In the study, 20 horses aged 11 to 22 at the Brackenhurst Equestrian Centre at Nottingham Trent University were asked to tap their muzzles on an A3 laminated card when a signal light went off. A whistle would then sound and the horse would receive a reward.

Initially, most horses struggled to pass the test, often touching the card randomly without regard to whether the light was on or off.

In the next round, the researchers applied a new rule that imposed a specific penalty on horses that made a mistake, that is, touched the card while the light was on. The penalty included the horse being unable to continue playing the game or receiving a reward for 10 seconds.

Surprisingly, the number of errors dropped dramatically, and all the horses participating in the game seemed to be aware of what they were doing and the consequences if they did wrong.

The researchers suggest that horses may have understood the game from the start, but they didn’t actually care. This suggests that horses have a much higher level of cognitive processing than previously thought. They can instantly change their strategy and behave differently when they are at risk of losing something.

This approach requires horses to be forward thinking and very determined towards their goals. They also have the ability to focus on what they want to achieve and understand the steps needed to achieve their goals.

Louise Evans, co-author of the study, said that most animals need to repeat a task many times to gradually absorb new knowledge. But horses improve immediately when the rules of the game change. The horse’s brain is able to analyze strategies and trade off options to reach the final goal.

“Horses are not born geniuses. In fact, they are considered mediocre in terms of their cognitive abilities,” says Evans. “But this research shows that they have more advanced cognition than we thought.”