Why horses are as good as babies at counting

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The first experiment of its kind showed that horses can pick out a bucket containing more apples than another.

They have a rudimentary ability to count, process the information and make a decision, according to psychologist Claudia Uller.

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A head for figures: Horses can count as well as babies

She and a fellow psychology researcher at Essex University, Jennifer Lewis, decided to use modern testing techniques.

Previous research had shown that human infants and different sets of primates could select the larger of two sets of cookies deposited in an opaque container.

In a similar set of experiments involving more than 50 horses, the researchers counted out apples into two opaque buckets that were then covered up.

The apples were fake - to avoid the horses being able to get a stronger smell from the bucket containing three rather than two apples.

The majority of horses successfully picked the bucket with three apples in preference to the one containing fewer, Dr Uller told the British Psychological Society's annual conference in Dublin.