by Elizabeth Reeves

Created on: July 22, 2008   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

In the wild horses live in a closely-knit herd of family members as a part of survival. Horses that stray away from the family units are in danger of being separated out by a predator. Mares will only leave the comfort of their herd to give birth, otherwise they remain under the protection of numbers. In the wild, foals, especially fillies, can be observed staying by their mother's side for as long as three years. This yearning for a gregarious society is deeply inbred into all horses, it is an integral part of their psyche. The way a horse thinks is determined by the understanding of the world through the eyes of the herd and its group behavior.

Understanding the structure of the natural pattern of life for horses is a key into the psychology of understanding how their minds work. Horses feel vulnerable when they are alone, and will behave with flight, fright, which can lead to protective aggression, or, by substituting their family structure with their human handler. To take this role, a human must understand the mind of the horse.

Horses have a firmly established pecking order, with a lead, dominant, mare, called the 'alpha', various members of the herd, all who know their place and the dominance level they have in the herd. The stallion does not lead the herd, but is there to keep the band together and protect the horses from predators.

A lone horse feels vulnerable and afraid. Without companionship, they are at risk. Horses live in a tight knit family in wild society, with a strict order of things, but also mutual grooming, friendship, and fellowship. Because of this, horses hate to be alone. This fear of being left can result in 'barn sour' behavior, such as bolting home, and other behaviors, struggling to return to gregarious safety.

A rider must establish themselves, first, as a herd member, and then as the dominant leader in the herd. Establishing dominance is as simple as standing ground, and showing horses that they must listen, by telling horses that humans have the right to move horses away from food, and away from each other. This uses the same techniques as the alpha mare in the herd in the wild would use. In the round pen, this can take the form of chasing the horse away until the handler asks them to return to center, on cue. Once dominance is established, the horse psychologically understand that they are safer with the human member of their 'herd'. When the rider is a dominant herd member, then the rider can overcome herd behavior and correct aspects of the human/horse relationship.

Once a horse recognizes a human as a member of their herd, their craving for companionship can be satisfied by their human handlers, through grooming, playing, and riding.

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