First published February 27, 2019.
Sereno is a white horse from Paraíba, in north-eastern Brazil, who was led to the funeral of his owner, Wagner Figueiredo de Lima, in early January 2017. Mourners watched him walk up to the vehicle carrying the coffin, sniff at it, rest his head against it and call out, and the photos of that farewell spread across the world within days.
Wagner was 34. He was a semi-professional vaqueiro, a cowboy of Brazil's north-eastern backlands, and had ridden and cared for Sereno for about eight years, competing at rodeos with him. He died suddenly in a road crash. His brother, Wando de Lima, decided the horse should be at the funeral in Cajazeiras, a town in the sertão of Paraíba. This article tells what happened that day, goes through the photographs, and looks at what scientists can and cannot say about whether horses grieve.
What happened at the funeral
The coffin was carried through the streets in a small funeral van from a local undertaker, with a large crowd following on foot. Wando walked Sereno on a lead beside it. According to people who were there, the horse circled the coffin, smelling it, then neighed, and later stood with his head pressed against it.
Kyioshi Abreu, who attended and shared photographs on Facebook, was quoted by The Dodo describing the scene: "[Sereno] began to walk around the coffin, smelling the coffin. Then he neighed." He said that many of the people present were moved to tears, himself included. Wando, speaking to Brazil's Globo, put it like this: "This horse was everything to him, it was as if the horse knew what was happening and wanted to say goodbye."
Wando also described the horse stamping and whinnying along the route to the cemetery. Those are his observations, and they are part of how the family remembers the day.
A note on dates: the story is often reshared as if it were recent, sometimes with a 2019 date. The funeral took place in January 2017, and international outlets covered it that month.
The photographs
The pictures below come from the funeral procession and from the family's own photos of Wagner and Sereno.
Sereno lowers his head over the flower-covered coffin in the open back of the funeral van, with mourners pressed close behind. This is the image that made the story famous, picked up by newspapers in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, France, the United States and beyond.
A family photo of Wagner beside Sereno, and a second of a boy riding him. They show the horse as part of everyday family life long before the funeral, a working partner in rodeos and a companion at home.
A wider view of the procession. The crowd lining the street shows how many people in Cajazeiras turned out for Wagner, and Sereno stands alongside the van rather than behind it.
Up close, Sereno's muzzle rests on the edge of the coffin among the flowers. Horses explore the world largely through smell, so sniffing an object closely is natural behaviour; what it meant to him is a question no photo can settle.
Pallbearers lift the coffin as Sereno is led forward to meet it. Funerals in rural north-eastern Brazil are often walking processions through town, which is why so many people saw the moment first-hand.
Sereno stands at the van as relatives and neighbours watch. Several faces in the crowd show the emotion witnesses later spoke about, and a few people are filming on their phones.
Wando walks Sereno on a red lead down the street, the funeral van following. It was his decision to bring the horse, and he later took Sereno into his own family's care.
A last close view of the procession. Sereno's ears are forward and his head is lowered as the coffin passes, a posture that mourners read as sorrow and that animal behaviour researchers would describe as attention to something unfamiliar and important in his surroundings.
Do horses grieve?
Scientists are cautious with the word grief, but they no longer dismiss the idea. Anthropologist Barbara J. King, who has written widely on animal mourning, suggests looking for clear changes after a death: withdrawing from others, eating or sleeping differently, altered emotional expression or signs of stress. Those criteria do not assume that an animal understands death as people do, but they leave room for real loss.
Evidence is strongest in social animals. Elephants have been seen standing over dead herd members and touching the remains with their trunks. Chimpanzee and gorilla mothers sometimes carry dead infants for days, and Jane Goodall described chimpanzees falling silent and attentive around a dead group member. Horses are reported to become depressed after losing a close companion, which makes sense in a herd animal that forms strong pair bonds.
A single scene at a funeral cannot show what Sereno understood. A horse may react to a crowd, to unfamiliar smells, or to the familiar scent of a person he knew well. What the scene does show is a strong bond between a man and his horse, and a family that chose to honour it.
Common misreadings of the story
"The horse cried." Headlines often said so. Horses do produce tears to keep their eyes moist, but there is no evidence that they shed tears from emotion as humans do. The vocal calls and restlessness witnesses described are more meaningful signs.
"This proves animals mourn." It is a moving anecdote, not proof. The better evidence comes from repeated observations and studies across many animals.
"It happened recently." The photos are from January 2017 and have been reshared many times since.
Caring for an animal after its owner dies
The quieter part of this story may be the most useful. Sereno went to live with Wando's family, which kept him among people and surroundings he knew. For anyone planning ahead for their own animals, it helps to name a caregiver in writing, keep feeding and veterinary details where family can find them, and make sure the chosen person is willing and able. For horses, think about pasture, farrier and vet costs, not only affection.
If an animal seems withdrawn, stops eating or loses condition after losing a companion, human or animal, a vet is the right first call. Keeping routines steady and adding company can help a social animal adjust.
A tribute that went beyond one day
Wagner's family could not have known that a decision made in grief would be seen by millions. They brought Sereno because he had been part of Wagner's life every day, and they kept him because he still belonged with them. However we read the horse's behaviour, that care is the part of the story that lasted.
Sources: Fox News, January 9, 2017; Good News Network, January 14, 2017; Wikipedia: Grief in animals. Photos shared by funeral attendee Kyioshi Abreu on Facebook and by the family.
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