UNDERSTANDING EQUINE BEHAVIOR
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Williams
Lesson Four
Feral Horse Behavior and Herd Dynamics
The
previous lesson on the Language of Horses is probably one of my favorites. That’s because horses communicate with us far
more than we give them credit for, and too few people take the time to listen
to what their horses are saying. When
you understand both the verbal language and the non-verbal language of horses,
you can tailor your training and handling methods to meet each horse’s
individual needs. Your training will
progress faster, you’ll be safer and you’ll have a better horse.
Previous Lesson Summary
Lessons
3 discussed the verbal and non-verbal language of horses. Verbal
language includes the noises and sounds horses make to communicate with each
other and with humans. The horse’s verbal language includes seven sounds:
1.
The snort: A sound the horse makes by
pushing air through his nose while his mouth is closed. The horse usually also raises his head and
tail and his ears point forward. The
whites of the horse’s eyes may also be visible.
The snort indicates worry or alarm.
2.
The blow:
This sound is also made when a horse pushes air through his nose while
his mouth is closed, but the sound is less sharp. The blow often occurs when the horse is
standing erect with an elevated tail and head, but the whites of his eyes don’t
show and he doesn’t look rigid or tense.
The blow indicates that the horse feels good.
3.
The squeal:
This is a loud sound made with either an open or closed mouth. It often occurs when the horse’s neck is
arched and his ears are pinned. The
squeal indicates anger or aggression.
4.
The nicker:
This sound is made when the horse’s mouth is closed and he pushes air
over his vocal cords to make a soft, pulsating sound. The nicker occurs when a horse is
communicating to a nearby companion, and the horse’s head may be lowered and
pointed toward his companion, and his ears will be forward. The nicker communicates companionship and
concern.
5.
The whinny:
This sound is the loudest sound a horse can make. It is made when a horse quickly forces air
over his vocal cords while his mouth is open.
The whinny often occurs when the horse is standing straight with an
elevated head and forward-facing ears.
The whinny is used to communicate the horse’s location over a long
distance.
6.
The grunt:
This sound is low-pitched and short, and a groan is a longer version of
a grunt. The grunt and groan often indicate
pain.
7.
The sigh:
This sound occurs when a horse takes a deep breath and slowly releases
it through his nostrils. The horse’s
head is often lowered when sighing and his eyes may be partially closed. The sigh indicates contentment and
relaxation.
Verbal Language Review:
Can you identify which sound the horse makes when he is
communicating the following things?
“Back off! Leave me
alone!”
“I’m worried! What’s going on?”
“Ouch! My back hurts.”
“Oh, I feel good and
relaxed.”
“Woo hoo!
I am excited! Let’s go run!”
“Hey! Where are you? I can’t see you!”
“Oh, I am so glad you are
here.”
We also discussed non-verbal language in lesson 3.
Non-verbal language is the silent ways horses communicate with their
bodies. Non-verbal language includes
both subtle and obvious signs. Most
horses start out with very subtle cues (I think of it as ‘whispering’) and
escalate to more obvious cues if we don’t listen (I think of the most obvious
cues as ‘shouting’).
Horses communicate with their ears, head, forelegs,
hind legs, mouth, lips, nostrils, eyes, or tail. They can also communicate with their entire
body. Their
most subtle communication is often shown through tension, tightness, or subtle
shifts in posture. If that is ignored,
they may shift to more obvious communication such as pinning their ears or
lifting a foot, and finally if they’re still unheard, they resort to the
‘loudest’ communication: kicking,
bolting, biting, striking, etc.
It is important to pay attention to the subtler
cues and adjust your training or handling.
When your horse feels that he needs to use more forceful communication
to get your attention, the risk of injury to you and to your horse goes up.
Non-Verbal Language Review:
Can
you identify which of the following are subtle non-verbal
communication (the whisper) and which are more obvious (the shouts)?
The horse strikes at
another horse who has invaded his space.
The horse clamps his tail
to his body.
Your see tension around
the horse’s eyes.
The horse bites you when
you tighten the girth.
The horse trembles when
you run a hand down his leg.
