Clever Hans – The Horse That Could Count? A Hidden Lesson in Human Communication

In Chapter 8 of How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes, there’s a fascinating story about a horse named Clever Hans—a real-life animal that stunned crowds in the early 1900s trained by his owner named herr von osten. Hans could answer math problems by tapping his foot. Ask him, “What’s 3 plus 4?” and he would tap seven times.

Newspapers covered it, crowds gathered, and scientists were baffled. It looked like Hans truly understood language and arithmetic.

Then one day the big test arrived in a auditorium. The owner of the hans sent out of the auditorium. Then the canny commission members started to ask the math question the confident commission leader asked the first question hans answerd I correctly by tapped. Then second , third everyone started to belive it is genious horse.

 But after a series of investigations, a psychologist named Oskar Pfungst discovered something surprising: then the psychologist get near the horse and ask the question in the ear of the horse the horse didn’t do anything the crowd shocked. Did you find the trick?

 How Did Clever Hans “Solve” Math Problems Without Understanding Them?

Clever Hans seemed to be a mathematical genius—but in truth, his talent wasn’t in numbers. It was in reading humans.

When someone asked Hans a question, like “What is 3 plus 4?”, he would begin tapping his hoof on the ground. Here’s what really happened behind the scenes, step by step:

1. The Question Was Asked

Let’s say the question is: “What’s 3 + 4?”

The correct answer is 7, so the person asking the question is subconsciously expecting 7 taps.

2. Hans Starts Tapping

Hans begins tapping his hoof—1, 2, 3…

Now here’s the key: The questioner’s body starts reacting as Hans approaches the number 7.

3. Subtle Tension Builds

As Hans gets close to the correct number, the person watching (often unknowingly) becomes slightly tense—almost like holding their breath in anticipation. Their facial muscles might tighten, their breathing may change slightly, their eyes might widen a bit.

They’re not doing it on purpose. These are micro-signals, tiny involuntary cues that happen without conscious control.

4. The Right Moment Comes

When Hans taps the seventh time, something shifts.

The person watching relaxes slightly—their eyebrows lower, their body slumps a little, they might exhale without realizing.

Hans, who had become highly trained at noticing these small changes, recognizes this as the signal to stop tapping.

5. Hans Stops – And Everyone Applauds

Hans stops at exactly 7 taps, and everyone thinks, “Wow! This horse can do math!”

But Hans didn’t know the question, or the numbers. He simply watched for subtle cues from the person watching him. When they tensed, he kept tapping. When they relaxed, he stopped.

Why Is This Important?

This shows how nonverbal communication is often more powerful than spoken words. We constantly send signals through our body language—even when we don’t mean to.

Hans picked up on these signals naturally. But humans can learn to do the same by training ourselves to be more observant of posture, tone, and facial expressions.

When you’re talking to someone, being hyper-aware like Clever Hans—noticing their tone, expression, and body language—can help you understand what they’re really thinking or feeling, beyond their words.

Like Hans, you’ll start to sense what they really think and feel—even if they’re not saying it aloud.

 Takeaway for Your Conversations:

Want to truly connect with others? Pay attention to the unspoken messages. Be like Clever Hans—not because he was brilliant at math, but because he was brilliant at reading people.