Position of the head is not associated with changes in horse vision.
It has become accepted that the horse cannot see directly in front when the nose is lowered and must therefore rely on the rider. We tested the hypothesis that this conclusion would be correct only if the horse did not adjust the eyeball horizontal axis to changes of the head position. The results of the present study suggest that it is unlikely that horses have limited vision in relation to their head position when driven by the rider, and that the horse maintains the optimal horizontal eyeball position regardless of head position relative to the ground.
Bartos
L
L
Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prátelství 815, 104 00 Praha Uhrínĕves, Czech Republic.
Bartosová
J
J
Starostová
L
L
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006257:Head / Q000502:physiology*; D006736:Horses / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*