Review Answers:
Verbal language review:
“Back off! Leave me alone!” - The squeal
“I’m worried!
What’s going on?” - The
snort
“Ouch! My
back hurts.” - The
grunt
“Oh, I feel good and relaxed.” - The sigh
“Woo hoo! I am
excited! Lets
go run!” - The blow
“Hey! Where
are you? I can’t see you!” - The
whinny
“Oh, I am so glad you are here.” -
The nicker
Non-verbal language review:
The horse strikes at another horse who has invaded
his space. – obvious/shouting
The horse clamps his tail to his body. – subtle/whispering
Your see tension around
the horse’s eyes. – subtle/whispering
The horse bites you
when you tighten the gift. – obvious/shouting
The horse trembles when
you run a hand down his leg. – subtle/whispering
Feral Horse Behavior
Feral horses, often called mustangs in the United
States, are horses descended from domestic stock now living as wild
horses. Some of their ancestors were
likely turned lose by owners who no longer wanted them while others escaped
from early American settlers or Native American tribes.
In the United States, feral horses living on
federal land (the majority of feral horses in the US) are managed by the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM). Their grazing
lands are monitored and excess horses are removed by the BLM and placed up for
adoption. Until that time, though, these
feral horses are not touched by humans.
Feral horses are often called wild horses, but
that’s inaccurate. Wild animals,
including horses, are those that have not been domesticated. Feral animals, however, are those who were
once domesticated or whose ancestors were once domesticated but have returned
to living in an undomesticated state. In
the United States, horse species went extinct more than 10,000 years ago. All “wild” horses living in the US are
actually formerly domesticated horses or the offspring of formerly domesticated
horses.
We can learn a lot about horses that can guide how
we interact with them, house them, and train them by studying feral
horses. Because feral horses live
without human interference, the behaviors they show are natural and untrained. By studying feral horses, I believe that we
gain insight into how horses think, how they interact with each other, and why
they behave the way they do. When we
understand these things, we can tailor our training and housing methods to work
within their natural needs. You’ll find
that your horses learn more quickly and live with less stress when you
understand the basis for their behavior.
Fortunately I’m not the only one who believes
this. Several equine scientists have
studied feral horse horses around the world, and they’ve published their
findings in scientific papers. I’ve used
a lot of information from their work as well as my interactions with formerly
feral horses to help me better understand equine behavior. If you would like to review some of these
articles, you can visit the US National Library of Medicine – National
Institutes of Health online database at www.pubmed.com and search for “feral horses” or “feral horse behavior”. You can also look for articles at Google
Scholar at scholar.google.com.
Social
Structure: Thanks to western movies, most people think of
feral horses or mustangs as living in huge groups of nearly 100 horses that
thunder across the plains or down the sides of mountains. I thought that, too, until I studied feral
horses. They actually live in one of
three small groups:
1.
Harems: These are the most common type of feral horse group
and arguably the most important. In most
parts of the US and Europe, harems usually consist of a harem stallion, 1-3
mature mares, and the mare’s immature offspring. In tropical areas, harems are larger and
include several more mares. Scientists
believe that this is because the forage is so plentiful in tropical climates that
it can support larger harems.
The
harem structure allows the stallion to defend his group of mares and offspring
instead of protecting a large territory.
Occasionally a harem will have two stallions, but when this happens one
stallion is the dominant stallion. The
dominant stallion breeds the majority of the mares and tends to be aggressive
toward the submissive stallion.
Harems
are stable: although the offspring leave
the harem as they mature, the stallion and mature mares tend to stay together
until the mares die or the stallion ages and is replaced by a younger and healthier
stallion. The most frequent changes in
harems occur during breeding season when the harem’s offspring mature. The mature colts are driven out of the harem
to find their own harem or join bachelor bands, and the mature fillies are
usually stolen by another harem stallion.
2.
Bachelor Bands: Bachelor bands consist of stallions too old to
maintain a harem and those too young to have earned a harem of their own. They range in size from just two stallions to
more than 10 stallions. The stallions in
bachelor bands appear to live together for protection (safety in numbers).
