So it turns out that every time I was on the verge of blubbing due to yet another unsuccessful trip to the races, the horses probably felt sorry for me. According to a new study by Psychologists at Sussex University horses are capable of telling whether a person is happy or angry. I struggle with that myself sometimes, so maybe I should take a horse with me everywhere I go. I think I’ll call him Mister Ed.
This follows a study from the same University last year which detailed images of different facial expressions in horses and how they relate to their emotional state (identifying 17 discrete expressions in horses). Fascinating stuff really. It looks like man’s best friend finally has some competition. I always knew there was a reason I prefered a day at the races compared to going to the dog track!