The behaviour of humans around horses is thought to have a substantial impact on how
people are perceived in subsequent interactions and many horse trainers give detailed
advice on how handlers should behave when initially approaching a loose horse. Here we
report on three studies designed to explore the effect of different human approach styles on
the behaviour of naïve and experienced horses. In the first study, the change in flight
distance (distance at which horses started to avoid an approaching human) of twelve semi …