Scientists from the University of Sussex have found in a study that horses are capable of distinguishing human facial expressions. In particular, animals are susceptible to angry and joyful faces.
In their study, researchers from the University of Sussex used about 28 horses, which were shown dozens of photographs with different facial expressions. At first, the horses were shown the faces of angry men and the animals perceived the pictures with their left eye, which is usually associated with the negative. In addition, artiodactyls had a faster heart rate and more restless behavior, which often happens in stressful situations. Experts assume that horses have previously seen angry faces and have learned to distinguish between them. In addition, horses are more susceptible to negative manifestations from a person. This is due to the fact that it is important for horses to recognize threats in their environment and this subsequently acts as a kind of warning system.
Among other things, horses can develop a "generic ability" to distinguish between human facial expressions. So, animals throughout their lives remember, and then successfully interpret some features of human behavior. Experts believe that research in this area should be continued.
Liza Morskaya
