Who says that horses can’t use tools? I can definitely see Zelda figuring out how to get that alfalfa cube. She’ll turn herself inside out for one of them. And she’s a thinker. While most horse are reactive, she’s the kind of horse that will analyze a situation and come up with a solution. Of course, that’s a double edged sword. Sometimes she’s too smart!
How Smart is Your Horse
That’s just too freaky smart!
I had a horse that could open latches. Any kind of latches. Only when you weren’t looking. But even he never used a tool!
My little arab Jordan could untie knots. And I knew a TB cross who learned how to get out of his stall…the kind with the door on rollers…by pressing his poll against the top part of the opening and lifting it right off the tracks. My appaloosa watched him do it and tried to do the same, but couldn’t as he wasn’t tall enough…so he learned how to unlatch the stall door. We had to “lock” the latch.
Zelda learned pretty quickly that she could pop the screws out of the hinges on the door of her stall if she leaned on it long enough. She does much better in 24/7 turnout even though she occasionally tests the fencing. My trakehner once let my dogs out his stall where they were locked for safe keeping. I was really angry that someone would let them out (I searched for hours before I found them), but I think he just decided he wanted to go in.
Wow!