10/01/2026
Whew! We made it thru the worst of the summer heat. Blanket season is right around the corner. This study is interesting but also seems like common sense.
The researchers wanted to settle an argument. People blanket horses constantly in Northern Europe, and nobody actually knew whether the horses wanted it. So they decided to ask them.
Using carrot slices and about 15 minutes of training a day, they taught each horse that a horizontal bar meant put my blanket on, a vertical bar meant take it off, and a blank board meant leave me alone. All 23 horses learned it. Most had it down in about 11 days.
Then came the real test. On cold, wet, windy days, 10 of the 12 unblanketed horses walked up and asked for a blanket. On warm sunny days, the blanketed ones asked to have it taken off. Their answers tracked the weather almost perfectly, which told the scientists the horses understood exactly what they were choosing.
They were never confused. They just had no way to tell us until someone handed them a board. š“
