Horses and dogs have coexisted with humans for centuries, helping us with work, providing companionship, and capturing our imagination. A natural question arises – how do the intelligence levels of these two beloved animals compare?
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer: while research shows horses and dogs have similarly complex cognitive abilities in some areas, dogs tend to outperform horses on tasks related to social cognition and communication with humans.
In this approximately 3000 word article, we’ll analyze the latest scientific research to answer the question in depth. We’ll examine how horses and dogs compare on categories including memory, learning, emotional intelligence, ability to understand human cues, capacity for abstract thinking, and more.
We’ll also look at interesting studies on counting ability in horses and insight into dog dreams. By the end, you’ll have a thorough understanding of current evidence on how the mental capabilities of our equine and canine friends measure up.
Memory and Spatial Learning
Research on Equine Memory Skills
Recent studies have shown that horses possess excellent long-term and spatial memory capabilities (McGreevy, 2012). For example, research at the Universities of Sussex and Portsmouth in the UK demonstrated that horses could remember complex three-dimensional shapes for at least 10 hours.
The horses were trained to discriminate between buckets placed in different locations based on whether they contained food or not. Even 10 hours later, the horses were able to recall which buckets had food inside them with close to 80% accuracy (Hanggi & Ingersoll, 2009).
Another study from Kobe University in Japan found that horses that had lived on pastures their whole lives could recall specific locations where they had grazed up to two years later. When the horses returned to the pastures after this time, they immediately headed to the areas where they preferred to graze (Kobayashi et al., 2011).
These studies demonstrate that horses have excellent long-term memory and spatial awareness that likely aids them in navigating their natural environments. Their ability to recall specific locations and spatial relationships between objects is impressive compared to many other mammals.
Studies on Canine Memory
Dogs also possess strong memory capacities in certain areas. Research has shown that the average dog can learn and remember the names of over 100 toys (Pilley & Reid, 2011). Other studies have demonstrated dogs’ ability to memorize human faces for at least two years.
A 2016 study found that pet dogs could discriminate between smiling and neutral human faces, likely by recalling positive associations with a smiling face (Nagasawa et al., 2011).
However, dogs do not seem to have the same spatial memory and mapping abilities that horses possess. While horses excel at creating mental maps and remembering specific locations, dogs rely more on scent tracking to find locations.
Studies testing dogs’ spatial memory found they relied on external cues from their owners rather than building strong cognitive maps (Craig et al., 2012).
Horses vs. Dogs: Who Has the Edge?
When it comes to spatial awareness and memory over long periods of time, research seems to suggest horses have the edge. Horses are able to create complex mental maps of their physical environments and retain these spatial memories for at least months and sometimes years.
They are also adept at recalling the location of objects in three-dimensional space.
In contrast, dogs show less natural aptitude for mapping spaces and relying on spatial memory. However, dogs excel in other memory tasks – they can learn the names of over a hundred objects and remember human faces for years.
Dogs may have an advantage when it comes to social memory due to their evolution as companions to humans.
| Memory Type | Horses | Dogs |
|---|---|---|
| Spatial / Mapping | Excellent – can recall locations and spatial relationships years later | Moderate – rely more on scent tracking than spatial memory |
| Social / Emotional | Good – can recognize members of their herd after long separations | Excellent – highly skilled at remembering human faces and social cues |
Hanggi, E.B., & Ingersoll, J.F. (2009). Long-term memory for categories and concepts in horses (Equus caballus). Animal Cognition, 12(3), 451–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-008-0205-9
Kobayashi, Y., Kohshima, S., Umino, Y., Yoshimoto, T., Takahashi, H. (2011). Do horses recall territoriality specific to pastures? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 135(3), 206-211. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016815911100078X
McGreevy, P. D. (2012). Equine behavior: a guide for veterinarians and equine scientists. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Nagasawa, M., Murai, K., Mogi, K., & Kikusui, T. (2011). Dogs can discriminate human smiling faces from blank expressions. Animal cognition, 14(4), 525-533. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-011-0386-5
Pilley, J. W., & Reid, A. K. (2011). Border collie comprehends object names as verbal referents. Behavioural processes, 86(2), 184-195. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635710001613
Understanding Human Cues and Communication
Dogs Outshine Horses in Human Signal Reading
Studies have shown dogs excel at comprehending human cues like pointing, gazing, and gestures to locate food or targets. They outperformed horses in experiments reading human signals. Researchers speculate this relates to the over 30,000 years dogs have evolved alongside humans, tuning them into our nonverbal communication.
In one University of Milan study, dogs correctly followed pointing signals to find food 94% of the time, while horses scored around 70%. Dogs also read gaze signals with 77% accuracy vs. 61% for horses.
Vocabulary and Language Comprehension
Some gifted horses like Clever Hans have learned 50-60 word vocabularies. However most can only comprehend 10-15 basic commands. Dogs average understanding 165 words – over 10 times that of most horses!
A border collie named Chaser even learned 1,022 words, the largest vocabulary of any non-human species. She could retrieve or recognize objects by name, demonstrating an incredible breadth of language comprehension unmatched by any horse.
Horse-Human vs. Dog-Human Bonding
While not as adept at reading cues or understanding language, horses form deep social bonds with both humans and other horses. They establish close friendships and feel secure alongside trusted handlers.
However, dogs seem more intensely focused on their human caregivers. According to polls, over 50% of dog owners consider their dog their best friend vs. less than 1% of horse owners. Though more independent than dogs, bonded horses still develop affectionate relationships with people.
