Horses live in a pecking order.
Daily life for a horse among horses consist in keeping their place in the pecking order. This is a fact of life 1,000s of years old and is part of every horses character. If he is the top horse on the pecking order, he will get the best grass, the most water, the best shelter. In short survival depends on being as high up on the pecking order as they can be. You, the human, aren't exempt from his attempt to put things in order around him. You are either higher on the order or you are not. No in-betweens at all.
I like to have a 51-49% partnership with my horses. I don't like to be too ruff, or be mean, but in case I get challenged, I am very quick to remind them, which one of us has the 51%. But each and every horse will try to improve his place in the order EVERY DAY!!! His instinct tells him his survival depends on it. On account of Horses being herd animals, most are content with being marginally stronger than their buddy. They also don't hold a grudge against the horse that viciously defends his top spot. It is just a fact of life for a horse to be in a pecking order. He will get whipped off the hay/grain/water by the top horse and still rather hang out with that horse than with, say... a dog, and in most cases, a human.

How this affects you, the owner/rider, is that you have to realize that your horse will try the pecking order between you and him EVERY DAY. His instinct tells him he has to do that. We, as people look for a 50/50 partnership with our friends and animals. We say, I feed you, so you should be nice to me. That is not something the horse can understand. He will follow his instinct... not reason. Some horses will fight hard for that 2%, and some horses just gradually steal it from you.

So if you are wondering how come your horse is all of a sudden acting different, know that is it the most natural thing in the world for him to do. It is instinct, nothing you can do about it.

Picture a herd of 20 horses living in the wild.
It comes to go to water and there is only enough water for 18 of them. Which 18 horses are going to get the water?
They go back to water the next day, and now there is only enough water for 17. Which 17 are going to get it?
Unfortunately, horses don't live in Disney World. And only the strongest horses will be able to survive in this situation. And no... the lead mare or the stud will not follow Disney's rules, and realize that 3 members of their herd aren't getting any water, and find a better source. They will be satisfied w/ the source that is getting them their fill every day, and stay there. And the rest of the herd will stay with them.

Consequently it is extremely important for each and every horse to find the highest point in the pecking order he can. Some horses go to extremes about this... We call them Back-eaters, they whip on every horse they can whip on. Some horses will just quietly take a comfortable place in the order and stay there.

Examples:
I have all my horses out on pasture, lot of feed, lots of water, they get 1/2 can of grain whenever I want to catch them to ride.

Whimpy (9) my alpha horse. Nobody would ever dare to come close to his pile of grain. And he is very insistent that every horse in the pasture remembers that at any given moment. On the other hand, if they are clear to the other side of the pasture, all I have to do is catch ole Whimps and ride him back and every one else will follow.

Bluey (3) is the sweetest little guy you'd ever run around. But he tries to whip ME off the grain every time I put it out. HELLO... I'm the one that is putting it out for you! I gotta whack on him every day, Before he someday gets the idea he can kick me.

I have seen horses in a stall-barn situation, that will literally attack their grain when it is poured into their bucket. No horse to defend their pecking order to, their instinct is still telling them to be aggressive about getting their feed.

Oh, one more…
Years ago we had a horse on a ranch that was nasty, nasty to the other horses. He was flat mean. But when he was gone from every one else, and then turned back into the bunch, they all nickered their welcome. That is when I started to realize that horses don't usually hold a grudge about the enforcement of the pecking order.

Example:
We here in cowboy country train our horses to stand quietly while talking/visiting with other riders. The horses stand quietly in a bunch, while they wait for us to take them back to work.

But back east, in the dressage barns that I used to work in, they don't do that. And their horses will not quietly stand next to each other. They will kick at each other, lunge at one another, while the rider sits on top, wondering what is happening. So most of the dressage type riders I was around in my 2 yrs back east, won't stop and visit with you. They will walk along and keep the horses a safe distance from each other.

If we don't teach our horses to not do that, they will see another relatively strange horse and immediately see which one of them is the stronger. Their instinct tells them that survival depends on that.

Any time you turn a new horse into a bunch it will take them a few days to find out where they sit in the order. Trust me, this happens at my place at least 4 times a month.

Quoted from a Bulletin Board, Poster HeartandHorse:
Let's see. I have 3 mares and one gelding. The gelding lives by himself. He has contact with the mares but I do not dare turn him loose with them. on a daily basis my 3 mares a constantly fighting over who is the boss. My barrel mare is the Queen B and she is not giving it up for anything. I wach my Mustang mare daily try to take her place. And she gets the tar walloped out of her. These 3 mares share 2 pens, 3 sheds, and a 5 acer pasture. They have plenty of room. I will watch them flat out go after one another. Unfortunaetly my mare ends up with a lot of marks because she is not willing to back down and it occasionally takes a person to break up the fight. But these girls fight daily for lead mare. So Grey Horse I agree with the daily fighting for the pecking order. I get to see it on a daily basis! That is why my gelding does not live with them. The last thing I need is two rounds of daily fighting going on especially when he is extremly aggressive towards two of the three mares.


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