Why do some horses eagerly approach people while others
remain wary? Why are some calm and attentive, while
Credit: Océane Liehrmann, University of Turku
others are more reactive to
unfamiliar situations? Although genetics and breed play an important role, new
research suggests that everyday management and the relationships horses develop
with people may also be linked to their personalities.
The study, led by Dr Océane Liehrmann of the University of Turku, Finland, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, investigated how everyday management practices are associated with personality traits in horses. The findings, published in Royal Society Open Science, highlight the possible importance of housing, handling and owner relationships for equine welfare.
The relationship between humans and horses has developed over thousands of years of domestication. Today, horses live almost entirely in environments created by people, making it important to understand how management may affect behaviour and welfare.
Like people, horses show consistent individual differences in behaviour, often referred to as personality. Previous research has shown that personality has a genetic component and can influence welfare, trainability and the quality of human-horse interactions. However, less has been known about the role of everyday management.
To investigate this, researchers analysed responses from an online questionnaire completed by 2,257 owners describing 2,767 horses from Europe, North America and other regions. Owners completed a 52-question assessment of their horse's personality and provided information about housing, riding frequency, groundwork, time spent with the horse, ownership history, relationship duration and headgear use. The researchers also accounted for factors such as the horse's age, sex and breed.
Statistical analysis identified four broad personality dimensions. “Human sociability” described a horse's tendency to seek and enjoy interaction with people. “Horse sociability” reflected how readily a horse engaged in friendly, non-aggressive interactions with other horses. “Attentiveness” referred to the horse's ability to focus on and respond to human cues, while “neuroticism” described emotional reactivity and sensitivity to stress.
As expected, age, sex and breed all influenced personality scores. For example, geldings generally scored higher than mares for both human sociability and attentiveness, while warmbloods tended to score higher for neuroticism than draft horses.
Several management factors were also associated with personality. Horses that had remained with the same owner for more than ten years tended to have higher human sociability scores than horses with newer owners. Conversely, horses that had changed owners several times generally scored lower. Spending relaxed, undemanding time with horses, such as simply being with them or grooming and scratching them, was also associated with greater human sociability.
Riding frequency was linked with two personality traits. Horses ridden regularly, between four and seven times each week, tended to score higher for attentiveness and lower for neuroticism than horses ridden less often. However, the researchers emphasise that this does not prove that frequent riding produces calmer horses. It is equally possible that naturally calmer horses are selected for more regular work.
Housing was strongly associated with horse sociability. Horses kept alone consistently scored lower than horses housed with companions, whether in pairs or larger groups. This finding may reflect reduced opportunities to express normal social behaviour, although it is also possible that horses with poorer social skills are more likely to be housed individually.
The researchers stress that the study identifies associations rather than cause-and-effect relationships. Because it examined horses at a single point in time, it cannot determine whether management influences personality, personality influences management decisions, or whether both occur together.
Nevertheless, the findings suggest that stable ownership, opportunities for social contact with other horses and positive interactions with people are all associated with differences in equine personality. Further long-term studies should help clarify how management practices and personality influence one another and whether changes in management could improve both horse welfare and human-horse relationships.
For more details, see:
Alisa Viitanen, Aada Ståhl, Milla K. Salonen, Océane Liehrmann;
Management practices and human–horse relationships are associated with horse personality traits.
R. Soc. Open Sci. (2026); 13 (9): 260116.
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