So much for dogs being man’s best friend! According to Discovery News, a horse could be one of your most loyal, long-term buddies - if you treat it right. Carol Sankey is an ethologist at the University of Rennes in France - that’s someone who studies animal behavior. Sankey says that a horse’s bond with humans is an extension of their behavior in the wild. Horses value their own horse relatives and friends very much, and they’re also open to new, non-threatening acquaintances - such as humans. Also, Sankey says that horses have excellent memories. This allows them to recall their human friends after being separated from them for a long time. However, you have to be nice to horses if you want them to be nice to you.

Sankey and her colleagues trained a group of horses, giving them instructions that included lifting their feet, and staying still when given the verbal command “reste!” which is French for “stay.” When they did as they were told, some horses received food pellets – and some didn’t. Well, the horses that did get treats showed more affection toward their trainers. They’d sniff and lick them, which horses do as a sign of attachment to one another. The horses that didn’t get treats expressed more negative behaviors, such as biting, kicking and even falling down on their trainers.

Then, Sankey tested how well the horses remembered their trainers after being apart for eight months. The ones that had been given treats gravitated toward that same trainer.  Sankey says that just like humans, horses behave, learn and memorize things better with positive reinforcement. Also, horses can hear the human voice better than dogs can, due to their particular range of hearing. So they’re great at identifying certain people. If they form a bond with you, it’s likely to be lifelong.