The
band has a hierarchy with the most dominant stallion being the most likely to
get access to a mare or to establish his own harem. The younger stallions in these bands tend to
have mock battles which seem to prepare them for the time in the future when
they must defend their harem from other stallions.
Bachelor
bands are not stable: older stallions
frequently enter the band as they lose their harem, and younger stallions join
when they’re driven out of the harem where they were born. Younger stallions leave when they find a
mare/foal band or remove an aging harem stallion from his mares and assume
leadership of his harem.
3.
Mare/foal Bands: This is the
rarest type of social grouping, and it is the most short-lived.
Mare/foal
bands occur when a harem stallion dies or is injured and cannot stay with the
harem. The mares and foals of the harem
move on, and they quickly attract the attention of haremless
stallion or a stallion with only one or two mares. The stallion makes the mare/foal band into
his own harem.
Single
horses: It is rare to see a single feral horse. Because horses are prey animals, they live in
harems or bands to provide safety as well as social interactions. Horses living on their own are easier prey
for mountain lions and other predators.
Generally
single horses are only alone for a short time:
mares are assimilated into other harems and stallions either depose a
harem stallion and take over his harem or join a bachelor band.
A herd is made of all the bands that
share an area or home range. The members
of a herd don’t graze together or join into a large group, but instead each
individual band or harem retains its own structure and dominance hierarchy. Additionally, each band or harem moves
through the territory on its own.
Researchers believe that the herd structure allows several bands to
share grazing areas and watering holes and have similar movement patterns. They also believe that the dominance between
bands in a herd, called the intraband dominance
hierarchy, allows the bands to come into contact at times with less
conflict.
Researchers have observed herd members in different
bands showing signs of recognizing each other, and they’ve seen less dominant
bands or harems give way to more dominant bands or harems when they come into
contact.
Example: If Harem A
is at a shared water hole when Harem B approaches, Harem A will move out of the
way and let Harem B have access to the water only if Harem A is submissive to
Harem B. If Harem B is submissive, that
harem will hang back until Harem A finishes drinking
and leaves.
When
bands or harems encounter each other, the adult members of each group keep the
immature members away from the other group(s).
Some studies observed both male and female members of the dominant group
threatening the members of the submissive group with pinned ears. Threats can escalate to bites, kicks, strikes
and lunges if the submissive band doesn’t move away.
In other studies, only the dominant stallions
threatened each other. The threat began
with the stallions facing each other with erect heads, raised tails and pinned
ears. One stallion may sniff the manure of
the other and defecate on top of his rival’s manure. If one stallion doesn’t move his band away,
the stallions may sniff each other’s noses, anuses, and/or genitals. They then squeal and strike at one another.
Normally one stallion will move his band away
before the situation escalates further, but occasionally the stallions will
bite or kick each other and sometimes they rear and strike. In some cases, the dominant stallion will
chase the submissive stallion and his band out of the area.
While the stallions posture, threaten and fight,
the mares and their offspring stay together.
They may graze nearby or stand and watch the stallions argue. The bands do not comingle.
When bachelor bands encounter each other, the
dominant stallions of each band are more likely to fight than the dominant
stallions of harems. If a bachelor band
encounters a harem, the dominant stallion from the bachelor band is often the
one who interacts with, and may fight, the harem stallion. If the bachelor stallion is successful in his
fight, he can take the harem away from its stallion and make it his own.
The
size of the home range of a herd of feral horses varies and depends on the
availability of food and water.
In
drier climates, the bands and harems within the herd must travel further to
consume enough grass and gain access to water, so the home range is very
large. In areas with lush grass and
adequate water, the home range can be fairly small. Home ranges vary from season to season with
the herd using a larger range in the winter and fall when food is scarce and
covering a smaller area in the spring and summer.
Herds
which live in mountainous climates often move their home range into higher
elevations during the summer months and tend to stay in the foothills or near
the base of the mountain in the winter.
Dominance Hierarchy:
The dominance hierarchy in a
band or harem allows the horses to live together with a minimum of
fighting. In a harem, the harem stallion
is dominant over all other males in the group and bachelor bands normally have
one stallion dominant over all the others.
