I do have to wonder how stupid horses are.

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BBH

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When you see the scrapes and mess they get into they can't be very intelligent can they - just saying.

Running into dangerous obstacles without a thought for any self preservation.

Getting caught / trapped in silly places.

Eating poisonous stuff or over gorging on normal stuff.

Having to repeat a training issue zillions of times before they oblige and get it right.

Doing their best to resist any medication we need to give to help them get better.

Far more stupid than is good for them really.

In fact not being able to survive without human intervention is prob the worst.

Any others we can think of

:D:D:D
 
Haha I do wonder how much being trainable is related to their intelligence though, I think my horse is clever and she is very trainable when she wants to be, but quite to opposite if she doesn't feel like it! She is intelligent enough to know better!
 
If they were the mental giants of the animal world they wouldn't let us silly humans ride them, would they? Somewhere there is an animal IQ study that concluded that horses are indeed not the brightest, but they are amongst the most trainable. I think it was goats, donkeys and dolphins at the top end of the scale, along with pigs and dogs.
 
I think cats are the cleverest animals ... if i was to judge dogs on my dog..ermm ..they would be at the bottom of the list :o (bless her) and my old horse..he was very clever .. he kept us both alive through a million 'adventures'!! lol
 
Most of the daft stuff they do is 'man made' tho, the little natives left on the moors seem to manage without human intervention - and they must have survived a few million years of evolution without us. Only when we breed their characteristics to suit ourselves did it all go to pot!
 
Digger i do accept that horses have *slightly* higher IQ's than sheep but I did read somewhere that they are less intelligent than chickens!
 
Sheep are not stupid and do not have a mission to die. People trot this out all the time and it shows a lack of understanding of how a sheep works. When a sheep is ill, it does all it can to appear normal for as long as it can. Once it is showing signs of being ill, it is very ill indeed. A real stock person will pick up the fact the sheep is not quite right well before it shows obvious signs.

I don't find horses stupid either, there is always a reason for their behaviour that makes sense to them.
 
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Not all of them,

My wifes Conemara will work a coach bolt, untie knots , works out how to lift off or slide out barriers. He only poos in one place in his stable (malkes mucking out a joy). You can see him working things out, a bit like a velosoraptor - makes a noise like one aswell if he sees or smells something he doesn't like.

(My boys are as thick as pig *****.)
 
I think that horses are very emotionally intelligent. I do believe they can have a certain amount of empathy (not my mare though even though I love her to bits and she's like a dog in that she can learn all kinds of clever tricks). I believe that some horses think a lot about things (again not my mare :D).
 
I think there are varying degrees of intelligence and cunning. My new mare is scarily intelligent and it makes her the type who would learn bad behaviour very easily (she came with lots of bad behaviours). However it also means she learns good behaviour quickly too.
 
Its called self preservation in there world they are animals not humans, If they get caught up or trapped its usually through fear, if you present them with drugs or medicine to eat they will not understand its to help them, they mainly eat the wrong plants because some idiot human has starved them and there is nothing else.
I would think most horses think you to be pretty stupid too, for not having any understanding!
 
Neither of our mares are stupid, far from it. Like lots of horses, mine can untie herself. Except she does it when your back is turned, & slowly. First step, loosen knot, return to net when human is looking. Second, pull lr so just end remains in twine, return to net. Thirdly, pull lr to floor, return to net. Then angle head so lr remains to one side where it can't be trod on. Then run! If human proceeds faffing during this plan, rest hind leg & pretend you have no interest in lr. Instead, continue whilst they are picking feet out, ready to run when last foot back down.
The other is bottom of the pecking order for the gate, & if my mare isn't out she has difficulty getting to it. What she does is race up to most dominant & nip legs, & generally pick a fight till he is annoyed enough to give chase across the field, & the others end up charging round too. Then being far nippier, she races back to gate & is safely out before the others make it back.
 
I get up at 6.30, I prepare their meals, wait for them to finish, wash their bowls, turn them out on nice grassy paddocks, bring them in if the weather is bad, make sure they have plenty of hay to keep them occupied, clean their stables, wash water buckets and refill with fresh water, bring them in for their tea and ensure they are happy and settled for the night. Who's stupid?????
 
My pony is very clever and learns stuff in a few days, but like all of them if he panics........, although having said that, when he got stuck in a stupid barrier thing, I managed to calm him long enough to undo his saddle and release him, but on the whole, yea equines can be soooooo stupid.
 
Both of mine had enough intelligence to stand still if they get stuck, for example when one stood on his reins (stupid me that time) or getting a stirrup leather stuck over the gate. Maybe the things i think are stupid - scary cyclist coming towards - make sense to my horse?
 
My horse is probably looking at a thread on the barn internet called "I do have to wonder how stupid humans are."

Doesn't matter how much you balk, buck, or bolt -- they keep on with the same bad riding.
 
I think its dangerous for a horse to be as stupid as Andy.

I once put him in the field which had a little paddock to the side with the gate open but he galloped in there and then bombed round like a looney for 20mons because he thought he was stuck. :rolleyes:

He's not allowed haynets after trying to hang himself with one.

Sometimes he walks halfway in the stable but gets really scared for no reason so backs out like a rate of knotsand bangs his head on the top door. This happens on a weekly basis. :eek:
 
Caol Ila said:
My horse is probably looking at a thread on the barn internet called "I do have to wonder how stupid humans are."

Doesn't matter how much you balk, buck, or bolt -- they keep on with the same bad riding.
Click to expand...

Ha hahahahahahaaaa!!! I like this! I def think that's what Malteser thought of me...
 
Aye, mine has wondered this for years.

On a more serious note, I saw the Cloud documentary about mustangs and there was no question that those horses were sensitive and intelligent. Not all domestically bred horses will be, of course, because those are not necessarily traits humans want to breed for. You may find domestic horses who are dumb as posts, but in feral herds, such an animal wouldn't last long.
 
Reg is very bright when ridden, but on the ground he needs almost constant supervision. He almost killed himself with the stable door (managed to tie himself to it, and then took it for a walk round his stable). He rolled on a flint, got up because it hurt, and then rolled again on the other side. He now has an enormous scar along his bum from this, as he took massive chunks of skin off. He is a very handsome Baldrick from Blackadder- his thinking face is hilarious.

Bee on the other hand is all sharp wit and cleverness. She did attempt to cartwheel in her field and removed most of her knee in the process, but we think the donkey was egging her on.

I reckon donkeys are the equine version of cats though!
 
My ponies are sharp as tacks, about as far from stupid as a creature can be.

Not only are they great at being horses, but they are brilliant in training these daft bipeds into giving them what they want:).
 
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