Inside the Horse Brain: How Equine Minds Think, Feel, and React

In this episode Nancy McLean explores Dr. Stephen Peters' book Horse Brain Science, comparing human and equine brain anatomy and function. She explains brain size and cortical folding, then walks through the four main lobes (frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital), the amygdala and hippocampus, and the brainstem. The episode connects these brain differences to horse behavior and training—why punishment fails, how pressure and removal or positive rewards work, and how understanding sensory processing, memory, and fear responses can improve ethical horsemanship.

You can listen to Inside the Horse Brain: How Equine Minds Think, Feel, and React online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Inside the Horse Brain: How Equine Minds Think, Feel, and React is an episode from Conversations in Equine Science by Nancy McLean.

This episode is 21:50 long.

This episode was published on Mar 20, 2026.

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