Anyone who's feared for their life on the back of a horse that likes messing with people can absolutely confirm that they smell your fear, relish it, and will rigorously calculate the optimal route to getting under your skin.

I am still really surprised when I read research that confirms something that I have always accepted as the truth. My grandpa told me this when I was very young. He told me not showing a horse fear did no good. He knew they could sense fear through any pretense you showed. He never mentioned smell but he had observed its effects all the same.

The few times I've been close to them in my life I just stood calmly with them and it does put a horse at ease. Fearing them wont necessarily make them aggressive toward you but it can make them fear you in return and get them agitated.

Makes sense, this is why Bad Horse leads the evil league of evil.

"Are you scared, human?"

"...How could you tell?"

"I can smell it. The piss in your pants. Did you also have asparagus?"

And dogs can smell cancer. I'm starting to think researchers are just trying to tell us we stink.

They thrive on it.

Is it the urine?

and I smell horseshit!

Horses seem to be fearful of just about everything. I wonder how they distinguish between the scent of their own fear and the fear of others.

Fuck that makes me even more afraid of them.