How the sense of sight of horses works

The eyes of the horse - Detect stress in horses

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Animals, like human beings, have the 5 senses. Some animals develop more senses than others. One of the most important senses is the sense of sight. That is why today we will know more about the sense of sight of horses.

In the case of horses they have a slightly reduced sense of sight. This is crucial when it comes to man to understand these animals.

These beautiful animals are among the largest mammals on the planet. In this installment we will know a little more about the sense of sight of horses.

It should be noted that the horse has other senses such as smell, sight and touch which it has developed extensively. In these senses the horse is supported to locate and perceive the world around him. Thus they detect who approaches them through the set of all their senses.

Next we will know more about the sense of sight of the horses, how it behaves and how they have discovered these qualities.

Here is a video that reflects the differences between human eyes and the sight of different animals. The video includes the perspective on the sense of sight of the horse. We hope you enjoy it.

Experiments performed on the sight of horses

Dr. Janel L. Jones expresses the following in relation to the sight of horses.

“The horse has to be 50% closer to see the same details.”

This means that 50% deficiency is enough for riders to consider when riding. In the same way this aspect should be taken into account by the people who take care of these animals.

On the other hand, Stevens indicates the following:

“Basically this means that they can only see the colors we perceive as blue and yellow and cannot see the difference between the reds and the greens.”

This is because horses only have two types of cones in their eyes. Therefore this difficulty arises when perceiving colors.

As an experiment they made a color comparison. In this regard Steven expressed the following:

“We took some of those colors that could be more visible. We did behavioral tests during the training of the horses to see how other colors affected them in the jumps ”

It can note that these experiments seek the welfare of the horses at the time of the competitions. It is essential that the world of horse racing seeks to reduce risk and approach welfare and safety as much as possible.

The eyes of the horse

Characteristics of the sense of sight of horses:

Among the characteristics of the sight of horses are the following:

The animal’s visual field is quite wide.
Has monocular and binocular vision
It has the ability to see different things with each eye and at the same time thanks to its monocular vision.
With your binocular vision, you can see from your nose and down,
Finally, the forehead is a blind area that equines have.

Sight of Horse chart

The eyes of the equine

The eyes of the horses are on the side of the head. This unique feature gives them a great advantage. Indeed, they have the ability to easily see 360 degrees.

The only areas that these mammals fail to see are directly in front of him and just behind.

As a recommendation for people is not to stand behind the horse. Because of his sensitivity he can perceive if someone is placed behind him but this can make him feel threatened.

It is good to be careful if we do not know the horse because we do not know how it will react.

What colors can the horse see?

In the past it was believed that horses did not distinguish colors. However, Gue discovered that this is not entirely true. Horses do have the ability to see and distinguish some color.

The eyes have light sensitive cells and there are two types of cells called rods and cones.

Horses have two types of cones, therefore their ability to perceive colors is limited. It should be noted that the overview is formed by shades of blue, yellow and shades in gray.

Sight of Horses – Colors

The sight of the horses works in a unique way.

The horses have a very wide viewing area. But only in a relatively narrow field is his vision acute. Therefore the animal tries to place a body within this clear visual field.

It is good to highlight the colors that the horse cannot perceive. In that sense these animals cannot see the color red

On the other hand, the lens of the horse’s eye lens deteriorates after 10 years. In this sense, the owner or caretaker of the horse must be aware of this and anticipate the care he will have in the future.

The horses and their motion detection

In general, horses have a sensitivity to the surface of the skin, especially when it comes to motion detection.

That is why when unexpected movement is detected in peripheral vision, the horse’s first instinct is not to turn around.

His first instinct is to move to an absolutely safe distance, then turn and look. Failing that, they can tend to kick so you have to be very careful not to stand behind them.

When the equine earmuffs are placed these are usually helpful. With the earmuffs it is avoided that the wind, the noise among others frighten the horse.

It should be noted that we must be very careful when approaching horses. Well, these animals are very sensitive and sometimes they tend to react abruptly.

Curiosities about the sense of sight of horses

Next we will describe the most striking and curious elements corresponding to the sense of sight of the horses

The lateral position on the head allows a viewing angle of about 320 º.
Horses can see a quantity of 25 images per second.
When the horses leave the stable, they need some time to get used to the light.
Purebred horses tend to have myopia and mestizos tend to suffer from farsightedness.
The equine retina has canes. For this reason the animal has greater visual acuity at night.

Sight of horse – Panoramic Vision

The sense of sight of horses and how to take advantage of it.

Horses are wonderful animals that have accompanied us since ancient times. That is why it is good to know everything related to them. This happens by knowing how each of your senses work.

In this installment we were able to deepen the sense of sight of the horses.

These wonderful animals can explore objects, people and animals with the view. However, they make use of the other senses such as smell and hearing. They do this to make sure that it is a person or animal that is familiar.

As we can see these animals do not trust 100% in the sense of sight. Well, it doesn’t have enough sharpness and the spectrum is limited. For this reason, experiments are currently being carried out to improve the safety of horses in equestrian competitions.

Thanks to these discoveries we can affirm that for a horse to run at full speed, if he cannot trust 100% in his sense of sight, he will have to trust his rider 100%. If you do not, you will not be able to realize its full potential. Remember it and generate a close and strong bond with your horse. Until next time.