Mirrors make horses happy
Monday, September 17, 2001
Horses are happier and more relaxed if mirrors are fitted inside their stables.

Scientists studying stressed-out nags found a mirror had a calming effect on them.

They think it could be fooling the horse into thinking it has a friend, or simply distract it from its troubles.

The researchers at the Lincolnshire School of Agriculture near Grantham looked at horses which swayed their heads from side to side - a behaviour called weaving which is exhibited when horses are frustrated, bored or distressed.

After fitting acrylic mirrors to the stable walls, the researchers found the weaving stopped or considerably reduced within 24 hours.

Daniel Mills, a Principal Lecturer at the Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Group, who carried out the study, said: "The behaviour stopped almost instantaneously.

"Some of these horses had been displaying this behaviour for six years."

It is not clear how or why the mirror reduces weaving. The researchers believe it could mimic visual contact with other horses and reduce social isolation, or that it could act as a distraction and reduce the perception of confinement.

The horses spent more than a quarter of their time inside the stable facing the mirror, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

Mr Mills said horse owners should not put glass mirrors in stables. "It is important the mirror is shatterproof," he said. "We are thinking of developing the mirrors we used in the study as a commercial product."

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