02/02/2026
SHALL I GET YOUR COAT? AND WHAT ELSE SHOULD WE BE ASKING?
Over a decade ago, some clever Norwegian researchers did something remarkably simple: they asked horses what they preferred.
By teaching horses to point to symbols, the researchers showed that horses could reliably indicate whether they wanted to wear a rug or not. Rather than humans guessing based on weather, tradition or habit, the horses themselves communicated their preference. That study challenged the idea that horses should simply accept whatever management decisions humans make for them.
That same symbol method is now at the heart of a new research programme โ HorseVoice.
HorseVoice builds on the original rug study but goes much further. Instead of asking just one question, researchers and equine students are now exploring whether horses can express preferences about equipment, training methods, housing, management routines โ and even whether they want to be ridden at all.
An important part of the project also looks at the humans. Researchers are examining whether learning to listen to horses in this way changes how future owners and professionals see them โ hopefully recognising them as individuals with their own needs and opinions.
The long-term aim is to produce a practical handbook so the symbol method can be used widely across the equestrian sector.
It will be really interesting to see how this project progresses. If horses can tell us what they want โ what will happen when their answers donโt align with ours?
Project: Giving the Horse a Voice โ Horse Welfare and Owner Awareness (HorseVoice: the project is a collaboration between the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, Ridskolan Strรถmsholm, and Malmรถ University.)
