Study Confirms Horses ‘Talk’ to Human Handlers
Researchers have learned that horses do, in fact, try to intentionally communicate with us to achieve certain goals. | Photo: iStock
“Hey! See that bucket of feed over there? Yeah, that one. Can you grab that for me, please? I’m kind of hungry.”

Wait a minute. Did your horse just speak to you? Actually, he might have—in his own way, of course. New research by European scientists has revealed that horses do, in fact, try to intentionally communicate with us to achieve certain goals.

In their pioneering study, researchers have determined for the first time that horses are capable of heterospecific referential communication—essentially, the ability to communicate about something, specifically to someone else. More precisely, to us

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