Horse facts for kids
Horses can read human faces and remember if you smiled at them.
Farmed Animals · Open grasslands and paddocks
- Feelings
- Horses blow out softly through their noses when relaxed and pin their ears back when worried.
- Clever thinking
- Horses learned to touch symbols on a board to tell people whether they wanted a blanket on or off.
- Friendships
- Friends stand head-to-tail, swishing flies off each other and nibbling each other's withers.
- How they talk
- Whinnies, nickers and snorts, plus ear, eye and tail signals that other horses read instantly.
- Babies
- Foals stand within an hour and can run beside their mother the same day.
- Superpower
- The biggest eyes of any land mammal, seeing almost all the way around.
Did you know?
- Horses can sleep standing up by locking their legs.
- A horse remembers a person's angry or happy face hours later.
- Horses have 17 facial expressions — more than dogs.
Quick answers
Do horses have feelings?
Horses blow out softly through their noses when relaxed and pin their ears back when worried.
How smart are horses?
Horses learned to touch symbols on a board to tell people whether they wanted a blanket on or off.
Do horses have friends?
Friends stand head-to-tail, swishing flies off each other and nibbling each other's withers.
How do horses talk to each other?
Whinnies, nickers and snorts, plus ear, eye and tail signals that other horses read instantly.
What is the superpower of horses?
The biggest eyes of any land mammal, seeing almost all the way around.
Facts are based on published animal-behaviour research. Grown-ups can find sources on the Parents & Teachers page.