Fear Has A Smell, and Horses Know It
Ben Sullivan
THE horse stands quietly as the experimenter approaches, a cotton pad stapled inside a lycra muzzle fitted over her nostrils.
She’s breathing normally through the fabric, but something is different this time. When the experimenter extends a hand during the grooming test, the mare keeps her distance, touching the human significantly less than she did yesterday. Later, when an umbrella suddenly snaps open beside her, she startles violently; far more than seems warranted for a horse accustomed to..