The
dominant stallion protects his band or harem from other stallions and from
predators. He spends much of his time on
alert and lets the members of his group know when to move. When two harems or bands meet each other, the
dominant stallion is the one who protects his group from the others and
interacts with the other group’s dominant stallion.
While
many people believe that these stallions are the most dominant members of the
group, a mare is often in charge of the harem.
This mare, called the alpha mare, leads the horses when the stallion
says it is time to move. She drinks
first and has access to the best food.
Once an alpha mare establishes her dominance, she often only needs to
pin her ears to remind the other horses to behave. In the rare event that they don’t listen to
her, she will bite, kick or lunge at the other horses to remind them to obey
her.
Alpha
mares often have a mare who acts as her second in command. This mare is submissive only to the dominant
mare, and she acts as the alpha mare’s enforcer with the other harem members by
disciplining them for misbehavior.
Each
group has a submissive horse that falls to the bottom of the dominance
hierarchy.
In a
bachelor band that may be a young colt who hasn’t matured enough to challenge
the others. In a harem the submissive
horse normally is a mare, although in rare harems that have two stallions, the
submissive stallion may be the most submissive horse in the harem.
The
submissive horse stays with the group for protection, but he or she often stays
just a little way away from the other horses.
The submissive horse is ignored unless he or she gets in the way of a
more dominant horse.
In
larger harems, there are a few mares that fall somewhere between the alpha mare
and her second in command and the most submissive mare. This is where dominance gets muddled and can
be convoluted. For example in some
herds, Horse A is dominant over Horse B.
Horse B is dominant over Horse C.
But Horse C is dominant over Horse A.
Dominance
in a bachelor band is similar: there’s
normally a dominant and submissive stallion, but the horses in the middle have
a disorganized hierarchy.
The
immature offspring are always submissive to the mature horses. For the most part, though, the mature horses
protect the immature horses and they will discipline them more gently than they
would an adult horse who behaves improperly.
While
occasionally you see an alpha mare or dominant stallion treat another horse
harshly (biting or kicking them or running them away from the herd), that’s
rare. Normally all the dominant horse
must do is pin his or her ears or threaten to kick by lifting a hind foot in
order to get the submissive horse to move out of his or her way. A dominance hierarchy actually prevents harsh
discipline by allowing the horses to understand where they fall in relation to
other horses in their group.
The Roles of Foals, Mares and Stallions:
Foals are born after eleven months of gestation and are
normally born in the spring when weather conditions are mild. Foals are usually born at night or right
before dawn, and they’re on their feet within an hour after birth. This gives them their best chance of survival
against predators.
Foals
often nurse until their dam foals again, although they likely get little
nutritive value from the milk during the last few months.
Foals
leave the harem of their birth before they reach sexual maturity which normally
occurs at approximately two years of age (although researchers have
occasionally seen yearlings leave the harem and other horses stay with the
harem until they’re five years old).
The
harem stallion allows other, non-closely related stallions to lure the immature
fillies away, but must drive the immature colts away from the harem. When those colts leave their harem, they join
bachelor bands until they can recruit mares for their own harem.
Mares rarely foal before the age of three, and those in stable harems with
little upheaval produce more foals than those in unstable harems. When a mare foals, she often moves a little
way away from the other horses, but returns to her harem once her foal can
walk. She’s very protective of her
newborn foal and stays with the foal even if he/she lags behind the harem. This lasts for the first few months of the
foal’s life, and then the foal becomes responsible for staying with the mares.
A
mare who doesn’t conceive may continue to allow her foal to nurse past one year
of age, and occasionally a mare will allow her previous year’s foal to nurse
alongside her current foal.
Although
stallions may leave the harem of
their birth when they’re two years old, they rarely assemble their own harem
before they are four to five years old.
Many stallions are even older before they get their own harem.
A
young stallion may assemble his own harem by stealing fillies from their natal
harems, starting with just one filly and adding additional fillies and mares to
his harem as he ages. Sometimes a young
stallion will take over a wandering mare/foal band or he will defeat a harem
stallion and take over his harem.
While
most harems have only one mature stallion, occasionally there are two. When this occurs, one stallion is dominant
and one is submissive. The dominant
stallion gets to breed the mares, although the submissive stallion may try to
breed a mare if the dominant stallion is distracted.
