The title of “smartest horse” in 2009 was awarded to a stallion from California named Lucas. The famous horse has won many fans around the world, thanks to its high intelligence. But he is not the only one who has demonstrated his mental abilities. It turns out that the horses are able to answer complex questions, perform voice commands, read and solve arithmetic problems of various levels of complexity.
Horses are smart creatures
Can horses think?
Scientists recognize that horses are endowed with intelligence. They are able to think like a person, remember and process information. The mental abilities of horses are at the level of the intelligence of a three-year-old child, but they can be developed.
The inspiring examples of intelligent horses prove that these animals can learn to count, read, answer questions and understand human speech.
Attention! According to scientists, ponies are best suited for training. English Thoroughbreds have good potential, but they are difficult to deal with due to their hot temperament.
The first smart horse named Hans
A pioneer in the field of horse training is Wilhelm von Osten, a mathematics teacher from Germany. He had a black trotting horse named Hans. The teacher decided to prove that this animal can think. He began to teach the horse to count and read. Soon the horse showed amazing results. He answered questions by nodding or shaking his head in different directions, adding and subtracting numbers, and the answer tapped out with his hoof.
The training lasted 2 years. During this time, the teacher developed a kind of alphabet, with which he could communicate with his ward. The horse answered any question, tapping out the words with its hoof. The members of the commission who assessed Hans’ abilities could not believe their eyes. They were skeptical of the claim that horses can think.
Disclosure
To find an explanation for this phenomenon, the authoritative psychologist Oskar Pfungst decided to conduct his own investigation. He suggested that the horse Hans does not really have extensive knowledge and does not solve complex problems, but only tracks the behavior and gestures of the teacher, with which he guesses the answer.
The psychologist explained that the animal subtly feels and notices the slightest changes in the behavior of the teacher, such as:
- change in the rhythm of breathing;
- pulsation of the carotid artery;
- pupil dilation or constriction.
To prove this theory, the members of the commission had to be re-assembled and an experiment was carried out. Pfungst noticed that the horse was tapping its hoof as long as Osten was looking at him. As soon as the teacher takes his eyes off the legs of the horse, he stops knocking. Then it was decided to make a screen between the animal and the mathematician. Not seeing Austen, Hans was wrong in his answers.
Horse Hans
A new round in the life of the horse Hans
The professor could not stand such disappointment, left Berlin and soon fell ill. In 1909 he died. The story of the smart horse did not end there, he fell into the hands of Karl Krall, a German jeweler who was interested in the life of Hans during the life of Professor Osten.
He continued to train the stallion, using a new technique to eliminate visual contact between himself and the steed.. Krall used eye patches that prevented the horse from seeing the instructor, but at the same time he could look at the training manuals. Soon the jeweler proved that horses are smart. Hans again demonstrated his talents, he learned:
- recognize shapes;
- distinguish odors;
- put words from letters, and then sentences;
- execute different commands.
The first most intelligent horse is Hans, but he is not the only one with such unique abilities. This is exactly what Karl Krall wanted to prove. Soon he acquired two more horses that surprised the world with their ability to count.
Horse mathematicians Mohammed and Tzarif
Beginner training began immediately. Within a few days, the horses knew all the numbers from 1 to 10. Interestingly, the animals also learned zero and showed it by turning their heads to the right. Krall soon taught animals to understand tens, hundreds and thousands. According to him, the horse Mahomet was better at mathematics, and Tzarif was strong in the humanities.
The stallions worked wonders. They learned the multiplication table, mastered fractions and degrees, learned how to extract the root from a number. It took Mohammed just 10 seconds to calculate the fourth root of 456976.
Animals have learned to put letters into separate words and make sentences from them. They could answer questions and repeat what they heard, showing the correct letters. Scientists living in the early 20th century recognized that horses were highly intelligent, but it is surprising that so far no man has been able to repeat what Krall did.
smart horse
The smartest horse in the world today
In 2009, the name of the smartest horse was included in the Guinness Book of Records. This is a stallion that lives in America, in the state of California. His name is Lucas. This glorious horse has an interesting history.
Lucas belongs to the Thoroughbred horse breed. The horse did not have a career in sports. As not promising, he was put up for sale. The emaciated and unpromising stallion was bought by Karen Murdoch, who works as a dressage trainer. She hoped to train the horse, but he had a difficult character, so the woman had to deal with him in a playful way.
Gradually Lucas learned:
- catch the ball and other objects;
- make curtsies;
- stand up on hind limbs on command;
- put together words of 5 letters;
- count up to 5;
- recognize shapes and colors;
- rotate the hoop around your neck.
Reference. Lucas is famous, he has a lot of fans not only in America, but all over the world. The horse has a Facebook page and its own website.
Horses are extremely intelligent, but it takes a lot of effort to unleash their abilities. A huge role in the training of horses is played by the psychological connection of the animal with the person and the methods used by the latter. Animals, like children, learn knowledge better in a playful way. So far, the title of the smartest horse belongs to the stallion Lucas. Perhaps soon there will be new contenders for this title.
