Our results suggest that people prefer a natural head carriage, concave facial profile (dished face), larger ears and thicker necks. However, novice participants were 1.8 times more likely to choose ‘behind the vertical’ than ‘in front of the vertical’.
There was overall preference of 93% (n=939) for the category of head carriage ‘In front of the vertical’. When compared to the novice participants, experienced participants were 1.9 times more likely to prefer a thicker neck shape than the intermediate neck shape and 2.8 times less likely to prefer a thinner neck shape than the intermediate neck shape. They also indicate that males are 2.5 times less likely to prefer thicker necks rather than the intermediate shape, and 4 times more likely to prefer the thinner neck shape. The results show that overall preferences are for the intermediate, rather than extreme, morphological choices (p=<0.001). Participants of an internet survey were asked to rate their preference for horse silhouettes that illustrated three gradations of five variables: facial shape, crest height, ear length, ear position and head-and-neck carriage. Our investigation was designed to identify conformations and postures that people are attracted to when choosing their ‘ideal’ horse. Equine head-and-neck positions acquired through rein tension can compromise welfare. Crested necks can be accentuated by flexion of the neck, a quality that is often manipulated in photographs vendors use when selling horses.
Artificial selection for attributes, such as short heads and crested necks of horses, may have functional and welfare implications because there is evidence from other species that skull shape co-varies with behaviour. Human preferences for certain morphological attributes among domestic animals may be entirely individual or, more generally, may reflect evolutionary pressures that favor certain conformation.