A new study has revealed that spending just three minutes with a horse or a mini donkey can help teenagers feel calmer and alleviate feelings of stress, sadness, and loneliness.
Researchers from the University of California, Davis conducted the study with 61 teenagers, where the participants interacted with two mini horses, Olivia and Randy, and two mini donkeys, Mary and Memphis.
Each teenager spent three minutes with the animals, with half of the participants instructed to gently stroke their backs while the other half were directed to rub their necks more firmly, a motion resembling the way horses care for each other.
The teenagers also learned how to read some signals from the animals, such as lip movement, which may indicate feelings of comfort or enjoyment, and backing away, which could mean they want some space.
After the interaction, all participants reported feeling calmer and experienced lower levels of stress, sadness, loneliness, and agitation. The animals, in turn, showed signs of enjoying the interaction, as they moved their lips during 75% of the neck rubbing sessions and 48% of the stroking sessions.
Notably, teenagers who noticed the animals' lip movements experienced a greater reduction in feelings of loneliness, while those who saw the animals backing away reported the largest decrease in feelings of sadness.
Rebecca Callisi Rodriguez, an associate professor at the University of California, Davis, stated that the results suggest that beneficial interaction doesn’t require the animal to constantly engage with the human, explaining that giving the animal the freedom to approach, stay, or move away can make the experience more authentic and genuine.
These findings come at a time when teenagers around the world are facing high levels of loneliness and mental health issues. In the United States, 40% of high school students reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless, while about 20% of youth aged 12 to 17 experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year.
The study joins a growing body of research exploring the potential benefits of interacting with horses, as previous studies suggest that this interaction may help lower cortisol levels and regulate heart rate, with equine-assisted therapy being used to help cope with anxiety, depression, and trauma.
Callisi Rodriguez believes that the new findings add an important factor, which is considering the experience of the animal itself, rather than solely focusing on the benefits for humans, so that animal-assisted programs become environments where people also learn how to care for animals and respect their needs.