Anyone who has spent time with horses in a group knows that not all horses share an equal status. So many horse-horse relationships involve a pecking order, where each horse has a different place in the hierarchy. Sometimes horses jostle and their position shifts up and down the order. Sometimes horses share equal status. But it is the natural structure of a herd that different horses are positioned in a more dominant role and others in a more submissive role.

How is order in a herd determined? How do horses figure out who is above and who is below another horse?

I think it is widely accepted that when two horses ask, “Am I in charge of you or are you in charge of me?”, the one who moves the feet of the other is the more dominant horse.

So that’s how they figure it out. But what characteristics make a horse more likely to be a dominant personality in a herd?

I don’t know the answer to this question. But here are a few things that I have come to believe DO NOT determine dominant personality.

1. Intelligence

I have discovered that the smartest horse in a group often has a submissive nature. Horses that are good at problem-solving are sometimes good at avoiding problems, which may include problems with other horses.

2. Bravery or Confidence

I used to think the more dominant horses were also the bravest and least timid horses. But I discovered this is false. I’ve worked with some very timid horses who were the biggest scaredy cats but were also the bossiest horses in a group and every other horse would yield to them.

3. Gender

I find no difference between the sexes. A bossy or timid horse is just as likely to be male or female. I have often heard over the years how mares tend to be more bossy than geldings, especially chestnut mares. But I have never seen a recurring pattern to this idea.

4. Age and Experience

One might think the wisdom that comes with age and experience might contribute to a horse’s position in the pecking order, but this is a belief that died for me many years ago when I discovered that older horses often become the target for younger dominant horses.

5. Emotional Trouble

Sometimes the emotional trouble a horse carries does affect a horse’s position in a herd. In my experience, deeply troubled horses often disturb the emotional balance and order of a herd and are often ostracised by the other horses. On the other, just about every horse carries some emotional trouble (just like people) and it’s hard to explain the amount of emotional trouble as a determinant of dominance or submissiveness.

6. Duration of Membership to a Herd

Before I took up teaching clinics and was training for a living I had plenty of opportunity to observe herds where horses would come and go. I wondered if the longest-serving members of a herd were higher in the order than the newbies. I was surprised to find that this was not always the case. Sometimes the newer horses were desperate to cement their place in a herd and would regularly challenge the old guard and win. Other times, the old-timers would have no hesitation in putting the new horses in their place. What I can say though is that horses in established herds were more emotionally stable and comfortable than those in herds where horses came and went and caused emotional upheaval.

I believe horses have different emotional needs and those needs are what determine their dominance in a herd. Some horses are self-confident and exude a quiet dominance. Other horses are desperate to not be bottom of the order and display aggressive dominance every chance they get. Some horses are keenly competitive for resources such as food, water, shade, space, and companionship, which influence their dominant behaviour.

As you can tell, I don’t have an answer to the question, how do horses decide who moves the feet of another? I don’t know how they decide who is above them and who is below them. But I do have a lot of questions. What do you think?