Radios in the Barn

Many stables leave a radio playing on the theory that music and/or human voices help to reduce boredom and keep horses calm.

A study at Cornell University showed that ponies ate more hay while listening to country music rather than jazz, classical, or rock-n-roll tunes. Project leader Dr. Katherine Houpt advised that the finding did not necessarily mean this type of music is favored by horses, as the study did not compare music versus no music.

She suggested that, because horses react to the moods of their handlers, possibly the results showed that stable workers, rather than horses, were calmed by country music.

A contrasting theory poses the idea that music blocks low-level noises that might signal the approach of danger, and therefore horses in a music-filled barn may be less able to relax.