Horse Herd Dynamics

There are a lots of books and online resources dealing with herds of horses and the social dynamics of the herd.  I am summarizing here to give context, which I will be using to relate to human leadership dynamics in later posts.

Domestic herds of horses reflect many of the social charactistics of a wild or feral horse herds.  Horses are by nature very social creatures.  As a prey animal, the security of a horse lies with being a member of a herd.  And within the herd, there is a very defined social hierarchy that is adhered to -- it is survival for each horse to understand their place in the social hierarchy of the herd.

In the wild, the herd consists of a stallion and a harem of mares and younger horses.  The stallion is the protector of the herd.  An older mare is actually the leader as her experience ensures the herd has access to food and water.  Once a young male horse becomes mature, he is driven out of the herd.  Often times, there is a herd of younger male horses who have been driven out of their birth herd.  At some point, an older stallion is challenged by a younger stallion for his harem.  And the cycle continues.

Hierarachy in the herd is demonstrated by physical cues, which range from how the horse positions itself to chasing, kicking, and biting. Once the hierarchy is established, unless there is some change (new horse arrives, old horse gets sick), it is pretty static.

This can also apply to a domestic herd, though the complement of the herd in a domestic setting can be somewhat artificial.  At the barn where I board my horse, we have several small "herds".  In one, the mix is similar to that noted above, and there is a very dominant alpha mare and a dominant gelding (no stallions at our facility).

Even with a human, a horse is looking at how it figures in the pecking order with the human.  Is the horse the leader or is the human the leader?  In order to be an effective rider and to establish the proper relationship with a horse, the human needs to establish him or herself as the leader.  However, how the human does this is critical -- it can't be done by force, but by establishing a relationship built upon trust with the horse.  And this process of establishing that leadership dynamic with the horse finds striking parellels in how humans develop and display leadership within human society.