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athletes in sport. Because they cannot verbally report discomfort, their welfare depends heavily on how accurately humans can recognise signs of pain and distress. While most people can easily recognise pain in other humans, far less is known about our ability to identify pain in non-human animals, including horses. A new study from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) Writtle provides important insight into just how limited, and how variable, is our ability to correctly read pain in horse faces.
The study, published in the journal Anthrozoös, is the first to directly compare how well people can identify pain from both human and horse facial expressions. A total of 100 adult participants took part in the research. Of these, 70 had no previous experience of caring for horses, while 30 had some level of horse-care experience, ranging from recreational riders to more experienced horse handlers. Participants were shown 60 photographs in total: 30 human faces and 30 horse faces. For each image, they were asked to rate the level of pain, emotional arousal (how intense the emotion appeared), and valence (whether the expression seemed positive or negative).
To establish a baseline for “correct” answers in the horse photographs, ten equine behaviour professionals, with specialist knowledge of equine facial cues, also rated the same images. Their assessments were used to measure how accurate the general participants were when judging horse pain.
As expected, participants were far better at identifying pain in human faces than in horse faces. Overall, most people struggled to recognise when a horse was in pain. This finding is significant, as horses often suffer from conditions such as lameness, dental issues, gastric ulcers and musculoskeletal problems that may cause discomfort without obvious behavioural signs.
However, the study also revealed that experience makes a meaningful difference. Participants who had previous horse-care experience were significantly more accurate at recognising pain in horses than those without experience. Furthermore, the number of years of horse experience was a good predictor of accuracy: the more time a person had spent working with or caring for horses, the better they were at spotting subtle facial indicators of pain. These cues may include changes in ear position, tightening around the eyes, tension in the muzzle, and altered nostril shape; features that are measured in structured tools such as the Horse Grimace Scale.
Interestingly, the study also explored whether certain psychological traits influenced participants’ ability to recognise pain. The researchers measured empathy (both emotional and cognitive) and social anxiety. Contrary to what might be expected, empathy was not significantly related to how accurately participants identified pain in either humans or horses. In other words, being more empathetic did not necessarily make someone better at recognising equine discomfort.
Social anxiety, however, did have an effect, but only when participants were judging human faces. People with higher levels of social anxiety tended to be more sensitive to pain in human expressions. When it came to horses, though, this pattern did not hold. In fact, socially anxious individuals were more likely to incorrectly rate horses as being in pain when they were not. This suggests that human psychological traits can influence how we interpret animal behaviour, sometimes leading to misinterpretation.
Rosa Verwijs, Senior Lecturer in Equine Behaviour and Nutrition at ARU Writtle and a co-author of the study, explained that this difficulty in recognising pain is partly due to the horse’s evolutionary history. As prey animals, horses evolved to hide visible signs of weakness in order to avoid predation. This means that pain expressions in horses are often subtle and easy to miss, especially for people who lack experience or training.
This research carries important implications for equine welfare. If owners, riders, trainers and carers struggle to recognise pain, horses may continue to be worked, ridden, or raced while injured or unwell. In some cases, undetected discomfort may escalate into more serious conditions or lead to dangerous behaviour such as bucking, rearing or bolting. Improving knowledge of equine facial expressions and body language could therefore help people seek veterinary attention earlier and reduce suffering.
The researchers hope their findings will be used to support better education and training programmes for anyone who works with horses. For equine science students, this study highlights the importance of developing strong observational skills and scientific knowledge of equine behaviour. Being able to accurately read the subtle signs of discomfort in a horse is not just a useful skill, it is a vital part of protecting and improving equine welfare.
As the equine industry continues to place greater emphasis on welfare, research such as this reminds us that understanding the horse’s silent signals is one of the most important responsibilities of everyone involved in their care.
For more details, see:
Gregory, Nicola J., Mollie Trimmer, Trudi Dempsey, Rosa Verwijs, Gabriel Carreira Lencioni, and Rachel L. Moseley. 2025.
Reading Pain in Horse and Human Faces: The Influence of Horse Experience, Social Anxiety, and Empathy.
Anthrozoös, (2025) October, 1–18.
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