10/08/2024
Understanding Herd Behavior: Insights from Carolyn Resnick
In their everyday need for survival, horses have developed a communication system that is noteworthy. Wild horses are like a society of nomadic people who have leaders of leaders. Because nature’s habitat for horses is open rangeland, each horse has the freedom to pick and choose a band of horses where he or she fits in and where his or her personality type is needed.
I have observed three major behaviors in horses: leadership behavior, dominant behavior, and submissive behavior. These behaviors are also the horses' personality types as well. Harmonious herds are made up of a cohesive balance of personalities, with each personality fitting perfectly into the chain of command. If the herd makeup is not harmonious, this is when horses tend to move on and join a herd that works for them.
An important difference between lead horses and dominant horses is that dominant horses show no interest in leadership issues, such as where the herd should go for food or how to escape from danger. Rather, they are interested in dominance issues, such as maintaining or raising their position in the pecking order to another horse.
Lead horses are generally the most intelligent horses in the herd and take on the responsibility for the safety of the herd. In general, the higher a horse’s rank, the more intelligent he or she is.
Over the years, I have observed that in herds put together by humans, the lead horse (at first) acts much like a horse with a submissive personality. The lead horse, whether it is a lead stallion or a lead mare, is simply waiting for the horses to sort out their pecking order. Once the order is established, he or she knows that the horses will naturally be able to accept his or her direction. Lead horses at first will avoid any conflict. I have even seen them run to escape from a dominant horse.
Fights are usually between “consenting scrappers,” while the submissive horses are protected by going unnoticed. From the herd instinct of horses, core values and laws are developed that support the needs of the whole community, from the strongest to the weakest individual.
Horses do not live gentle lives, even though the natural condition they share together is spent in harmonious herd behavior. Harmony is achieved through leadership that doesn’t come easily. Lead horses are responsible for keeping harmony by enforcing fair social behavior with the horses that are too aggressive. They avoid physical conflict by enforcing rules of behavior through aggressive body language at the moment a horse would naturally take flight.
Dominant horses eventually surrender to the laws of the community, and often they will change roles in who is dominant over another horse. Lead horses learn early that dominant horses pick fights, but they will run when ambushed and will then be polite, respectful, and accepting of leadership easily afterward. There seems to be an unwritten rule that horses must submit to any horse that catches them off guard. There is definitely a code of conduct that is followed in a harmonious herd. Harmony is reached when a horse asks another horse to move on, and he or she does. They are respectful when sharing personal space together.
A horse has more control over his personal space when another horse walks up to join him versus the control he has when asking to join another horse’s personal space. If the horse that is approaching wants the other horse to move, the approached horse will easily move away. This is a good way to communicate with a horse at liberty as a way to get on the good side of a horse while gaining his desire to follow your lead. When you walk up to a horse, you should not walk up to him if he shows any concern. It is important for a horse to approach you so that you can have control over his behavior (as described above), because he or she will respect your personal space wishes, and if you ask him to leave, he will. When a horse approaches you, you then have his full attention. This creates a certain amount of respect from your horse. The opposite is true if you go up to your horse; he then feels you need to respect his wishes. If you do not respect his need for personal space, you will lose his trust. If you follow the code, a horse will naturally see you as a leader. He feels a bond because he sees that you are following the code of conduct he trusts and respects.
Once the herd is established, the pecking order disappears because the pecking order led to an understanding of how to live in harmony. Lead horses know how to bring this about without any use of pecking order. Dominant horses are focused on the pecking order. Between the two, unity is reached. My method of horsemanship steps away from the pecking order world of dominance and approaches the horse as a lead horse would.
— Carolyn Resnick
