Zdolności poznawcze koni w zakresie percepcji wzrokowej i węchowej

The aim of the study was to assess the cognitive abilities of horses in recognizing humans by sight and smell. Two experiments were performed. In the first experiment, the behaviour of horses exposed to a visual stimulus (photographs of familiar and unfamiliar people) was observed. The second experiment examined their behaviour evoked by an olfactory stimulus. The following variables was assessed: the duration of approach to the object in seconds (s), interest in the object, a negative reaction, the duration of the observation of the object (s), the duration of looking with the left eye and the right eye (s), and other signs of interest, e.g. licking, grasping with lips, and touching the object. It was found that the horses were able to identify the human by transferring the identification of a three-dimensional object (a person that positively conditioned the horse) to a two-dimensional object (a photograph of that person’s face). It was also shown that the horses used the sense of smell in associating clothes with the person wearing them (the one who positively conditioned the horse). It was found that positively conditioned horses reacted more strongly to the smell of human clothes than to a photograph of the human.