Horse Sense and Sensibility

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One evening at Barton Park, when Mrs. Jennings tried to find out "who was Elinor's particular favorite," Margaret tactlessly told the company, "there was such a man once, and his name begins with an F." Elinor, embarrassed, was grateful to Lady Middleton, who changed the subject. Realizing that a horse is a prey animal and a grazing eater that survived for millions of years in the wild, it stands to reason that a horse's senses are more highly developed and more nuanced than those of a human. Inner ear cells – surrounding the vestibular apparatus – are responsible for converting sound waves into electrical impulses, which are then sent to your horse’s brain to be processed. Interpreting sound The eye of the horse is among the largest of terrestrial vertebrate species ( 16, 17). Contrary to the binocular and typically narrowed vision of most predators, the evolution of the horse's visual field has favored a more panoramic field of view with only limited binocular capability. Anatomical studies have shown that the maximum extent of the uniocular field of view in the horse is 228° with a mean around 195° ( 13). The binocular field of vision, which is 120° in humans, is only 55° to 65° in front of the horse ( 18), and the overlap is predominantly below the head, extending down ~75° ( 13). The visual input is therefore narrow and wide conferring a panoramic view, with only a small blind spot at the rear. Most grateful did Elinor feel to Lady Middleton for observing at this moment, "that it rained very hard," though she believed the interruption to proceed less from any attention to her, than from her ladyship's great dislike of all such inelegant subjects of raillery as delighted her husband and mother. The idea however started by her, was immediately pursued by Colonel Brandon, who was on every occasion mindful of the feelings of others; and much was said on the subject of rain by both of them. Willoughby opened the pianoforte, and asked Marianne to sit down to it; and thus, amidst the various endeavours of different people to quit the topic, it fell to the ground. But not so easily did Elinor recover from the alarm into which it had thrown her.

For Marianne, however—in spite of his incivility in surviving her loss—he always retained that decided regard which interested him in every thing that befell her, and made her his secret standard of perfection in woman;—and many a rising beauty would be slighted by him in after-days as bearing no comparison with Mrs. Brandon. Old age is known to affect hearing ability in many animals, including humans. In horses, only one study has investigated hearing ability as a function of age, finding that older horses (15–18 years old) showed fewer behavioral reactions to sounds than younger horses [aged 5–9 years; ( 54)]. Since then, no published studies have investigated age and hearing impairment in horses although several studies have emphasized the importance of hearing [e.g., ( 55)]. It has been suggested that as deafness progresses, the horse can compensate by enhancing other senses such as vision and by learning daily routines to still behave as per usual ( 56). Detection of partial or complete hearing loss in horses can be difficult, but it is nevertheless important for people working with horses to be aware that hearing ability can weaken with age. Horses are commonly trained to react to voice commands from the rider/trainer and such commands will become less detectable as the horse ages. Likewise, horses communicate with each other by means of vocalization e.g., during mating and whilst rearing their young, and these are predominantly low frequency sounds ( 57). Depending on the type of deafness (high or low frequency) horses may show no signs when ridden (high frequency sounds), but still be constrained in their social communication, or vice versa ( 55). In spite of his being allowed once more to live, however, he did not feel the continuance of his existence secure, till he had revealed his present engagement; for the publication of that circumstance, he feared, might give a sudden turn to his constitution, and carry him off as rapidly as before. With apprehensive caution therefore it was revealed, and he was listened to with unexpected calmness. Mrs. Ferrars at first reasonably endeavoured to dissuade him from marrying Miss Dashwood, by every argument in her power;—told him, that in Miss Morton he would have a woman of higher rank and larger fortune;—and enforced the assertion, by observing that Miss Morton was the daughter of a nobleman with thirty thousand pounds, while Miss Dashwood was only the daughter of a private gentleman with no more than THREE; but when she found that, though perfectly admitting the truth of her representation, he was by no means inclined to be guided by it, she judged it wisest, from the experience of the past, to submit—and therefore, after such an ungracious delay as she owed to her own dignity, and as served to prevent every suspicion of good-will, she issued her decree of consent to the marriage of Edward and Elinor. Studies have also linked self-awareness with empathy, but it requires the cognitive capacity to distinguish self from other that goes beyond emotional state-matching.² Humans, some nonhuman primates, elephants, and dolphins show self-recognition using the mirror test. In most studies, the mirror test involves applying a paint mark on the animal’s face. Animals with self-recognition will look at the mirror image and then touch the mark on their own face, but those without self-recognition will touch the mark on the mirror image or react to the image in some other way. Using this test, horses do not appear to possess self-recognition. Elinor and Colonel Brandon's discussion of "second attachments" is ironic in light of the eventual developments of the novel, for nearly every character except Elinor will ultimately fall in love more than once: Marianne has fallen for John Willoughby but will grow to love the more sensible and constant Colonel; the Colonel loves Marianne because, as we will soon learn, she reminds him of a woman he loved before; Edward Ferrars will marry Elinor only after a long engagement to Lucy Steele; John Willoughby professes his devotion to Marianne but then marries the wealthy Miss Sophia Grey; and even Mr. Henry Dashwood had two wives. In her discussion with the Colonel, Elinor seems to have no problem with second attachments, yet it is only she who marries the very first man she knows and loves.Six months after Fanny installs herself as mistress at Norland, Mrs. Dashwood receives a letter from her cousin Sir John Middleton, inviting her and her daughters to reside at Barton Cottage on his property in Devonshire. Eager to distance herself from Fanny's rudeness and insensitivity, Mrs. Dashwood immediately accepts the invitation and sends three servants ahead to Barton to prepare the house for their arrival. She informs John and Fanny of their imminent departure and encourages Edward Ferrars to come visit them at Barton. Following Marianne's tearful goodbye to their home at Norland, the family sets out for Barton Cottage. Analysis Not only are the mouth and muzzle important to the horse's sense of touch, but the skin is also. Although horse skin is believed to be tough, it has many nerve endings and can sense the tiniest fly landing on the horse's rump. Although the effects of sound and music on horses are understudied, the anecdotal assumption that horses can spontaneously move to a musical beat is widespread among horse riders and trainers (personal communication), although scientific evidence of this ability is sparse, if not absent. From an evolutionary perspective it would seem an unlikely phenomenon that would entail the recruitment of higher mental processes than those so far found to be possessed by horses. Bregman et al. ( 77) investigated horses moving to music and noted the footfall and the beats of the music to analyze if horses possessed the ability of synchronizing their tempo to a musical beat. The preliminary results (based on one horse) suggest that a horse may be able to spontaneously follow a rhythm, but more studies with larger sample sizes than in Bregman et al. ( 77) are needed to refine the method and confirm the findings.

