Some horses might not realize that a treat still exists once you put a screen in front of it.
Research shows that despite their intelligence, some horses fail basic object permanence tests where rewards are hidden. This challenges the idea that all large mammals automatically understand that the physical world continues to exist when out of sight.
Some horses (Equus caballus) don't know where to look for a hidden reward in a two-screen task
SSRN · 6569388
The ability to comprehend that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer available for direct perception might serve as a significant benchmark for evaluating cognitive abilities across species. Object permanence in animals is commonly assessed using a battery of tasks developed by Piaget (1954) or by Uzgiris and Hunt (1975). It has been shown that many species can cope with most of these tasks. However, due to certain methodological issues, it remains challenging to determine wheth