Trivia Junction

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Horse Talk 101

In the moments and hours after Barbaro seriously fractured his right hind leg at the Preakness last month, there was much talk that the thoroughbred's injury might prove fatal.

So far, that's not the case. On May 20, the racehorse underwent successful surgery (one steel plate, 27 titanium screws) and is now in the early stages of a long recuperation.

Recovery, though, will be a challenge. The risk of infection or re-injury is significant. Also problematic is figuring out just how Barbaro himself is faring. Is he in much pain? What's his mental outlook?

In a human patient, a doctor would simply ask, but outside of TV's Mr. Ed, you don't get much straight talk from a horse's mouth. A pair of former Navy acousticians is trying to change that by interpreting when a horse's neigh means yea.

For the last two years, David Browning, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, and Peter Scheifele, at the University of Connecticut, have been studying horse vocalizations, attempting to determine whether the relatively broad spectrum of sounds made by horses (donkeys and zebras) can be linked to specific meanings.

“The quest is to determine if horses can utilize this varying frequency to produce specific vocal expressions,” said Browning. “If so, you might be able to get a sense of their physical condition by their vocalizations.”

Browning and Scheifele aren't there yet, but if they succeed, veterinarians might be able to better treat injured horses like Barbaro, getting them up and running in faster time.

That's a whinny-whinny situation for everyone.

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