Skip to main content
See every side of every news story
Published loading...Updated

Study Finds Horses Detect Human Fear From Sweat and Change Behavior

The study shows horses startled more and avoided unfamiliar objects when exposed to human fear odor, revealing chemical communication between species, researchers said.

  • On Wednesday, the PLOS One paper found horses detect human fear from odor alone, and exposure to fearful sweat changed horses' behavior during tests.
  • Human study participants wore cotton pads in armpits while watching joyful clips and then 20 minutes of Sinister to produce fear sweat for the study by France's National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment.
  • Horses that smelled fear sweat startled more easily, hesitated to approach the experimenter, touched less, and showed higher heart rate and saliva cortisol measures while avoiding novel objects.
  • For riders and handlers, the study suggests acknowledging emotional states transmit via chemosignals, while researchers plan future studies on human sensitivity to horse odors and other emotions.
  • Using a novel muzzle-and-pad setup, the researchers used cotton pads, frozen to avoid contamination, stapled into custom muzzles and audience horses to show smell is another multisensory input horses use.
Insights by Ground AI

12 Articles

CNNCNN
+6 Reposted by 6 other sources
Lean Left

Horses really can smell our fear, new study finds

Horses can detect fear in humans by smell, becoming more likely to startle and more wary of people who are scared, a new study has found.

·Atlanta, United States
Read Full Article
Lean Left

A team of French researchers has shown that human sweat produced in situations of terror provokes responses of stress and restlessness in horses, a finding that has implications for animal welfare Hemereteca - Watch out for what you say in front of your dog: some learn words caught on the flight like children There is a classic moment in cowboy movies in which the horse is able to interpret the emotions of its rider or warn the presence of a dan…

·Spain
Read Full Article

A new study found that horses can detect fear in humans by the wolf, becoming more prone to fear and more cautious with frightened people. Researchers collected samples of odorifer compositions of human participants' wings in a study and then observed the behaviour of horses when exposed to different donors during standardized tests, according to a study published in this quarter (14) in the PLOS One newspaper.

·Brazil
Read Full Article

A French study concludes that animals increase their heart rate and react worse to some stimuli when they smell the sweat of people who have seen scary images.

Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/yearSubscribe

Bias Distribution

  • 56% of the sources are Center
56% Center

Factuality Info Icon

To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium

Ownership

Info Icon

To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage

Scientific American broke the news in on Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
Too Big Arrow Icon
Sources are mostly out of (0)

Similar News Topics

News
Feed Dots Icon
For You
Search Icon
Search
Blindspot LogoBlindspotLocal