By Vurdlak on November 28, 2008, with 128 Comments
Hehe, somehow I just knew you wouldn’t be happy with my previously Hidden Manatees. Still, it’s a regular illusion, and you can’t deny it! Here and then I “have to” post these, since we have new visitors each day, and we wouldn’t want to disappoint them, would we? In the mean time, I’m posting this horse silhouette – I just can’t decide whether the horse is looking in my direction, or towards the horizon? This is the common problem with silhouette images. In a principle they all work in a same way as Spinning Girl and Spinning Man do.
(32 votes)
Its really cool, I can see it both ways so I can’t say.
Not an illusion, just a silhouette.
The spinning ones were almost illusions though.
Into. Check the tail over the back legs.Could go either way though at the front end.
Whoa… Kinda creepy but still interesting none the less
the horses ears tell you its looking to the horizon. the right ear is smaller and less defined indicating its hidden behind the head.
looking at you. if you zoom in and cover the nose and look at the neck and ears it doesn’t look right if the horse was looking away, then if you look at just the nose, i think its facing you.
I dont agree with you, the hair doesn’t let you know if he’s looking to the horizon or not. Can be both. Have yoe ever seen a horse?.
definitely photoshopped…haha jk.
I think, horse is looking you, see the front legs
well i uses to own horses and i can say the horse is looking towards u look at the neck lines
Its def looking away .. you can tell by looking at the front legs… if it were looking at us.. and the legs were the same the left leg would have to be broken.. but it is a very cool pic!
I’m pretty sure he’s looking toward the camera because of his nose. Otherwise, his nose would be a bit wrong, it would instead be like his mouth is open facing the horizon. I think the tail makes more sense for facing this way, too, as well as the eyelashes. But it is a good image, you can see it both ways. Fun, thanks!
Actually, he ist looking at the horizon because you can see his back is too big. If He was looking at us his head would be bigger.
The horse is looking at you. If his face was turned away his nose would be slightly smaller. Very cool illusion though! I can see how it could go either way.
I think it is looking away from you as the shape of the ears suggests so.
I like this one as your vision seems to change as you look at it almost seeing the face looking at you. That is the illusion.
The horse’s nostril and eyelashes tell me that he is looking toward us, but what do I know? I only have 130 horses :) It is still cool, though.
the Horse it´s looking this way, if you pay attention to it you can see the horse´s eyes and nose
Look at the front two legs…the horse is looking to the horizon
The way the horse is positioning it’s self, it seems to be looking towards the horizon and not the viewer.You can tell by how the ears and the way its body is facing the opposite way from the viewer. (Then again I could be wrong)
~Sabrina~
Great picture. If the horse was looking towards us, it would be too much of an odd angle for the front leg positioned to the middle. Look at it and I’m sure you will agree the horse must be facing the horizon with it’s left front leg trailing slightly as if in a turn.
Yes I do know horses! Thanks for a great pic.
it looking at the horizon cause you can see the hair in the back of his head
kathleen is right!
its facing us otherwise the line of his neck would continue farther up. now the head is in front, so that it “interrupts” it. i hope i could make myself clear.
thanks kathleen
It is looking at the horizon if you look carefully at the legs .. forget the nose the hair and w/e else think rationally… the horse is tilting its legs to shift its body towards the horizon so yes it’s looking at the horizon
It looks a bit awkward when you see it looking at the horizon. I think it’s looking outward from the screen.
Neat, but not as cool as the spinning girl illusions. =)
In my opinion it’s looking away. The mouth gives it away for me. If it would be looking towards you there would be less of a bottom jaw and more of a nose present. Also the scale of the hourse’s body to it’s mouth gives it away for me. Lastly, the front legs suggest that it’s walking, and they don’t quite make sense in my mind if the horse would be walking towards the camera. It would almost have to be falling over forward for it’s legs to be in that position while walking towards the camera. It’s left leg would obviously look larger to us than it’s right, and the leg that’s farthest back seems bigger than the one that’s mostly vertical.
i think its facing towards the camera, look at the front leg closest to the camera. The weight of the horse is supported on that leg so it must be facing towards us.
looking right!
