Who is smarter/more trainable, your horse or your dog?

[BBP]

I have a border collie and a PRE x Welsh b, both notoriously intelligent breeds. I’ve been doing some exercises with both that make me wonder who is the smartest (or more trainable depending on your view of intelligence). For example, teaching the dog to send away to a point, I put an object (piece of yoga mat) out and bait it with food, ask the dog to run out to it and lie down. Dog kind of gets it but it’s not always a straight line out, he gets distracted, meanders, finds other more fun things to do. Same exercise with the pony, put a jump block out baited with food. Within 4 repetitions pony just gets it and trots off directly to it and stops, even at a distance of 60m away, and often recalls back nicely too (haven’t mastered the lie down yet!). Pony also got the hand of picking up and retrieving toy on first session, Spanish walk on first session, lifting feet at a point on first session, dropping nose to floor on first session. I can also loose school the horse and get him to jump a single jump block at liberty, again learned in one session.
The dog does not recognise his toys, he picks his own option, he doesn’t fully understand sending away or around or over things. (He’s a year old and super duper laid back as border collie go, unless there is a bird or airplane flying overhead to chase! I’m not saying he’s stupid at all, I think he’s very bright and I haven’t learned the key to training him yet so its trainer rather than dog intelligence) But it did get me thinking that my horse is actually pretty blooming sharp in the brains and learning department!!

So I wondered how all yours compare?

(Speaking of brains, no idea how this all came to be in italics, both my dog and my horse could probably have figured out how to switch that off)

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Gray is too intelligent for his own good ... he has mastered undoing any knot - even double knotted, he knows how to escape out of his stable, he knows to go straight to the field when he goes out in the morning by himself but coming back in in the evening is another matter! I have to drag him in by his rug else he wanders!

The dogs arent mine thankfully and they are so badly behaved so thats not my problem! The shetlands are too bloomin intelligent too!

In fact never get a shetland nor a tb!!!

 

[Red-1]

Neither, my OH is the most trainable of the lot!

 

[madamebonnie]

Both of mine are very clever. And very good at getting their own way. But maybe that says more about me as a trainer than them 😉

Its all about finding the motivation for dogs. We've had some collies that are just people pleasers, some are food motivated and some are toy motivated.

 

[DabDab]

Not sure really...I think the most intelligent of my dogs and horses is the Westie, who is also the least trainable 😜

 

[Snitch]

Good thread! Sometimes, could it be the owner’s ability to train, rather than the response of the animal? I remember years ago someone I knew who had a lovely border collie. The dog was super bright, but the owner had NO CLUE how to nurture the dog’s intelligence and capability.

 

[Translationsneeded]

In my house it goes 1st dog smartest (springer) horse next then second dog. Both dogs brought up the same but the second one ain’t blessed with brains

 

[JFTDWS]

The collie, by about a million miles - he's desperate to please and loves to be told he's done good. The ponies are smart but too busy looking for an easy way out, the mare likes to please but has a low attention threshold.

 

[blitznbobs]

My dog - it’s a no brainer, he desperately wants to please me and if I get out the training box (treats and toys etc) he bounces up and down with excitement... he is a poodle which are renowned for being the cleverest breed and having owned lots of different dog breeds - I believe it, but the horses are nowhere near as quick to learn as he is...

 

[ihatework]

My Labrador and my giant horse are pretty similar, both moderately intelligent and easy to train and very kind hearted.

My baby horse is far more intelligent and will likely be more challenging to train!

 

[paddy555]

I have a young criollo and a young GSD so both reasonably intelligent breeds. It is a no brainer, the horse is light years ahead of the dog in training, co-operation and intelligence, millions of light years in fact. I cannot believe a dog can be so thick and a horse so easy to train. Teach the horse something 3 times maximum and he has got it. Teach the dog 3000 times and it hasn't sunk in. It was only after the dog came that I realised how intelligent and easy to train and break all my youngsters had ever been.

 

[Gloi]

My cat has got me really well trained.

 

[ROMANY 1959]

My cocker dog is so intelligent, far more so than the cocker bitch, who does her own thing regardless.
My dog knows the names of several of his toys, and will fetch them to me for a treat, he is good off lead, recallis bril, the bitch again nose on ground and goes deaf.. I think it depends on the type of dog. My friend tried to train her westie..it was never going to happen..

 

[ponies4ever]

both of my dogs (staffie xs and rescues) are very intelligent and trainable. pick up tricks quickly and very eager to please. The horse (ID x SF) is very intelligent but very much not trainable! Smart enough to work out how to open stable door that most people struggle with, can untie herself from most knots, knows that she can bite the plastic handle on the electric fence, etc basically anything that will allow her to be a nuisance! horrifically stubborn though which makes her a Pia to train.

