Horses can recognise themselves in a mirror -- new study

By Ali Boyle, Research Fellow in Kinds of Intelligence (Philosophy), University of Cambridge

If you ask people to list the most intelligent animals, they’ll name a few usual suspects. Chimpanzees, dolphins and elephants are often mentioned, as are crows, dogs and occasionally pigs. Horses don’t usually get a look in.

So it might come as a surprise that horses possess an unusual skill, widely considered an indicator of self-awareness. In a recent study, researchers have found horses can recognise their reflections in mirrors.

Animals looking at a mirror for the first time often…

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