Horses Hide Pain, Humans Misread It

A controlled study comparing laypeople, experienced caregivers, and expert panels found people are much worse at judging pain from horse faces than from human faces; experience helps, and horses may have evolved cues that mask discomfort. This suggests current visual assessments by casual handlers or spectators risk missing suffering. — If humans systematically under‑detect equine pain, that undermines welfare oversight in racing, transport, veterinary triage, and legal standards, creating a policy need for better objective measures and training.