Keep calm and your horse will carry on

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-01-15 06:00

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Horses can smell your fear - and it makes them scared too, new research suggests. Scientists collected sweat on cotton pads from people watching a scary horror movie, or a joyful video clip such as "Singing in the Rain" or Pixar's "Birds". They put the sweaty pads, as well as pads with no sweat, in the muzzles of 43 horses and then studied the horses' responses to events like being groomed or an umbrella opening. Those exposed to human "fear" were more startled by the umbrella and less likely to approach a person or new object than those who smelt "joy" or no sweat. This tells us more about how smells communicate emotions between species, the authors say, and also that emotion regulation for people working with horses could be important for safety and horse welfare.