 

[monkeymad]

My two dogs are of doubtful parentage, but both have terrier traits - so bloody minded and untrainable. Horse is a TB and has always wanted to do the right thing and gets upset when she feels she has not done what I wanted. In fact quite similar to my dogs, who also get upset when I dont do what they want me to do..........

 

[SpringArising]

My dog is sharper. But they are both very willing to learn and please. My horse has no spacial awareness whatsoever, he is FOREVER bumping into things

 

[catkin]

Not sure really...I think the most intelligent of my dogs and horses is the Westie, who is also the least trainable 😜

Ha ha
Intelligence and trainability are not the same thing - ask any native pony - they are pretty good at training the humans though, as is the dog.

I think there's always going to be things that your average horse is going to 'get' (and want to 'get') better than your average dog, and vice versa, just because of the ways they view the world and their instincts.

 

[Bernster]

Same as gloi, my cat def finds me quite trainable!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Out of my lot is goes as follows:
The mini shetlands, Cat, 2 bigger fuzzies then dog.

In mitigation, the dog is an adult rescue, partially sighted and partially deaf, only training was being clean in house. Now 3 years on she walks nicely on lead anywhere, will recall if nothing feathery about (sigh) and will walk off lead on commons tracks with me. Pleasure to take anywhere, but a little 'slow' on uptake a lot of the time (love her to bits!)

 

[Ambers Echo]

My dog is very trainable as she is so willing to please but she is definitely not the sharpest tool in the box..... Amber learns with 1-2 repetitions. Daisy needs dozens if not hundreds.

 

[sportsmansB]

My collie 100% - she would do literally anything to be told shes a 'good girl' and get a stroke. And once she does it once and gets praise, she'll repeat repeat repeat in the hope of another kind word
The horse - meh - he does what he has to, he is smart enough but hasn't the same motivation

 

[Pinkvboots]

Gray is too intelligent for his own good ... he has mastered undoing any knot - even double knotted, he knows how to escape out of his stable, he knows to go straight to the field when he goes out in the morning by himself but coming back in in the evening is another matter! I have to drag him in by his rug else he wanders!

The dogs arent mine thankfully and they are so badly behaved so thats not my problem! The shetlands are too bloomin intelligent too!

In fact never get a shetland nor a tb!!!

Your horse sounds like one of mine he takes himself to the field but coming in he often will walk into the hay store/feed room which is next to his stable, he can untie himself no matter how you tie it and he has to have a clip on his door even if you go in with him as soon as you walk away from the door it's undone and his walking out back to the field, he picks up things really easily my instructor said his never known a horse to learn something so quickly.

 

[scruffyponies]

The ponies, definitely. I can state this quite confidently, because we thought it would be amusing to try to train the (very large) dogs to pull a little cart. Suffice to say I won't be driving them on the public road any time soon.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Depends on what breed of dog you have. We have a Labrador and a cocker, both are trained to a nice standard as they are working dogs and pick up on pheasant shoots. They are ridiculously clever, are trained to the whistle and can be flat out running, hear the stop whistle and grind to a halt. Both my horses are clever but in different ways.. specially my Welsh D, hes very smart, knows how to open his door, chucks buckets over his door, can unclip other horses, knows the word ‘treat’ and will gallop across the field if he hears that word, but not as clever as the dogs.

For instance, I trained the spaniel to roll on his back and Lab to bark on command, took them barely a few days with a session twice a day. I have been trying to train both my geldings to bow on command twice a day, my coloured cob has not got it 3 years later and still needs to be shown. My Welsh D started doing it about a year ago, so took about 2 years. Yet more simple tricks he was capable of.

Apparently predators have a higher IQ than pray animals who just eat grass etc as more intelligence is needed..

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Being a social animal also impacts intelligence and the ability to learn. So horses and dogs have that in their favour.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lions-are-the-brainiest-of-the-big-cats/

 

[SpottyMare]

Horses, dogs and cat are way too intelligent for my good..

I have sled dogs who are unbelievably intelligent and trainable (providing you have the right treat) but not necessarily obedient. They have a 'what's in it for me?' approach to life, and have been bred over generations to think for themselves (you don't want your lead dog blindly following a command to run onto thin ice for example) so training can be interesting to say the least

 

[Annagain]

Dog is definitely the smartest and the most eager to please, I'd almost go as far as desperate. She's a rescue dog and must have had an awful start in life as all she wants to do is keep you happy, almost out of fear. We've had her 12 years and although she is a lot better, she still has moments of panic when she thinks she's displeased you. I trained her to take washing out of the machine just to see if she could and to ring her door bell (wind chimes) when she wants to go out as she was so passive when we had her she'd sit by the back door waiting and if you didn't see her in time, she couldn't hold it any longer and would wee on the floor - which led to further panic and weeing! the wind chimes were a suggestion from a dog behaviourist and it worked brilliantly for years. However, now that she's getting on a bit and going a bit senile, she just rings her bell whenever she wants anything -a wee, food, attention, a nice scratch - it's exhausting!