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Life

We now know why horses snort - because they're happy

By Jordan Hindson

11 July 2018

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Sounds happy to me

Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Horses appear to snort more when they’re happy. The finding could be used to assess the conditions in which horses are kept.

The distinctive noise has long been thought to serve hygienic functions, removing phlegm, flies and more from the nostril –  although some studies had suggested that horses that are well looked-after seem to do it more.

Martine Hausberger at the University of Rennes, France, decided to investigate by recording the snorting patterns of 48 horses in Brittany, France, living under different conditions. Some of the horses…

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