Telepathy? Proximity sensors? How do they know??

[Landcruiser]

I have always been struck by how my horses left at home KNOW when I am approaching when I'm coming back from a hack, and neigh to my ridden horse. This has always been the case, wherever they have lived. Sometimes it could have been the sound of hoofbeats on the road (although they don't neigh at random passing horses). Sometimes an upwind approach might have given them a scent and tipped them off. But sometimes there seems no way they could know. Like today - the wind was definitely blowing quite strongly towards me and Tuga, as we approached (still several hundred yards away) through the woods at the back of our house. Soft underfoot, no earthly way we could have been heard. And yet the other two unmistakeably neighed a greeting/recognition neigh. How do they know??
They also do it when transported. Tortuga will often neigh from the trailer as we come level with the end of our fields, even though he can't see out from the trailer. Pat (still at home) will be neighing too, not sure which of them neighs first. It's very strange...does anyone else notice this?

 

[PipsqueakXy22]

They probably recognise the sound of your horses hoof beat because every horse’s is different, I guess it’s similar to when I’m at home I can tell if it’s my mum, my dad, or my OH coming down the stairs.
also horses hearing is far better to human hearing so they can probably hear you coming even when you seem quite far away

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

Maybe the horses left at home neigh at regular intervals but you only hear them when you are coming back ?

 

[HashRouge]

Don't forget that they have much more sensitive hearing than we do, so you might think that there is no way they can have heard you, but that is based on your own hearing.

 

[Burnttoast]

Maybe the horses left at home neigh at regular intervals but you only hear them when you are coming back ?

If my neighbour's horses are anything to go by, this ^^ Although she is leaving only one, so the left horse is correspondingly more desperate.

 

[SEL]

I had to transport horses one by one to the new place and my OH waited there. He said he knew when the lorry was a few mins away because the horses would look in the direction it was coming from and neigh.

He actually thought the first time the Appy was looking the wrong way - but the transport company decided to come in from a different direction with horse #2

 

[sky1000]

There is a book: 'Dogs that know when their owners are coming home', subtitled 'and other unexplained powers of animals', by Rupert Sheldrake which is very interesting about this sort of thing.

 

[LEC]

Enzo the blind showed me how amazing their senses are. Hearing, eyesight and smell. I never take it for granted and don’t judge them on my poor senses as we only function at 30% of their capacity.

 

[Landcruiser]

They probably recognise the sound of your horses hoof beat because every horse’s is different, I guess it’s similar to when I’m at home I can tell if it’s my mum, my dad, or my OH coming down the stairs.
also horses hearing is far better to human hearing so they can probably hear you coming even when you seem quite far away

But when it's windy like today, and we are slowly picking our way through leaf litter and grass downwind 300m away in thick woods?

Maybe the horses left at home neigh at regular intervals but you only hear them when you are coming back ?

Nope. I've asked OH (at home) many times. They only neigh as we approach. Old horse never been bothered about being left, and now there are two being left together even less likely they'll create.

I wonder if they have some sense we don't know about, I can't see that it's hearing or smell, because of the trailer experiences.

 

[eahotson]

Telepathy is also possible.I think humans used telepathy to communicate before we got speech.Very few of us have the ability now but possibly if we all lost our speech the ability would come back.

 

[Abacus]

I once took a horse (let’s call him horse 1) to visit my other horse out on loan for a hack. They had been field chums before. Horse 1 had never been to this yard before. The last 5 or so miles were windy lanes with lots of yards and horses in fields. Horse 1 was quiet for the whole hours journey until the last 200 yards when he started neighing like mad. As did apparently horse 2, although I couldn’t hear it as he was in his stable. I guess horse 1 could have caught the scent of his old pal nearby.

 

[Red-1]

When our gazebo was built, the workman was here for over a week. He said he always knew when I was on my way home as Rigsby would start looking for me and whinnying. He thought it was just the time of day, but one day I was home early and he knew...

He insisted it was long enough that he wouldn't have been able to hear the car too.

But then, the dogs hang out by the French doors looking for Mr Red for ages too. They generally sit there for 20 minutes before he gets home. They aren't as accurate though as, if he is late, they don't look out for him early.

OP, could it have simply been the average length of ride was up?

 

[littleshetland]

I went through a period of taking my horse training once a week for many weeks at varying times and days of the week. On our route, which regularly took us on a city ring road with alot of traffic, we would pass a lovely chestnut horse turned out in his paddock. Without fail, he would look up from grazing and call to my boy who was in the trailer, and watch us drive past. I had no idea who this horse was - he'd never met my horse, but he just seemed to know when we passed by. There was a constant roar of traffic, so I don't think he could recognise the specific sound of an Ifor Williams horse trailer, but he always knew we were there, passing by. Amazing!

 

[sky1000]

Red-1 I don't think I have understood your third paragraph. But what you are talking about is what is in the book I mentioned, and I find it really interesting

This isn't the same thing, but interesting too. My daughter and her boyfriend who she lives with took on a cat from a rescue, that normally the rescue wouldn't have let go, because he was so angry, but they figured that he might be better in a home, as they weren't getting anywhere with him. The rescue thought he had been abandoned. My daughter thought that she would have been very angry had she been abandoned, and she and her boyfriend took him. This was in October. He was still very angry, and hid and wouldn't come out from where he was hiding. Although he did eat and go in his tray if he was left alone. Anyway, in December, when suddenly people weren't allowed to travel for Christmas, which my daughter had just been packing for, and she was distraught and couldn't sleep, she was sitting on her sofa, and heard cat approaching noises. She was astonished, but he came and sat next to her on the sofa. Ever since then he has been the friendliest cat .

 

[marmalade76]

My YO told me one of my former ponies knew when I was on my way, from the time he neighed to the time I arrived, she reckoned I was half a mile away when he knew. And it's not just a time thing 'cause I'd turn up at all sorts of times in the summer.

 

[Red-1]

Red-1 I don't think I have understood your third paragraph. But what you are talking about is what is in the book I mentioned, and I find it really interesting

I meant that, if he is late, they have no clue and wait forever, but if he is early, they miss him coming back as they haven't started to look. So, they are not accurate at 'predicting' his return. I guess it is all about how hungry they are!

 

[sky1000]

Red-1 thank you I see. Yes it does seem as if your horses are better at it than your dogs! Well, Rigsby.

 

[Rokele55]

All our dogs and hounds have been able to tell when their 'important ' people are coming several minutes before they arrive. We always knew when a certain amateur huntsman was on his way, the hounds started singing about 5 minutes before he pulled up in the yard. Current dog suddenly got very excited on a walk and began pulling madly for home, my grandson had turned up unexpectedly and She knew absolutely he was there from half a mile away. The horses were the same, always knew who was where. They have senses we know nothing about and are, I believe, far cleverer than us clodhopping humans in so many ways.

 

[Frano]

Henry Blake wrote a lot about this in his books. Still available second hand.

 

[GreyDot]

I'm at a small DIY yard and you can always tell when certain owners are on their way as their horses start to neigh and look out for them. They are usually about 3 or 4 minutes away. I've been told mine does exactly the same thing before I arrive. They definitely recognise the cars, but to start 3 minutes ahead, their hearing must be so good!

 

[J&S]

When I was at grass livery with other horses as well as mine i always found mine were at the gate when I got there, but that could be a timing thing, they know exactly what time is feeding time by the tummy clock!
More strangely, when i lived in London, SW, pretty central near Victoria bus station I had two lurchers, mum and son. Apparrantly every one knew well before I was home that I was on my way, even in dense London traffic.