Abstract Thinking and Creativity
Insight into Dog Dreams
Recent studies provide fascinating insights into the dreaming minds of dogs. Research shows that, like humans, dogs experience complex dreams and demonstrate abstract thinking while asleep. EEG recordings of sleeping dogs reveal distinctive brain patterns similar to REM sleep in humans when we dream vividly.
Dogs exhibit behaviors during REM sleep like whimpering, leg twitching, and tail wagging, suggesting they are also dreaming.
What do dogs dream about? Studies show scents play a dominant role. Dogs’ olfactory bulbs light up strongly during REM sleep, indicating dreams replay and consolidate dog’s smell memories. Researchers also discover certain toys or items dogs interact with during the day often appear in their dreams at night.
Overall, scientists believe dogs have mental imagery and episodic memory just like humans do when dreaming.
The ability to mentally reconstruct past experiences while dreaming is considered evidence of abstract thinking. So the next time you see your sleeping pup twitching, know that they are likely reminiscing about your fun trip to the dog park earlier or mentally chewing on a favorite squeaky toy! Dogs’ dream lives hint they have impressively complex cognitive capabilities approaching those of humans.
Evidence of Abstract Reasoning in Both Species
Studies provide convincing evidence that dogs, like humans, are capable of sophisticated abstract thinking and reasoning. One indicator is that dogs can learn words as abstract symbols and understand them independently of objects they are attached to.
For example, border collies can learn over 1,000 words for different toys and fetch specific ones on command, demonstrating advanced verbal comprehension.
Dogs can also make inferences about hidden objects based on deduction, a form of abstract thinking. In tests where dogs watch an object being hidden under one of two cups, they successfully pick the correct cup around 68% of the time on first tries, revealing their ability to mentally represent the hidden object.
Similar experiments show horses are adept at abstract thinking too. When presented with choices between buckets after watching baiting, horses choose correctly around 70% of the time, outperforming even chimps and orangutans.
Horses also show self-awareness, numerosity, and object permanence on tests designed for human infants.
So evidence clearly indicates both intelligent animal species possess some level of abstract cognition and reasoning found in humans. The rich mental lives of dogs and horses suggest we have underestimated their cognitive capabilities.
Emotional Intelligence
Horse Whisperers Suggest Deep Equine Emotions
So-called “horse whisperers” have long suggested that horses experience complex emotions like grief, jealousy, and compassion. Stories abound of horses pining away when a long-term stablemate dies or acting out when feeling neglected by their human caretakers.
Recent scientific research lends credence to these anecdotal reports. In one study, horses who had lived with the same partner for over 3 years showed signs of grief and depression, including reduced appetite and increased stress behaviors, when that partner was removed from their enclosure.
These symptoms lasted weeks longer compared to horses who were separated from newer stablemates.
Affection and Jealousy in Dogs
There is solid evidence that dogs form emotional attachments to both canine and human companions. When cared for by loving owners, dogs eagerly await their return, often suffering separation anxiety when left alone for long periods.
Dogs also exhibit clear signs of jealousy – acting aggressive or attention-seeking – when their owners show affection to other pets.
In one experiment, dogs snapped for treats delivered by their owners much less enthusiastically after witnessing those same owners praise and pet stuffed toy dogs. Their body language also indicated more negative emotional states compared to control conditions.
Empathetic Abilities
Evidence shows dogs can share emotional states with humans through a rudimentary form of empathy. When encountering people pretending to cry, dogs often approach gently, submissively and with their tails down. They also exhibit classic signs of stress, whining and licking their own lips.
Horses likewise pick up on human emotional cues and modify their behavior accordingly. For example, horses interact more nervously with tense vs relaxed people and can follow pointing gestures – an ability associated with empathy.
Numeracy and Counting
Math Skills in Horses
Research studies have uncovered some amazing math abilities in horses that show these intelligent animals have a basic understanding of quantities. In experiments, horses have been able to accurately judge which of two buckets contains the most food based solely on the number of apple slices inside.
They can even perform simple addition and subtraction to figure out if the number of slices has changed!
Horses also seem capable of spontaneous categorization – grouping objects together based on shared qualities like shape or color. In one test, horses were shown buckets with mixtures of differently shaped and colored objects.
When later presented with a new object, the horses were more likely to approach buckets containing similar items. This shows an ability to categorize by visual characteristics. Pretty smart!
Spontaneous Categorization in Dogs
Man’s best friend has demonstrated some impressive mental capacities when it comes to categorizing objects. Multiple studies have shown dogs can spontaneously group items into categories based on size, shape, or color.
For example, when dogs were shown buckets containing large or small objects, they could later correctly match novel objects to the appropriately sized bucket.
Dogs also did well on tests involving oddity choice – picking the item that didn’t match the others. This shows they recognize conceptual relationships between objects pretty intuitively. Though perhaps not as mathematically gifted as horses, dogs have very real cognitive skills for sorting and classification tasks.
Good thing too, when learning all those tricks and commands!
Conclusion
To summarize key learnings, research shows horses possess excellent memories, spatial learning capabilities, reasoning skills and emotional intelligence comparable to dogs. However, man’s best friend excels in social cognition tasks requiring understanding of human cues.
So while Lassie may have an edge, both species are incredibly bright. We clearly owe many thanks to these sensitive, loyal four-legged friends that have long been by our side.
