughty said:
LOL - what a complete and utter waste of paper. That is if anyone was interested enough to print it! Personally there would only be one use for it if I had been stupid enough (ha ha) to waste ink, paper and time!
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Please could you explain the reasons why you hold this opinion?
 
Ignoring my recent demonstration of confusion (even though I'm not unintelligent, I obviously can get very confused at times) , part of the article seem to focus on the gadgets that people can use to "fix" their horses, like for example the Masterrein (Link to description of Masterrein). I think that I understand what it does, and they will probably sell, but if they're any good for the horse...

I especially like the following part
from the article :
''If the feed bag says "low in starch" - don't just believe it. Read the label and compare to other products. If a piece of equipment promises to help your horse move better, don't just believe it. Think about what the gizmo does and understand how it actually helps before you use it. If a trainer claims to be "humane" or "ethical", find out exactly what that means to them before you let them anywhere near your horse.''
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:o
 
Well if the quote from palerider was correct, the author of the article wasn't that bright! You cannot conflate IQ and EQ (includng empathy) the two things are not interchangable, some people with officially low IQ have very high EQ, and vice versa. I would imagine (no research that I know of) that the horse ownng public would reflect the same IQ and EQ range as others from the same or similar socio-economic groups.
 
teasle said:
Please could you explain the reasons why you hold this opinion?
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LOL - if you have read the article then I would have thought no explanation was needed! If you do need an explanation then perhaps I should eat my words and agree with the article!
 
I'm a little concerned, but I think they might have a point. Not that horse owners are all thick - that's patently absurd - but that a significant proportion of the equestrian community demonstrate questionable logic when it comes to problem solving. The electric shock door kicker is a bit alarming for one.

On the other hand, I also don't believe that the only reason for some of the issues they describe is pain - some horses do have a cheeky side, they aren't machines, and sometimes ignoring a minor issue (occasional buck/face pulling / head shake) is reasonably rational. Unfortunately sometimes individiuals fail to differentiate between a daft moment / unfounded protest and an actual pain / distress response, or fail to respond in an appropriate manner. Nothing to do with them being thick because they're horsey, everything to do with a certain proportion of the population being thick, poorly educated or lacking in empathy.


TwoStroke said:
No, I'd say idiocy is fairly endemic. They do say that the two most common things in the universe are stupidity and hydrogen...
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Two things are infinite - the universe and people's stupidity. And I'm not sure about the former :D
 
Thought provoking article. The bit about the Master Rein had me flabbergasted: my instructor would not be impressed if my hands didn't give to the movement of the horse's head!
 
About horse peoples intelligence? daft, emotive and un-necessary comment, interesting article though, having seen first-hand lots of questionable things done to horses over the years to fix 'problems' I can see where they are coming from.

The electric shock thingy seems very extreme.
Isn't your horse supposed to feel safe and relaxed in his stable? Can't see that happening with one of those sitting on the wall. Don't think I would ever get my horse back in there if I used one of these.
As for the master rein, well, words fail me :(
 
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JFTD said:
I'm a little concerned, but I think they might have a point. Not that horse owners are all thick - that's patently absurd - but that a significant proportion of the equestrian community demonstrate questionable logic when it comes to problem solving. The electric shock door kicker is a bit alarming for one.

On the other hand, I also don't believe that the only reason for some of the issues they describe is pain - some horses do have a cheeky side, they aren't machines, and sometimes ignoring a minor issue (occasional buck/face pulling / head shake) is reasonably rational. Unfortunately sometimes individiuals fail to differentiate between a daft moment / unfounded protest and an actual pain / distress response, or fail to respond in an appropriate manner.
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^^ there are behavioural signs of when a horse is misbehaving through discomfort and others when it is due to pain. Although some undoubtedly seem to have a sense of humour or play, most horses only act consistantly badly due to pain or due to confusion and many, many people never question themselves (or their trainers) and what they are doing or teaching the horse to do.
I don't actually believe that people are inherently bad or that they don't want the best for their horse but too may of them can't think outside the box and aren't very observant.
 
I think it's an excellent article and well argued.

I'm not sure why people are getting their knickers in a twist about it :D It doesn't contain the statement "Horse people are less intelligent than the general population", it simply asks you to supply your own argument, given the facts that they present, to show that horse people are indeed just as intelligent as anybody else. You do need to read the article, before deciding whether you think the statement is warranted or not.

And given the facts they present, you have to work to come up with examples of horse people showing that they are indeed just as intelligent.

If they were talking about Emotional Intelligence (to the extent that it is, in fact, a measurable construct with good validity), they'd have said so ;) However given that some of the examples do illustrate a shocking lack of empathy, I wonder why they didn't actually start off with the statement "Horse people are much less emotionally intelligent than the general population" :D
 
I retired at 29 and spend my life doing exactly what I want , I have horses I am stupider than the general population mmmm.
 
scarymare said:
Not me, measured IQ over 150.

However, I must say I have met some proper idiots who are horsey, but also some who are not.

You'll get a normal distribution as intelligence (if measured in now outdated forms like IQ) is a spectrum of values.
Click to expand...

Ah, I agree with all that. Apparantly, I have quite a high I.Q. too and used to do well in those stupid psychometric tests that are supposed to show whether you are godsgift to salesmanship or whatever - but I have me doubts how good any of them are. I reckon it's much the same as dressage or skating scores - highly suspect.

For starters - to do an I.Q. test, you need to be able to read - no wonder most people think horses are daft and birds are birdbrained - how many who say that have attempted to fly through a thorn bush at 30mph or jumped around an event course carrying some other animal that isn't that good at balancing?

I've met two girls who had the combined brainpower of the pair on the "Philadelphia" adverts but most other folk were above the average I'd say - in every way - better educated, better able to use it, more worldly and outgoing.
 
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