In
harems with just one stallion, that stallion drives the harem from behind while
the alpha mare directs where the harem goes.
However in multi-stallion harems, the dominant stallion takes the lead
while the submissive stallion brings up the rear. The submissive stallion deals with rivals the
harem encounters while the dominant stallion protects the herd.
In
some cases, there’s a good deal of fighting between the submissive and dominant
stallion as the submissive stallion tries to take over the harem.
When a stallion takes over a new harem or
establishes a harem by collecting mares, one of the first things he does is
breed all the mares. This often forces
pregnant mares to abort, and he can then re-breed and
impregnate them. By doing this, he
quickly reduces the chance of having unrelated foals in his harem and gives
himself the chance to spread his genetic material by creating offspring.
Sometimes stallions will kill unrelated foals,
especially young ones, when they take over a harem. Researchers believe that this helps insure
that the stallion’s new mares are healthy and strong since they won’t be
sharing their nutrition with the nursing foals.
This increases the chance that the mares can carry new foals to term.
In contrast, stallions often play with their own
offspring, protecting them while also teaching colts critical fighting skills.
Life Cycle of Feral Horses:
The life of a feral horse is a hard one. They must contend with harsh weather, variable
amounts of food, and predators. In lean
times, they lose weight, but they blossom when food is plentiful.
Mortality
rates for foals and the oldest horses are high, but middle-aged horses also
fall prey to the weather, predators, and other harsh conditions. Experts
disagree on the average lifespan of wild horses: I’ve seen estimates of 15-20 years and
estimates of 25-30 years. It is likely
that wild horses in harsh climates have a shorter average lifespan than
domestic horses (15-20 years) while those feral horses living in protected
environments in which food is plentiful and predation is scarce have average
life spans similar to a domestic horse (25-30 years).
Grazing and Resting:
These two activities occupy most of feral horses’
time.
A
study by the USGS (United States Geographic Service) looked at feral horse
herds in three separate areas.
They
confirmed that mares spend about 5-10% more time eating than stallions,
probably because mares need additional nutrition to support their foals and
stallions spend more time protecting the herd.
Feral
horses in the study spent between 45% and 65% of their time grazing and 20-30%
of their time resting. On the ranges
where horses spent more time eating, they spent less time resting and on ranges
where horses spent less time grazing, they spent more time resting. The ranges where horses spent less time
eating probably had more lush, nutrient-filled grasses
so the horses needed less forage to meet their needs.
Example: Horses in the Pryor Mountains spent approximately
55% of their time grazing (stallions) to 63% of their time grazing (mares) and
approximately 25% of their time resting.
In contract the horses in the McCullough Peaks HMA spend 43% of their
time grazing (stallions) to 51% of their time grazing (mares) and approximately
30% of their time resting.
This
means that feral horses spend approximately 85-95% of their time either grazing
or resting, and grazing accounts for 13-18 hours of the horses’ day. Feral horses focus their most intense grazing
time right before sunrise and right after sunset.
The
time budgeted for grazing also includes time drinking (which occurs only once
or twice per day in arid climates) and time spent pawing at the ground or at
snow to uncover food.
In
the summer, horses spend much of hottest parts of the day resting, and
throughout the year they spend a great deal of time resting between midnight
and 4am. At night, they spend about a
third of their time laying down to rest.
For
foals, the percentage of time spent resting and eating is slightly
different. They spend about 40% of their
time foraging, 4% of their time nursing, 13% of their time standing and
resting, and 26% of their time laying down to rest.
Other Behaviors:
After
grazing and resting, moving takes up
much of feral horses’ time. Horses walk
while they graze as well as independently from grazing. They also trot, canter, gallop, jump, and
swim. In North America, most feral
horses live in arid climates (either deserts or high mountains), so most of the
time they spend moving without grazing is spent going to watering holes.
Feral
horses also engage in grooming activities. Rolling is one of the biggest self-grooming
events, and it can occur in water, mud, or on dry land. Equine
scientists think that rolling keeps insects off of horses, especially when the
horses roll in mud.
