Horses Senses

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Tia

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Prompted by another post.

Do you think that horses sense death? And if so, how recent would this death have to have occurred to cause distress to a living horse?

Do horses sense danger? Explain why or how you think this is possible or not as the case may be.

Do horses sense who likes them and who doesn't? How do they make this judgement?

Any other senses which have suggested to you that horses either know more or less than you do??

I have a particular interest in your replies due to an on-going theory I have, so I welcome all replies.
 
Well Corroy has no sense, but the only thing I can say is that if I don't like someone, neither does she. I know it sounds odd, but it's true. I guess she just picks up on my feelings. I hope that other people don't work this out or she will give away my secrets
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Are you interested in horses sensing death of horses or death of other animals? I have only experience of one of these!
 
One of my previous horses was an excellent judge of character! He HATED my OH at the time, if he was around, Vince used to watch him out of the corner of his eye, when he got closer Vince would slowly pick up a back foot and slowly start to swing it while eyeing up my OH!
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He bit him once as well! Was an absolute angel to everyone else
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I think they pick up on a lot of things we don't. Not because of any mircle powers, but because we don't use most of our natural instincts anymore, due to our advanced lifestyles.
 
Horses have a sense of danger which are related to their instincts.

I believe the most accute sense that sets it off are in order smell, hearing and eyesight. Their sense of smell and hearing being far greater than that of humans.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Prompted by another post.

Do you think that horses sense death? And if so, how recent would this death have to have occurred to cause distress to a living horse?

Do horses sense danger? Explain why or how you think this is possible or not as the case may be.

Do horses sense who likes them and who doesn't? How do they make this judgement?

Any other senses which have suggested to you that horses either know more or less than you do??

I have a particular interest in your replies due to an on-going theory I have, so I welcome all replies.

[/ QUOTE ]
I was first down at a bit yard I was at a couple of years ago, most horses were out 24/7, I walked up to the fields had heard a really wierd 'scream' noise, and every horse stopped grazing and looked in a certain direction. Went to put my mare out a few mins later and walking back noticed the old pony not in his field, checked the yard, not in his stable - found him in a deep ditch, stuck. Between YO and quite a few helpers managed to get him out and he made a full recovery.


If it had'nt been for that noise and the horses re-action, I probably would'nt have noticed anything and not checked on the poor old pony. It was like they all knew something was wrong.
 
Yes I've had the same thing happen when I used to pass the knackers in England.

Do you believe that horses could sense death that has happened over 30 years ago...and not necessarily of their species?
 

I think horses respond to other horse's fear or upset, quite directly.

Recently a pony on our yard was being clipped. He didn't like it much and at one point made a squeally noise. My mare couldn't see him at all but she heard it and was instantly ready for flight - her heart was hammering and she was trembling - it totally terrified her.

Also had a horse slip in the stable and all the others neighed/whinnied to him (in support???)

As another poster has said i think the enhanced sight/smell/hearing etc has a lot to do with it - plus being a prey animal their survival instincts are very strong. They can sense fear in other animals. definitely.
 
This is probably more due to their sense of smell but a few years ago my mum used to hack with some friends round our local bridleway every weekend - for a few weeks without fail the horses would all play up at a certain point - napping, tense and spooky.

A few weeks later the place was swarming with police - a dead body had been found dumped there! creepy!
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Yes I've had the same thing happen when I used to pass the knackers in England.

Do you believe that horses could sense death that has happened over 30 years ago...and not necessarily of their species?

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wouldn't have thought so... but then you never know
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- I have always thought horses reactions were triggered by sounds, smells etc. Hence the smell of the knackers.... But I am naturally sceptical...
 
It all gets a bit weird because if you think about how many creatures share a piece of land with a horse - say from ants upwards, there is ALWAYS death going on around them

We did have a youngish lamb die recently in an accident and the horses were aware something was up - but I'm convinced that that was because the sheep were upset and making a fair old racket.

I walk my horses over the road where I have lost cats, within hours sometimes and they don't react.

This weekend we will be killing sheep and I don't expect any reaction from the horses but will keep a good eye open as they will actually be on the yard whilst it's happening - they won't be able to see but nor will the sheep that are "waiting" either. I expect that they will be interested when the sheep arrive alive on the yard but not distressed in anyway.

Having said all that I know two places to do with suicide and in both places all my horses spook. It was only when I was complaining about the horses spooking that I was told about the suicides. One was relatively recent - about 10 years before I was having problems - and was where the guy hanged himself. The other was where a suicide was buried on the edge of the parish boundary by a crossroad but he'd died a couple of hundred years before.
 
Okay so my story is this; tell me what you all think.

A neighbour has a beautiful farm - very preened and treelined driveway leading to fabulous turning area.

This neighbour has bought 4 horses from me - all are wonderfully quiet horses and never caused me a days worry or concern since buying them all a couple of years ago. She has ridden them many many times at my farm and out on the trails off-property and all have behaved as impeccably as normal.....however

.....every time I have taken any of mine over to her place, they have been a little anxious. They still behave but they sort of tippy-toe and fuss instead of standing perfectly still as usual. My horse that I ride the most is Jet. He has been trucked all over, he goes to cattle meets and weird and wonderful farms and never does he act up or do anything that is not expected of him - but at her farm even he doesn't like to stand still.

Now even the horses she has purchased from me are well behaved anywhere else on her farm except for at this turning area.

Now I've been here since 2004 and this has happened every single time I go to her farm. We joked often about it and then about a month ago I was speaking to an old farmer from these parts and he mentioned the "killing house" that used to be in the centre of what is now the turning area.....

Now this was the first we all knew about this killing house so I did a little bit of checking up and it was torn down about 30 years ago but it was confirmed that the turning area was exactly where it was situated.

