It used to be thought that using tools was one of the things that set us apart from the animal kingdom. However, it is now known that some species use tools. Reports include chimps using sticks to reach food, sea otters using stones to break open shellfish, and even elephants deactivating an electric fence by dropping rocks on it.

A new study shows that horses can be more reluctant in new situations if they have multiple riders or have had several owners, or if the horse has been with its current owner for only a short time. The international research team, including scientists from Turku and Helsinki Universities in Finland and the INRAE of Nouzilly in France, studied interactions between horses and humans as well as how horses react in new situations. The findings are published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

When new tenants moved into the trailer on a small acreage downhill from my farm, I could see (and hear) the livestock truck pull up with the sound of horses - big horses - inside. The next day I went to introduce myself, taking wine and fresh farm eggs, hoping to get a good look at what had been inside that stock truck.

A hot humid day. One rider. One horse. Both are exercising at a moderate level. Who is more likely to overheat? It might surprise you to learn that your horse gets hotter much faster than you and is more susceptible to the negative effects of heat stress. Prof. Michael Lindinger, an animal and exercise physiologist at the University of Guelph, explains: “It only takes 17 minutes of moderate intensity exercise in hot, humid weather to raise a horse’s temperature to dangerous levels. That’s three to ten times faster than in humans. Horses feel the heat much worse than we do.”