Horses
also scratch themselves with a hind hoof or their teeth and may lick areas to
sooth irritation.
Horses engaged in mutual grooming (also called allogrooming). During mutual grooming sessions, horses stand next to each other, facing opposite directions. They use their teeth to nibble or scratch, often starting near the withers and working along the mane. Horses may also stand next to each other, facing opposite directions with one horse’s head at the other horse’s tail. Standing this way, they can use their tails to swish insects off of each other.
Elimination behavior (urinating and
defecating) is also important in feral horse herds.
One
of the most interesting aspects of elimination behaviors are known as “stud
piles” or “manure piles”. These occur
when multiple horses, generally stallions, defecate in the same place. Animal scientists believe that these manure
piles may enable feral stallions to communicate to other horses that they’ve
been through the area. The “piles” may
define pathways, or may mark territories for a herd. When a stallion approaches a stud pile, he
first smells the pile and may display flehmen
behavior (discussed in lesson 3). He
then defecates on top of the pile.
When
a mare urinates or defecates, the harem stallion often immediately smells the
elimination, exhibits flehmen, and then urinates or
defecates on top of it. By smelling the
urination, the stallion may gain information about whether or not the mare is
in heat. By covering her elimination
with his, he is likely either claiming her as part of his harem or hiding her
scent from any stallions who pass through the area
later.
After
learning about feral horse behaviors, you should be able to better understand
why the horses you handle act the way they do:
they’re displaying behaviors that come naturally. These behaviors are why we don’t generally
pasture several stallions and mares together, and they’re why your stallion may
stop and defecate on top of another’s horse manure when you lead him out to his
paddock.
Start
watching the horses around you and see if you can identify behaviors that mimic
the behavior of horses in the wild.
Herd Dynamics
Herd dynamics describe how horses
interact with each other. You can see
the influence of feral horse behavior on the herd dynamics of domestic horses.
In fact, when domestic horses live on large pastures in stable groups, they
tend to form small bands just like feral horses. When there are stallions out in the large
pasture, you soon see harems and bachelor bands. I’ve encountered this several times when I’ve
helped sheriff’s departments remove neglected horses.
When domestic horses don’t have a lot
of room to roam, they still mimic feral horses.
The horses may not divide into
separate, small bands, but the group of horses almost always has an alpha mare
and a mare who is second in charge and acts as the
alpha mare’s enforcer/disciplinarian.
There are horses who fall in the middle of the herd, and just like in a
feral horse band the herd hierarchy with these horses is a little muddled: horse A may be dominant over horse B, horse B
may be dominant over horse C, but horse C may be dominant over horse A. There is also at least one very submissive
horse at the bottom of the herd hierarchy.
The big difference with domestic horse
herds is the presence of geldings. Some
geldings may serve as substitute stallions, protecting the herd and driving
them to move. Other geldings fall
somewhere in the middle of the herd hierarchy, but many geldings fall at the
bottom of the hierarchy and are very submissive with other horses.
In large herds, several submissive geldings
may stick together and keep some distance between themselves and the other herd
members.
The position of horses in domestic
horse herds is stable over time, just like it is in feral horse bands.
There
are a few exceptions to this:
1.
As horses age, they may slip from
their position in the herd. An older
mare who was once alpha may find herself in the middle
of the herd hierarchy.
2.
Whenever we add or remove horses from
the herd, the herd members must reestablish the herd hierarchy. This can affect the position of only some
herd members or it can alter the position of each herd member.
When you understand how herd
hierarchies function, you gain more insight into how horses behave and how to
handle and train them. This
understanding also helps you better understand how to house horses on
pasture.
Example:
If you have multiple dominant geldings who want to fulfill the role of
harem stallion, pasturing those geldings in one field without any mares can
eliminate a lot of fighting. When kept
in a mixed herd, these dominant geldings will fight with each other for control
of the mares in the herd.
Example:
When your herd has several submissive horses in it, you may want to give
the submissive horses their own pasture so that they can eat in peace without
being driven away from food by the more dominant horses.
Example:
Separating alpha mares into separate pastures with individual herds can
also eliminate a lot of fighting. If you
keep these mares together, they’ll fight to be at the top of the herd hierarchy
and the entire herd will be unstable.