Bizarre? Any rational explanations?
 
Maybe an ingrained smell is left on the site of the "killing house"... that we would never pick up on. Do dogs behave strangely round there/???
 
No the dogs are all fine. It's just the horses - and it's every horse - even my other neighbours have anxious horses when round there - and they also have really quiet and obedient horses.
 
years ago i took my pony on a riding holiday and when we were riding in a big field we were told that the big tree up ahead used to be a hangman's gibbet. sure enough, when we got there, my (rock-solid, patent safety first pony) lad shied away from it. hmm. could have been because i was a useless scaredy-cat kid, though, and he picked up on my emotions.
 
Thats wierd then as if it was smell you would of thought the dogs would pick up on it!

Maybe its like when you walk somewhere and a shiver runs down your spine and you later find out that something nasty occured in that spot!
 
thats very strange.
I dont know what to think if I am honest- seems to often to be coicidence but I am not really a beleiver of such things normally.
I do think horses pick up on things that we miss. My horses walk the stable yard until about 10 at night ( obv its pitch black by then) and when I went up one night they all literally stopped eating turned round and grew to about 20hhs.They formed a line in front of me and then started trying to push through the fence.
2 hours later the police knocked at my door asking if I had seen anything as a man had been reported prowling.
i think they are just more fine tuned than us to noise and smell.
 
I think that as horses have highly developed senses all round, sight, small, hearing, taste and touch, all much more acute than ours, whose to say thet can't also pick up on other vibrations that are lost to us?

Christiamas, maybe the horses ARE picking up on something there, even though it's from so long ago.

When I was a child we used to ride our ponies on a route around the edge of the Essex marshes. Not the most most hospitable area in the world, it was a often a windy and bleak place. But the ponies always seemed OK about it, they'd happily go past derelict barns and sheds when there was old doors and stuff banging in the wind. Until we got to a little old chapel, and we always had a really hard job to get them past it. it later transpired that the chapel was used for black magic rituals, with a pentacle and secret symbols painted around inside it...grown up stuff...not kids messing about....
 
Without doubt, Yes

Our experience:

I'd had my old mare for nearly a lifetime and we shared a very special bond.

It was a very warm late spring evening and after our chores my husband and I cracked open a bottle of wine and went for our walk around the paddocks with the horses.

They all came up to us as usual and again as normal gradually one by one they resumed to grazing apart from my mare.

She wouldn't leave us alone, she wanted to be stroked and talked to and she shared mutual grooming us for nigh on 2 hours. We didn't realise quite how special this moment was to be.

The following morning I found her haemorrhaging , the vet was called and she was quietly PTS at home and then cremated.

It's our belief that this was her way of saying 'It's OK, I knew so don't be sad and thank you for caring'
 
Yes very much so, you only had to work a new horse in our school to know that!

The buidling at one end of the school was used as a slaughter house for many years and when they were still in most horses used be frightened of going up that end of the school, but they did get used it. It used to cause probelms on show days too. Even now although it has not been used for years the horses still find it quite spooky especialy as they do butcher the odd dear down there still.
 
I wonder what our horses would think of us if they saw us say slaughtering a cow/sheep/horse or killing another person... Would it break the bonds we have with them, would they forever be scared of us after that? With their reactions to death I would have thought so... but they always surprise us.
 
My mare was with my old horse for 9 years, day in day out. I had him PTS 3 years ago and she never showed any reaction at all!

She is very definite about who she does and doesn't like and God help you if it's the latter! I've seen her literally try to walk over a woman she didn't like who was holding her while I got on. The mare turned out to be an astute judge of character on that one!

With regard to danger, we were crossing a road once when a moron in a car came round a bend far too quickly and headed straight for us. I tried to kick her on to cross the road quickly, but she planted her feet and wouldn't move despite the fact that her hacking buddy was at the other side of the road. The car swerved and went round the front of us ending up sideways across the road. Had she done as I wanted, we would have been killed.
 
No I think they use their normal senses- sight, smell, hearing, touch etc.
Death- I think they can smell rather then sense something that has recently died. My old mare wouldn't walk passed some dead pheasants recently shot that had been put on the side of the road but was fine going passed road kill. When she was put down my other mare was there and sniffed her and that was that, she never called for her when she was taken away and never looked for her. We she was put down, it wasn't at home so Gyp never got to see her and he did call and look for her for months after.

Dangers- In the wild I think they smell a predator and react to that rather then sense them. And with dangerous ground etc I think they can hear and feel it moving so they don't stand on it.

I don't think they sense someone doesn't like them I think they pick up on body language, even if it is really small.
 
I've had a few 'strange' things on a much smaller scale...
There is a house that none of the horses like to pass. I can't say i've ever noticed but they ALL play up at it. I try and not take on sillyness and nervousness and tend to try and 'suck it up and get on with it'. I noticed one day that there are ashes burried in the garden
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I think that is just an enormous coincidence but it is odd that none of the horses in any combination like to pass that house. Perhaps there is something more sinister to it
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Also I read somewhere about a horse that used to do the same hack routinely over a long period of time and one day he planted at a bridge and refused to cross it. Owner tried her damndest to get over it and had to admit defeat... the next day the bridge collapsed
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(again could be coincidence)
Last thing- I was hacking out on a normal route that we did fairly regularly and Darce got a bit techy about a particular part of the road and walked very gingerly down it. Did this for a couple of days and then I found the body of a calf that was a little decomposed. I guess you could suggest that Darce was acting up due to the gasses being released being unpleaseant but I'd say it was him sensing the dead thing
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I think horses have some sort of 6th sense, but I'm not sure if its just that their hearing/sense of smell is so much stronger than ours
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. I think they can smell death, but I wouldn't have thought they could smell it decades later, strange!
 
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