Horses can certainly distinguish taste. They have taste receptors, similar to taste buds. In the horse, taste receptors are commonly located on the roof of the mouth and the rear portion of the tongue. Smell probably plays a larger role in horse food preference than taste alone, however, it is very difficult to separate smell from taste when studying food preferences (ideally all foods would have to have the same aroma but different tastes). I found no research indicating exactly how many taste receptors the horse has.
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This work is supported in part by New Technologies for Agriculture Extension grant no. 2020-41595-30123 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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