How do horses (Equus caballus) learn from observing human action?

Anim Cogn. 2019 Sep 17.
How do horses (Equus caballus) learn from observing human action?
Bernauer K1, Kollross H1, Schuetz A2, Farmer K3, Krueger K4,5.

Author information:
1. Department Equine Economics, Faculty Agriculture, Economics and Management, Nuertingen-Geislingen University, Neckarsteige 6-10, 72622, Nürtingen, Germany.
2. Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Georg-August-University Goettingen, Platz der Goettinger Sieben 5, 37073, Goettingen, Germany.
3. St Andrews University, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, St Mary’s Quad, South Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK.
4. Department Equine Economics, Faculty Agriculture, Economics and Management, Nuertingen-Geislingen University, Neckarsteige 6-10, 72622, Nürtingen, Germany.
5. University of Regensburg, Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053, Regensburg, Germany.
Abstract

A previous study demonstrated that horses can learn socially from observing humans, but could not draw any conclusions about the social learning mechanisms. Here we develop this by showing horses four different human action sequences as demonstrations of how to press a button to open a feed box. We tested 68 horses aged between 3 and 12 years. 63 horses passed the habituation phase and were assigned either to the group Hand Demo (N = 13) for which a kneeling person used a hand to press the button, Head Demo (N = 13) for which a kneeling person used the head, Mixed Demo (N = 12) for which a squatting person used both head and hand, Foot Demo (N = 12) in which a standing person used a foot, or No Demo (N = 13) in which horses did not receive a demonstration. 44 horses reached the learning criterion of opening the feeder twenty times consecutively, 40 of these were 75% of the Demo group horses and four horses were 31% of the No Demo group horses. Horses not reaching the learning criterion approached the human experimenters more often than those who did. Significantly more horses used their head to press the button no matter which demonstration they received. However, in the Foot Demo group four horses consistently preferred to use a hoof and two switched between hoof and head use. After the Mixed Demo the horses’ actions were more diverse. The results indicate that only a few horses copy behaviours when learning socially from humans. A few may learn through observational conditioning, as some appeared to adapt to demonstrated actions in the course of reaching the learning criterion. Most horses learn socially through enhancement, using humans to learn where, and which aspect of a mechanism has to be manipulated, and by applying individual trial and error learning to reach their goal.