Observing changes in laterality could be an effective way to monitor how horses are dealing with management or training changes. | Photo: iStock

According to a study by German researchers, horses tend to shift their laterality, becoming more “left-legged” and “left-eyed,” in stressful situations.

This switch to right-brain processing suggests horses are confronting challenges that are usually managed by the brain hemisphere that deals with emotions, the researchers said. When the horses adjust to the stressor and learn to cope, they tend to revert back to left-brain hemisphere processing, which deals with routine.

Observing changes in laterality could be an effective way to monitor how horses are dealing with management or training changes, for example, said Isabell Marr, PhD candidate under the guidance of Konstanze Krueger, PhD, of the University of Regensburg in Germany. Marr studies at the Department of Equine Economics at Nuertingen-Geislingen University in Nuertingen and the Department of Behavioral Physiology of Livestock at the University of Hohenheim, in Stuttgart, Germany