09/14/2026
This is a really interesting study about horses hiding pain responses from their known human caretakers.
As always, the rules can be different for me, because I train and interact in a way that doesn't scare, stress or cause discomfort to my equines. There's no "pressure" or force and I create fun training sessions where they eat a lot and do a bit of problem solving and it's all around fun and trust building.
I'm a positive reinforcement trainer! 🧡
The way I train always develops quite a nuanced dialogue and the more my equines learn that I'm observant and I'm open to their communication, the more they are willing to trust me and open themselves to showing me how they feel, what they think and also when they're in pain.
Of course we can not entirely rule out that their ethogram dictates they behave in a certain way. Equines are hard wired through their evolution to be "stoic" and show minimal behaviour that indicates pain or illness, to ensure their survival.
There are reflexive behaviours that they do involuntarily, of course such as the lick and chew, yawn, etc. But often these are well hidden or could easily be missed or are often attributed to something else or as a positive thing. This is especially true if the person really doesn't want to see them and I encounter these people a lot on my page.
An equine's pain face or "worry eye" that we see constantly on social media as the norm, is a case in point.
My experience has been that it's incredible the amount of times my horses and donkeys have shown me things or tried to communicate things and I'm sure it's because they know I'm watching and listening and will act.
They can be amazingly gentle in getting my attention and patient and very open in communicating with me.
This study is also important when you're caring and advocating for your equines.
I've had some pretty challenging times rehabilitating my donkey Seymour and sometimes he experiences pain. The problem is that he's so scared of vets that he hides it very well. What I had to do is take video of him to show the vet how much pain he was in and how badly he was struggling. If I had just called them and they had watched him walk around and examined him, they would have found nothing wrong. But taking a video where he showed me how much he was struggling and how much pain he was in, enabled him to get the help and pain relief he desperately needed.
So next time you're concerned about your equine, think about taking some video, rather than waiting for the vet to arrive and assess. It can really help them as well, to examine a video.
The study was fairly specific, but it has been my experience that I know my horses and donkeys best and I know when they're not right and I trust my instincts and my observation skills.
There's a big *but* here because if you train your horse in a way that causes them discomfort, they don't feel safe around you and they regularly feel stressed, then they will see you as a predator and hide their pain and injuries from you.
This is what the study found.
"Across all the horses, the number of discomfort behaviors before the visits averaged 1.60 per minute. After the visit, they averaged 1.49 per minute, which the researchers said was not a significant difference. In contrast, the average number of discomfort behaviors per minute during the visit was just 0.40.
This represents a reduction of 77.4%. For six of the horses, observed discomfort behaviors ceased altogether during the visit.
Torcivia and McDonnell said the results clearly confirm their clinical impression that ongoing discomfort behavior in hospitalized horses is conspicuously interrupted when people approach or interact."
You can read the study in the comments.