It is important to identify your
horse’s position in his herd hierarchy by watching his interactions with others
in his herd and his reaction when turned out with a new herd. His position in the herd hierarchy tells you
a lot about his personality and gives you insights into how to train and handle
him.
·
Herd stallion. In domestic horse herds, this position can be
filled by a mature stallion that lives in a pasture with mares or by a gelding
who takes on this role. (When I refer to
herd stallion for the next few paragraphs, I’m talking about either a stallion
or gelding in a domestic horse herd.)
·
Herd stallions present both housing and
handling challenges.
Herd
stallions/geldings do best when they’re the only male in a group of
horses. If other dominant males are
present in the herd, they may challenge the herd stallion for his position,
resulting in fighting. If submissive
males are present in the herd, the herd stallion may chase, kick, bite, or
otherwise injure them. Herd stallions
can also be very aggressive with foals that they didn’t sire. Additionally, herd stallions may fight with
geldings or stallions pastured on the other side of their pasture fence.
These
horses can be difficult to train as they’re used to being in charge and don’t
accept having someone else tell them what to do. These horses may be reluctant to work for
you, and sometimes they can be aggressive in their attempts to avoid work. If you are new to horse training, you should
avoid taking on herd stallions for your first training projects as they can be
a huge challenge.
Example: My own stallion was very
difficult to start under saddle. He
seemed to believe that he didn’t need to listen to humans, and he spent the
first few months of training bucking and avoiding work. He did become a talented show horse and is
now a joy to ride, but it took a lot of work to get him to that point!
These
horses offer one final challenge: they don’t like to leave their herd. Their job is to protect their mares, and they
take this job seriously. They may be
hard to catch as they try to drive their mares away from you, and they may
spend part of your training session screaming for their mares. This behavior can improve over time as they
learn that you will return them to their herd after the training session.
·
The alpha (or lead) mare: Alpha mares can be nearly as tough as
stallions to train. They’re used to
getting the best things in life (the best food, the best resting spot), and
they’re used to being in charge. In a
herd, most alpha mares establish their dominance early on by biting, kicking,
or lunging at horses who don’t obey them.
Sometimes those mares will try the same things with their human
handlers, and the human must quickly teach the alpha mare that those behaviors
are unacceptable. Because of this, alpha
mares aren’t good for timid or inexperienced handlers and trainers.
Although these mares can be tough to
work with in the beginning, I’ve found that they can also be brilliant athletes
who shine in the show pen once trained.
Alpha mares present one additional
challenge: they do not like horses
invading their personal space. When a
horse gets too close to them, they’ll pin their ears. If the horse doesn’t move away, the alpha
will bite or kick the horse. This means
you, as the rider/trainer, need to be aware of the other horses when riding an
alpha mare and give your mare plenty of room.
Example:
My only mare, Freckles, is a perfect example of an alpha mare. She’s been a challenge as a rider and
horsewoman. She was initially pushy on
the ground and had a tendency to buck under saddle. She seemed to believe that I needed to prove
myself to her. I stuck with her, and she’s
now a respectful horse under saddle and on the ground. She’s reliable on the
trail and very athletic: scaling steep
hills and descending into deep gorges.
She’s also started her show career and is a beautiful mover in the show
ring.
·
The mare that is second in command in
both feral and domestic horse herds tends to be more aggressive than the alpha
mare. That’s probably because she’s the
one responsible for enforcing the alpha’s wishes and keeping the other horses
in their place.
These mares don’t tend to be as hard
to train as alpha mares, but they still require a rider who will not tolerate
poor behavior, and they also like to test limits. Once trained, though, these mares are brave
and calm. They’re not prone to
spooking. These mares are used to taking
care of themselves and others, and they often take care of their rider as
well.
·
Middle mare. The mares in the middle of the herd may be
horses that have no aspiration to be the alpha mare or they may be a former
alpha whose position has slipped as they age.
I like these mares for novice and intermediate riders as they’re often
quiet and easy-going. They understand
that they’re not in charge, and they accept their place in the world. While they tend to be more accepting of
training, they may not be as athletic or showy under saddle.
