What is the intelligence level of a real horse or pony?

[HorsesandMOARGaloar 300]

It is said that ponies (real ones, like Shetlands) are smarter than horses, owing to their ancestors' intelligence in the wilder and harsher regions of the world.

[Kurai 304]

Being someone that breeds both horses and ponies, I can safely say their intellect is not that much greater. They are more cunning, that's about it.

[Zekromic 1,054]

I heard donkeys are more intelligent than horses, despite of their fame of dumbasses  

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

My mom has a mule and up until recently she had a miniature horse. The mule was way way smarter than the horse was.

 

Though he is super suspicious of everything. Like if he sees anything in the yard or in your hand that he hasn't seen before, he'll have nothing to do with it. Which is why mules have a reputation of being stubborn.

[Something Floaty 1,334]

It's somewhere on the scale between "Limbaugh" and "humpback whale".

[Static Electricity 729]

Ponies are slightly smarter than horses, but not as smart as donkeys (mules are the smartest).

[simba86 1,541]

goats are smarter than horses, i have 2 goats and they can untie knots with their mouths and unlatch gates

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

I wouldn't say Ponies and horses are that smart. After all most of the time they just stand in a field staring into space!

[Jeric 46,851]

Are we talking natural intelligence, or human directed evolution? Equines, like canines, have been altered dramatically since we started breeding them. They learn from the same basic training approaches as dogs, and some of their vocalizations are harmonically complex, which is usually only needed in animals with higher brain functions like canines, felines, and whatever foxes are.

[Khaoios 1,970]

From what i know, Horses (any breed, hybrid, etc.) are known to fit the "intelligent animals" list. 

 

P.S: for those who don't know, look this up Top 25 Intelligent Animals (although not sure if it was updated, but horses also fit the top 25 most intelligent animals)

[Northern Star 1,024]

They're not terribly smart, but that's more individual animal dependent though. Mules it all depends on how they were raised as most won't do something that might get them hurt, which gained them the phrase of "stubborn".

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,477]

With their movement and running speed, horses have to be more intelligent than humans.  

[Dreambiscuit 9,873]

I imagine they’re comparable to any animal of similar breed; some are smarter than others. Pathology isn’t necessarily a contributing factor.  

But in my personal experience, having cared for both ponies and horses in a former job long ago, I’d say ponies are more mischievous and cunning verses horses, which are seemingly more staid, giving them the appearance of greater self-control and intelligence. Horses can be taught whereas I found ponies very difficult to train on any level. It’s like unruly children compared with mature adults.