How Does the Horse’s Olfactory System Work?
The horse’s olfactory receptors are very tiny, elongated nerve cells that are specialized to analyze smells and are well protected by the skeletal structure of the horse’s skull. These receptors are located in the mucous membranes in the upper portion of the nasal cavity. They contain about 800 million nerve endings for processing and detecting odors (this is a mere guesstimate, the truth is, we really aren’t sure). These nerve endings are triggered from a signal from the genes along the inside passage of the nasal cavity. When airborne molecules come into contact with the lipid and protein material of the mucous membranes, they interact with the microscopic tufts of hair protruding from the receptor cells. By sniffing, the horse can intensify the currents of air in the nasal passages, providing more contact between the odor molecules and the receptor cells and more time for analysis and identification. The olfactory cells send out two branches, one that extends over the surface of the
