Horses know their name, but not in the same way that people do. Horses recognize themselves and others as individuals, but do not use names when communicating. To horses, their name is somewhat of a cue word. They associate the word with something positive, like food or affection from their owner.
A study in 2010 concluded what equestrians already knew: yes, a horse does recognize “their” person and they can differentiate them from other humans. They do that based on olfactory as well as auditory and visual cues, which means by seeing and smelling us as well as by hearing our voice.
With time and training, many horses have excellent memories and a strong bond with their human friends. This means they will remember you even when you've been apart for a long time. Horses can also hold negative memories of a person when they've experienced abuse or trauma.
It really depends. They may show signs of sadness, much like when they leave a favorite herd mate. On the other hand, if you weren't that close they will likely have no emotional response to being sold. If they do appear sad, it's only time before they get comfortable in their new home and let go of those feelings.
Other studies have demonstrated that horses can identify human beings. For example, they can associate a voice with the sight of a specific person (Lampe and Andre, 2012; Proops and McComb, 2012).
Horses do bond with humans and their relationship with soldiers was likely stronger than those developed prior, considering the highly emotional environment. Currently, most horses are companion and therapy animals, meaning humans greatly value their relationships.
The findings indicated that horses care capable of detecting when a human is expressing and projecting positive feelings towards them and is likely to reciprocate those positive feelings.
“Assuming that there is no difference in riding ability, from the horse's point of view it does not seem to matter whether its human partner is male or female,” concluded the study's co-author Christine Aurich.
However, after a few weeks in their new home, they are likely to become more accustomed to their new surroundings. However, a horse will not forget an owner with whom they have a strong connection. Horses can recognize owners from the sound of their voice, even after years apart.
Potentially, when horses have limited or no opportunity to form attachments with other horses, jealous feelings might arise in relation to a human owner if a horse feels those bonds are being threatened by a usurper.
Dogs often seem more loyal and protective of their owners than horses. One reason for this that according to history, dogs have been domesticated much longer than horses. Dogs will also willingly defend themselves and their “pack” from danger by standing their ground and even attacking.
They may rest their head on you when you're near them or give you a nudge to get your attention. Horses also blow air on each other through their nostrils. If your horse breathes on your face, this is a sign of affection and that they consider you part of their family. Horses also use vocalizations to show affection.
A horse may also be very happy to see you if they trot over to you from the pasture when they see you coming. These are two common ways that horses show they are excited and eager to see you. Horses will become very relaxed when they are in the company of someone they love and trust.
In some cases, such as with a fearful horse, they may stare at you to try and assess whether you will hurt them or if you are a predator that will eat them. A horse that's being defensive may turn their face to you, raise their head, and stare at you to try and intimidate you.
Hugging is one way humans can show love to horses, and it has a similar effect to grooming or massage. Horses like to be hugged because it is a gesture meaning love and affection. This is because hugs mimic the physical touch horses use to show care toward each other.
In fact, horses are some of the most loyal animals you will ever encounter. But why is this? Well, a larger part of it has to do with the fact that they have great memory. When you befriend a horse, they will remember you for the long haul.
One part of the answer to your question is that horses may be able to respond to a situation using clues from both a person's facial expression and the emotion in their voice. In a study from Japan, researchers showed horses some photos of humans with different expressions on their faces, such as happiness or sadness.
Not only is the research robust that horses will remember us, it is also the case that they probably like us and possibly miss us when we are not there. Horses, as herd animals, are evolutionarily designed to be social, to form bonds with herdmates, and to form particular attachments to specific others.
Horses exhibit higher heart rates when separated from a human, but don't show any preference for their owners over complete strangers, the team discovered. Swedish researchers started their work with the theory that positive reinforcement training on a horse was more likely to lead to them forming a strong attachment.
Several studies have shown that horses have the ability to cross-modally recognize humans by associating their voice with their physical appearance. However, it remains unclear whether horses are able to differentiate humans according to different criteria, such as the fact that they are women or men.
If it helps at all to hear this, you aren't alone in this experience; I have heard anecdotally from a few sources that it isn't uncommon to experience either arousal or orgasm from horseback riding.
Simply put, horses are happiest in the herd, where they can touch other horses, push each other around and give each other comfort. There's safety in numbers and all horses know that. He feels safest when other horses surround him and he may only lie down to sleep if another horse remains standing.
The great thing is, most horses actually love when humans pet them. They will stand quietly for hours as you run your fingers over their soft hair.
Have you ever been nudged by a horse? Horses use body language to communicate with humans (and other horses), and one of the ways they do this is through touch. Nudging is a way for a horse to get your attention, which can signify affection or impatience.
Researchers confirmed that horses can smell specific odors in human sweat that reflect emotions like fear and happiness, which could open doors to a whole new way of understanding emotion transfer from human to horse, they say.