The most accurate way to determine the direction of these kinds of things (like with the spinning ones) is to note the size. The farther away something is, the smaller it’ll look.
That said, this horse is either looking away from the viewer, or it has an abnormally small head.
strange if you look at the ears it’s looking away but if you look at the nose it’s facing you, as for the rest of the horse it’s in a non- descript position
of course its looking at the horizon, look at its legs. a horse would never cross its legs!
The horse is looking towards the horizon. You can tell by the right ear, his left nsrtil and his mane. Could go either way though unless observed VERY closely!!!
esta viendo al orizonte, se nota luego luego en la posicion de las patas delanteras.
look at the size of the back leg!!!
i think its defintely looking at the horizon cause the front part of its body seems a little smaller than the rest
Great illusion. The creature could be facing either way, there are many postulations but no conclusive argument supporting either pose.
I find the most interesting thing about this illusion is if you back away from the screen about 35 feet it looks like a cow, or maybe even a dog. At 70 feet is looks like a black blob, maybe a jellyfish. At 150 feet the image is almost invisible. At 500 feet I can’t even make out a monitor screen, let alone an image. It just seems to get more interesting the further I get away from it. What an illusion. WOW.
Some of you “experts” (you know who you are)should really just chill and enjoy the great site and it’s unique content. Learn the difference between “critique” and “criticize”.
the front leg that is at a “\” angle looks like that its closer to us, so it would have to be looking in the opposite direction (for balance reasons).
I took this picture and the horse was looking away from my camera out towards the horizon.
I don’t know…
I can see both ways!
it is looking away. look at the horse’s ears they’re pointing outwards in curiosity because in that kind of a situation the horse is not angry and wouldn’t have its ears back that far.the horse is looking away, i have much experience with horses.
i dunno ummm horizon no no no me!nonono horizon….
This isn’t an optical illusion.
oh i get it cool
the ears are facing the horizon
definitely looking towards the horizon.
This is a tough one to see well, but, I think, based on the nose shapes and legs, that the horse is facing the viewer.
It’s facing away from you. It’s all about the legs.
Pretend you’re the horse. How would you stand if you were looking either way? Think about the shiftment of weight because obviously the rear is facing you so if the head is facing you too than you’d need some renforcement. It’s allllll about those legs.
Definatly facing us
it is facing us you can see it by the nose
and his eye…
The horse is looking towards the horizon. The tail falls in front of the rear right leg. If the horse was looking in my direction, I don’t think the top part of its tail, near where it attaches to the horse would be as visible. I think it would have been more hidden by the horse’s hind quarters
It’s clearly a female horsey so it’s probably multi-tasking and looking both ways
Or what you think is it’s hind right leg is in fact its hind left leg? The whole point is it’s an optical illusion. All you people saying “It’s obviously looking X direction” are fools. The silhouette turns it into a 2D image, so no matter how much you THINK it’s obvious which way it’s facing you’re simply interpreting an ambiguous image one way, but are certain in your own interpretation!
Well.. i was kinda hoping it was a bunch of people arranged to form a horse silhouette or (like in the simpsons) a bunch of cats taped together.
It DID say it WASN’T a horse yet nearly all comments ignore that.
Mackisback i think has called the closest to the truth. That does look like a human leg at the front.
Look at the eye, it is a tell-tale sign the horse is looking towards the photographer. Plus, the tail can be anywhere, regardless of which way the horse is looking.
Also, if you need a picture of a horse silhouetted on a hill, you will probably be photographing it yourself, and the horse will more than likely think you are more interesting than the horizon.
It’s easy to see the horse is looking out at the horizon. Notice the right ear (to us) is smaller because it is farther away. If the horse was looking towards us he would have lopsided ears which is very unlikely.
it is looking towards the photographer, look at it’s slanting foot.
That’s why I think its facing the horizon. The forward leg would be holding more weight, therefore its head would hang over that side
I feel the horse looks anywhere i want him to look that should save some sanity
i think it’s looking towards the camera, if not, look at the front legs, how would you explain standing in equilibrium, there’s no way he could look the other way cuz he would fall *look at the leg positioning*
when i look all i can see is it looking at me so….
