It is not uncommon for the heart rates of a loving couple or a parent and child to sync up during intimate moments. Researchers at the Italian University of Pisa Department of Veterinary Sciences designed an experiment to see if this phenomenon also occurs between humans and equines. The preliminary study – which will serve as a spring board for further research – consisted of eleven humans and one mare.

The human participants were asked to interact with the mare as follows:

• Part 1: The human sat still in a chair in a stall next to the horse’s stall.
• Part 2: The human continued to sit still in the chair, but the horse entered the stall with the human and could explore the human through sniffing and touching.
• Part 3: the human groomed the horse.

Read more: Study Suggests An ‘Emotional Transfer’ Between Humans & Horses

by Denise Steffanus

Think back to your first encounter with a horse. Were you warned that if you were afraid, the horse could smell your fear? It turns out that was good advice.

People emit a particular chemosignal while experiencing a specific emotion that induces the same emotion in another person who smells that odor. Chemosignals are chemical signals the human body gives off, primarily through sweat. Now researchers have found that horses also can smell human emotions.

Dr. Antonio Lanatá and his colleagues at the University of Pisa, Italy, have found that horses can smell fear and happiness. While these are just two emotions the researchers identified, further studies may reveal horses can pick up additional emotions from the body odors humans emit.

The researchers theorized, “We know that horses perform unexpected reactions when being ridden by a nervous person. This research background led us to suspect that the olfactory system of horses is likely to enable them to read human emotional states by means of the axial chemosignals humans emit.”

Read more: Can Horses Really Smell Fear? Yes, And That’s Not All

by Homa Bash

The bond between a boy and his horse is a sight to behold.

For 13-year-old AJ and his horse Addy — it is a bond that began three years ago.

One that AJ remembers with crystal clarity.

“We called his name, he came running up to us — didn’t even know who we were — came up and buries his face into my chest like, I’ll choose you. ‘I choose you.’ It’s almost like he said that to me,’” AJ said.

The bond made was extra special because AJ is on the autism spectrum and deals with severe anxiety and ADD. So much so that being in a classic school setting was a struggle.

“With the anxiety and just being a little bit different from everybody, it was just hard for him, and he got bullied quite a bit,” said mom Shelly Ochoa.

Read more: Boy with Autism Forms Incredible Bond with Horse After Being Bullied in School

Horses can be infected with the Zika and Dengue viruses, researchers who carried out a study in the South Pacific report. A significant proportion of horses in New Caledonia and French Polynesia tested in the research were found to have mounted an immune response against the viruses.

The immune response to the Zika virus was found in 4.3% of the horses tested in New Caledonia and 15.4% of those tested in French Polynesia. Blood from 163 horses in New Caledonia was tested. Seven of those had mounted an immune response to Zika, and 130 had been tested from French Polynesia, 20 of which had delivered a positive result.

Read more: Horses can be affected by Zika virus, study shows

by Janice Byer

For many people, talking about mental illness can be uncomfortable and a stress ensuing experience. A lot of people don’t want to admit if they have been dealing with something or they don’t know how to help someone in their life who has been having difficulty.

Unfortunately, our Equestrian community is no different. When a rider has a physical problem, it is often visible to the world. Broken legs, sprained shoulders are discussed as people share their experiences and how they deal with the injury. Even concussions, which aren’t visible, are talked about freely.

However, mental illness is invisible. For many, it’s a case of, If you can’t see it then how can anything be wrong? For others it’s, No one can see it so they won’t believe me if I talk about it. We need to remove these statements from everyone’s minds and open up the conversation about mental illness. In doing so, we will not only help those who are suffering in silence, but also to stop the stigma that mental health shouldn’t be talked about.

Read more: You Are Not Alone: Mental Health in Our Equestrian Community

by David Nash, DVM

Horse owners worldwide were alarmed when reports of a new airborne Equine Influenza outbreak caused the British Horseracing Authority to suspend Thoroughbred racing in England on February 7, 2019.

Equine Influenza is a highly contagious disease that is spread between coughing infected horses, contaminated buckets, feed tubs, brushes, tack, etc. Symptoms include fever, coughing, and nasal discharge. Equine Influenza is caused by strains of the Influenza A virus, which is endemic in horses. The virus replicates inside of equine respiratory epithelial cells resulting in damage to tracheal and bronchial epithelial cells and respiratory cilia resulting in the respiratory symptoms seen in horses.

More alarming was the fact that previously vaccinated horses were not protected from the strain of Equine Influenza virus responsible for this outbreak. More than 2,000 horses were tested, 170 racing yards were placed under quarantine, biosecurity practices were now mandatory, and racing was allowed to resume under strict new guidelines issued by the British Horseracing Authority six days later. This disruption of racing cost millions of dollars in lost revenue, great cost to horse owners, and sent shivers down the spine of all horse owners wondering if they were next. But was this outbreak preventable?

Read more: Are Equine Infectious Disease Outbreaks Preventable? Are We Doing Enough?

by Beth Main

Connecting with a horse builds relationship skills in people with ADHD — and helps patients feel comfortable in their skin.

Living well with attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) means more than managing symptoms and getting things done. We want to feel good about ourselves, control our emotions, and have healthy relationships, too. One problem with traditional talk therapy and ADHD coaching is that each requires a level of self-awareness that not all patients have. How do you teach someone without a filter to be less impulsive by talking about it?

How to Develop Trust and Connectedness

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is different. It’s an experiential process in which clients interact with horses — with the guidance of a specially trained mental health professional and an equine specialist — instead of talking about their problems.

Read more: Horse Power: Equine Therapy for ADHD

by Liz Forster

On a late autumn day in the San Luis Valley, rancher Julie Sullivan strolled through her meadow past hundreds of piles of raked hay. Her foreman Hana Fancher and apprentice Morgan Atkinson followed, engrossed in talk about the robust lower chests on their cattle, a sign of health.

Meanwhile, some 80 of the shaggy black bovines edged quietly toward the women, as if they were curious and needed a closer peek at the two-legged creatures wandering the fields.

The preoccupied women seemed to take little notice until they were suddenly encircled by their wide-eyed cattle. Some cows were bold enough to sniff a back pocket or an outstretched hand. The shy ones hung behind.

At many ranches and certainly at commercial feedlots such a scene would seem unlikely, cows congregating around their ranchers.

But at the 4,000-acre San Juan Ranch near Saguache, the lines are intentionally blurred. Here, the practice of humane animal handling requires an affinity with the animals. It is an approach and strength that Sullivan believes women are uniquely equipped to bring to ranching.

“We raise young women to be relational, to be more conscious of other people’s needs and concerns,” she said. “Young men often think they have to prove themselves and cowboy up. We don’t cowboy up around here, so we get cattle that follow us around.”

Read more: Colorado Women in Ranching: A spirit of nurturing, sustainability is alive at San Juan Ranch