·
Submissive mare. The mare or mares that fall at the bottom of
the herd hierarchy fit into one of two categories: older mares who have
fallen from their former positions due to their age and very submissive mares
who never have a chance at a higher position in the herd.
The older mares that had a higher
position in the herd can be great horses for novices. They’re often laid-back and easy-going. They seem to accept their place in the world
and don’t try to challenge it. If
they’re not already trained, they may take a bit longer to train due to their
age, but they rarely fight training like a younger, more dominant mare might.
Younger submissive mares tend to be
that way by nature. They don’t argue
with the dominant mares and run away if challenged. They often lack confidence and may be spooky
under saddle. Trainers should take it
easy with these horses: introduce them
to new things slowly and give them time to gain confidence in you.
Both types of submissive mares may be
leery of other horses getting too close to them because they fear being
chased. Make sure to give them plenty of
room while riding them. It will be your
job as a trainer to protect them.
·
While all the above types of horses
occur in natural herds, there are a few types of horses found in domestic horse
herds but never in feral horse herds:
geldings, bad alpha mares, and only horses.
Geldings: As I mentioned above, sometimes a gelding will
fulfill the herd stallion role in a domestic horse herd. Sometimes that gelding was gelded later in
life and allowed to live as a stallion for a while. He retains some of his stallion
characteristics and is happy to take charge of the herd. Other times the gelding who acts as a herd
stallion is programmed to act that way by his personality: he is a dominant gelding. Many geldings fall somewhere in the middle or
at the very bottom of the hierarchy. The
training challenges of a gelding in relation to his position in the horse herd
are the same as a similarly placed mare:
geldings in the middle of the herd hierarchy tend to be a little
steadier and easier to work with while submissive geldings lack confidence and
can be spookier.
Bad alpha mares: A bad alpha mare is a mare in a domestic horse
herd who isn’t suitable to be the leader but who is forced into a leadership
position because no other horses step up to the plate. Bad alpha mares are often very aggressive
with their pasture-mates. They’re either
unable to put the other horses in line by merely pinning their ears or they
don’t understand that every infraction on the part of other horses doesn’t
require biting, kicking, or striking.
These horses often attempt to dominate their trainers and handlers as
well because they don’t respect strong leaders and refuse to tolerate just
discipline. These mares pin their ears
and even bite and kick at humans, and they can quickly become dangerous to
handle if the humans around them back away from their poor behavior. These mares require firm handling from an
experienced trainer. Once
trained they can be wonderful performers, but training takes time and
confidence.
Example:
I fostered a three year old mare named Bella who fit the description of
a bad alpha perfectly. In her former
home, no other horses took on the role of herd leader and she was thrust into
that position at a young age. However
she was not cut out to be a herd leader.
She chased the other horses constantly and her aggressive behavior
carried over toward the humans who handled her.
She pinned her ears whenever a human asked her to do anything – even
something as minor as moving over in the cross ties – and she bit and kicked if
her handlers did not immediately back off.
By the time she got to me, she was dangerous. It took careful, consistent handling to help
her realize that she could not dominant humans and the good alpha mare she was
pastured with quickly taught her that she also could not dominant other horses.
Only horses: It is rare to see an “only” horse in the wild
because horses are drawn together for both safety and comfort. However, we separate horses and force them to
live alone in individual stalls and paddocks, and sometimes we keep them on
farms or small properties where they cannot even see or hear other horses. Sometimes this must be done for the horse’s
safety: very submissive horses and very
aggressive horses may not do well in a herd.
The big consideration with “only”
horses is what happens when you take them out in group settings. “Only” horses that aren’t used to seeing
other horses may become very excited.
Spooky and submissive horses may try to flee
from the new horses, and aggressive horses may try to dominate the others. “Only” horses benefit from going on many
outings where they can become acclimated to the sights and sounds of other
horses. This will help them learn to
tune out the others and listen to their trainers.
Watching how horses interact with each
others and identifying their position in their herd will
help you gain insight into each horse’s personality. This allows you to tailor your training
program to work around the challenges offered by different horse personalities.