Is your horse in good shape? See if it grumbles.

Horses also snort in negative circumstances, said Dr. McDonnell. If they encounter an aggressive or fearful situation, their "fight or flight" reaction includes an adrenaline rush that dries their mouths and noses. Once the situation is resolved and adrenaline levels drop, secretions such as saliva and mucus begin to flow again, said Dr. McDonnell. She watched the stallions sniffle as their adrenaline levels dropped, suggesting that the flow of mucus made them sound, she said.

Horses probably use sniffing to communicate to others in the flock, alerting them to past. Karyn Malinowski, a professor and director of Rutgers University's Center for Equine Science in New Jersey, discouraged the practice of badigning human emotions to animals, she added. the findings of the new study made sense to her. The horses she studies manifest emotions, such as grief when a close companion dies, so she believes that they are certainly capable of happiness.

Malinowski said that the study also aligns with his physiological research which shows that horses are much less stressed when they are allowed to live on the outside, rather than in the stables. In the new study, horses that lived in more natural conditions sniffed more often, and even the horses at the stable sniffed more when they were outside.

"I've been studying stress for 40. The worst thing you can do for a horse is to keep it indoors," said Dr. Malinowski. "Outside," they're more happier, healthier, the air is cooler. "

Lauren Brubaker, Ph.D. A student from Oregon State University specializing in human-animal interactions said that" the only thing that's going on in the world is ". study also matches the experience of people in the world of riding. "You hear a lot of riders, instructors and coaches who will say that they are looking for horses to do this sniffing behavior while they ride, because they believe that the horses relax and release adrenaline, "she said.