Dogs vs. Horses – Who’s Smarter?
Measuring intelligence—whether between humans or completely different species—is tricky. Part of the problem is that there are so many kinds of intelligence to consider. And when it comes to horses and dogs, things get especially complicated. There is no simple answer to the question of whether horses are smarter than dogs or not.
Dogs are trained as companions to help blind people. In addition, they are great friends for kids who need someone to share their stories and secrets with. In addition, service dogs provide emotional support for people with mental health issues. Some parents who have a dog may use it to teach their children about responsibility.
Horses are also great companions. Of course, you can’t keep horses as a pet, but there are other ways to interact with them. Because horses are receptive, they can help you deal with bad moods. Coming to the farm for a walk and horseback ride is a great opportunity to interact with the horse, do sports and achieve new goals.
When it comes to emotional intelligence, dogs and horses are big competitors. Dogs can interact with people and respond with respect. Studies say that dogs’ brain activity increases when they see their owners.
There are opinions that horses feel the emotions of others. That is why it is not recommended to go to horse when you are angry. But when you are sad, horses can comfort you and lift your spirits. There is a unique procedure called hippotherapy that involves horses. The idea is to help patients through contact with horses, including communication with them and riding.
Another aspect of measuring the intelligence of animals is how quickly they can learn a new skill and remember this new knowledge. At first glance, it may seem that dogs have the upper hand in this matter. We all know that dogs are capable of learning countless skills, from the simple “sit” to more complex actions. They also retain this information throughout their lives.
But while learning tricks is more common in dogs than in horses, even a horse can learn and remember.
Horses and dogs train the same way. Both respond to rewards and associate certain behaviors with concomitant responses. The rate at which a dog or horse learns depends more on the skill of the trainer than on the intelligence of the individual animal. Both horses and dogs can understand and remember learned skills.
So, can we decide who is smarter?
While horses have vital emotional intelligence and intuition that are hard to beat, dogs learn new skills quickly and adapt well to life with people. Both types of animals have impressive cognitive abilities, and the data shows that both horses and dogs have their own strengths and weaknesses.
So, the answer is that it is impossible to decide who is smarter (and we don’t want to decide).
Bibliography
https://equestrianco.com/blogs/latest/how-intelligent-are-horses
https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2017/01/12/509451392/how-smart-are-horses
https://www.fitbark.com/blog/can-dogs-have-horses-best-friends/