Looking at the photographer. Look at the ears — they’re obviously cocked this way. If his head were facing the other way, there is no physical way he could have his ears positioned as such.
its not a horse, its a zebra
ha ha
who cares?
The horse is definitely looking towards the horizon. You can easily see that by the way its ears point towards the horizon, away from the camera, and just as “mikey” said about the tail falling in front of the rear right leg, it is very visible in the picture.
it’s looking towards the camera, look at the front legs, how would you explain standing in equilibrium, there’s no way he could look the other way because he would fall look at the leg positioning
hi every one
i can see there is one girl on the left and horse face it’s she’s hair and look at the front legs it’s girl legs
it’s not a horse
see it again
thank you
it’s not a horse u blind fools
you said its not a horse but it is. and then went on to say its an illuion but its not.its just a photo of a horse.
The only thing about this picture that I find amazing is the fact that half the people who commented are absolutely convinced that it’s facing the camera and the other half are absolutely convinced that it’s facing away from the camera, both sides using the ears and the tail as evidence to support their opinion. It’s a silhouette. You can’t see its eyes. You can’t tell.
it’s definitively looking towards the camera! look at the front legs, how would you explain standing in equilibrium, there’s no way he could look the other way because he would fall look at the leg positioning
It’s not the tail, the legs, the ears, or the eye. It’s the mane. The mane always lays on one side or the other. The mane on the neck indicates that the horse is facing the photographer.
it look to the horizon
because it’s ear is heading forward
this is stupid. the link i clicked on asked me if i thought this was a silhouette of a horse and the content is something different. lieing mother fuckers
The horse is looking towards the photographer. His head is in front of his neck. You can tell because if you look at his neck, there is a kink in it where the head attaches. If the horse was looking away, his poll, the top part of his head inbetween the ears, would create a smooth and straight line to his withers and shoulders. He would also not have the lower part of his neck buldge because it would be facing away. His jaw line and head cover the upper part of his neck which connects to his poll. …Make sense at all? :P
There is absolutely no way to be sure which way it is looking. In silhouette it’s going to look identical from both sides, clearly. Mikey thinks he knows that the tail is in front of the right leg- why can’t it be behind the left leg? This is pointless.
yes there is! it’s looking towards the camera, look at the front legs, how would you explain standing in equilibrium, there’s no way he could look the other way because he would fall look at the leg positioning
how you can see a kink in its neck beats me but anyway…ive seen the exact photo in colour its looking at the camera…problem solved
The horse is facing the camera. you can tell by the positioning of the forward legs and chest. And a horse never looks away when approched!
As I recall, when I took this picture, the horse was looking right at my assistant standing to my left.
As I recall, he was looking at my assistant in the Horizon.
PROOF – get a picture of a horse, and compare its head. look how disproportionate its head is to its body in this picture. it has to be looking at the Horizon in order for the horse to be proportionate.
i think it is looking 2wards the screen. the way the eyelash sits proofs this so ha!!!
yah! it’s looking at the horizon since the head became smaller in proportion.
the horse is facing the horizan because if he was facing the photogrpaher there would not be that dip in his neck near the withers, also his front right leg would not be exted out father then the fron right leg, and the tail would not be as visable
The horse is looking towards the photographer. If you look at its mane, there appears to be a break in it. That is caused by the horse’s head blocking it. Also, regarding the ears, it’s entirely possible that the horse had a large forelock causing the right ear to appear smaller.
you have two options: the first option looks as if the horse is looking at you which might be your first choice because of how obvious. now the second choice would be that the horse is looking at the horizon. The way to tell which a simple way to know is his hump on the back. if the horse was looking at the camera it wouldn’t have this hump. that hump would only occur if it was facing away from the camera did this while back in class.
simple = all americans are saying it’s facing the camera.
everyone else is saying it’s facing the horizon.
If you still need the answer….. IT IS FACING AWAY FROM THE CAMERA (the horizon is all the way around!)
its clearly looking at the horizon. the tail and the ears are clues to it, as it was stated before. the eye isn’t. have you seen horses before? they have huge eyes. they pop to the sides so the can see their own rear.
oh and the whole legs and balance thing, there’s a very simple explanation to that. it’s a PICTURE. you know, those things that make time stand still?