Thursday Video: As Seen By The Horse

Your horse’s eyes don’t perceive the world the same way yours do. This fascinating simulation shows what the world looks like to you as a rider and your horse simultaneously!

You don’t need to be a horse expert to realize that animals don’t see the world the same way we do — things like eye size, head shape, pupil shape and general physiology mean that every species’ perception of its surroundings is a little bit different. (If you need a reminder, just wait for your horse to spook at that one corner again.)

Comparing a simulation side by side with a horse’s and human’s perspective, however, really reminds us how differently horses see the world — from the scope of the field of vision to the perception of color and the shift from light to shadow.

We think you may even find this… eye-opening. (We’re here all week.)

After watching this visualization, I’m reminded just how cool it is that a horse can do things like navigate a row of cavaletti or carry me safely home in the dark, and why my senior horse pauses for just a moment in the doorway to the dark barn after coming in from bright sunlight.

Go riding!