Meppel Nu

· 03 Aug 2020

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Can a horse fall in love?

#DIERENLIEFDE 😍 'Aaaaah, how nice, they're in love! ' Kirt your stable-mate when your mare is doing nose-nosed with her gelding for the first time. Like a teenager who has been kissed for the first time, he walks after her while keeping a little distance. But aren't we completely misinterpreting these signals? Can horses feel love and establish relationships with each other like us?

“Horses can certainly attach themselves to each other”, says behavioral expert Machteld van Dierendonck. And they can of course enter into a sexual relationship (otherwise there were no foals) and often have a preference. “Like people, they can make friendships and they can deprive each other all their lives,” she continues. That's easy too, otherwise there's a chance that a stallion will ever cover one of his daughters.