Blinkers’ are an attachment to a bridle that prevent a horse from using monocular vision. It is believed that blinkers help a horse to focus on what’s directly in front of them, instead of spooking at things around them (which could prove dangerous in some situations, such as carriage driving). Binocular vision It’s believed horses have ‘dichromatic vision’, meaning they can see two colours best – usually shades of yellow and blue. However, recent research by the University of Exeter, which helped improve safety in jump racing, suggests horses are unable to differentiate between shades of red and orange. Palagi, E., Leone, A., Mancini, G., and Ferrari, P.F. (2009). Contagious yawning in gelada baboons as a possible expression of empathy. PNAS (106, 46), 19262-19267.

A horse’s hearing is much keener than ours. They use their hearing for three primary functions: to detect sounds, to determine the location of the sound, and to provide sensory information that allows the horse to recognize the identity of these sounds. Horses can hear low to very high frequency sound, in the range of 14 Hz to 25 kHz (human range = 20 Hz to 20 kHz). Horses’ ears can move 180 degrees using 10 different muscles (compared to three muscles for the human ear) and are able to single out a specific area to listen to. This allows the horse to orient itself toward the sounds to be able to determine what is making the noise. Mrs. Dashwood was prudent enough to remain at the cottage, without attempting a removal to Delaford; and fortunately for Sir John and Mrs. Jennings, when Marianne was taken from them, Margaret had reached an age highly suitable for dancing, and not very ineligible for being supposed to have a lover.

New tastes follow the same sensory pathway as your horse’s sense of smell. So, horses can instantly get important information about any new tastes and store it for the future (like filing away the memory of, say, poisonous plants or wormer, and avoiding those tastes – as best they can – from that moment on!). Sight Animals, like humans, have five basic senses: vision, audition (hearing), olfaction (smell), gustation (taste), and touch. The senses are an important part of what makes horses behaviorally distinct. They are the tools that a horse uses to interact with its environment. As such, the senses can be considered behavior starters. We do not completely understand the horse senses, but what we have learned has greatly added to our knowledge of horses. A review of this information can be helpful in understanding horses. Marianne Dashwood was born to an extraordinary fate. She was born to discover the falsehood of her own opinions, and to counteract, by her conduct, her most favourite maxims. She was born to overcome an affection formed so late in life as at seventeen, and with no sentiment superior to strong esteem and lively friendship, voluntarily to give her hand to another!—and THAT other, a man who had suffered no less than herself under the event of a former attachment, whom, two years before, she had considered too old to be married,—and who still sought the constitutional safeguard of a flannel waistcoat! The way your horse’s sense of taste works is just like yours; chemical messages from their tongue are sent to the brain to be processed. However, your horse uses their sense of taste slightly differently…Fanny's brother, Edward Ferrars, visits Norland for several weeks and develops a strong attachment to Elinor Dashwood. Edward is the eldest son of a man who died very rich; now his entire fate depends upon his mother's will. Although he is shy and not particularly handsome, he has an open, affectionate heart. His mother and sister want him to distinguish himself and earn prestige, but Edward is a simple man, who longs only for domestic comfort. The equine also takes in and learns more about its environment through its mouth and muzzle as it explores new or different places and people. A mare will reassure her foal with a brush of the muzzle. Horses communicate and scratch each others' itches with their teeth. Have you ever seen a horse quietly follow a calm buddy into the trailer but then become anxious when loaded alone? Or maybe you’ve been on a trail ride when one horse suddenly startles and spins, causing the others to startle as well. These are examples of social buffering and emotional contagion—when one individual is affected by or shares the emotions of another¹ ,²—and provide evidence that horses possess the capacity for empathy. What is empathy? Colonel Brandon is due to soon visit soon, and Elinor looks forward to his arrival. Just when she is expecting him, though, someone else arrives: Edward. He tells her that he hasn’t married Lucy; his brother Robert has! Elinor cries tears of joy. Edward explains that he had foolishly become engaged to Lucy when he was too young and idle. They didn’t really love each other, and she had left him for his wealthier brother. He now proposes to Elinor, who accepts, to the delight of her sisters and mother.