Muhamed was an Arabian horse reportedly able to read, spell, and mentally extract the cube roots of numbers, which he would tap out with his hooves. Raised in Elberfeld, Germany by Karl Krall in the early 20th century, he was one of several supposedly gifted horses, the others being Little Hans, Zarif, Amasis, and later Berto, a blind stallion.[1]
While all the horses raised by Krall could demonstrate an apparent ability to read and do basic arithmetic, Muhamed could seemingly perform complicated calculations. When tested by psychologists and scientists, a number was written on a blackboard, and Muhamed was asked to extract the cube root. His left hoof represented the tens, while his right hoof represented the ones, so that in order to give the answer sixty-five, he would tap six times with his left hoof and five times with his right. This method of tapping was also used to demonstrate the horse's spelling, although according to reports, they did not correctly handle German orthography. Krall professed disbelief in the notion that Muhamed might be some sort of genius, arguing that human savants are also able to perform mathematical functions rapidly in their heads.[citation needed]
Scientists examining the horses attempted various tests to prove that the horses were being signaled the answers by Krall, and even attempted to blindfold the horses by tying sacks over their heads,[2][unreliable source] and by observing them in the stable through peepholes.[3][failed verification]
According to Krall, Muhamed, the most intelligent of the horses, eventually began to communicate spontaneously, sometimes tattling on the other horses for being lazy, or on the grooms for beating them.[citation needed]
Among the scholars who tested the horses and came away impressed by them were psychologist Edward Claparède, who claimed that they were genuine, and Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck, who claimed that Krall had "humanized" the horses.[4]
Muhamed died in 1915.[5]
See also
Footnotes
- ^ "Can Horses Think? Learned Commission Says "Perhaps"". The New York Times. 1913-08-31. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "A Horse Is a Horse of Course". Archived from the original on 2008-04-22.
- ^ John Michell and Robert Rickard (1982). "Horse Sense Is More Than you Ever Imagined" – via Living Wonders, Thames and Hudson.
- ^ Steiger, Brad (2004). Horse Miracles. Adams Media. ISBN 1-59337-023-7.
- ^ Jarman, A. S. (1955-08-16). "The Thinking Horses of Elberfeld". Evening Sentinel. pp. 6. Retrieved 2025-02-12 – via Newspapers.com.
Muhamed and Zarif were still being educated at Krall's stable at the outbreak of the 1914 war. The following year Muhamed died, and in 1917, when Germany was scraping the barrel for the last ounce of her strength, Zarif was conscripted to haulage and was lost in the smoke and tumult of the Western Front.
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