Dealing With a Dominant Horse

 

Do any of these sound familiar? "My horse is always aggressive towards me, and his ears are always pinned" and "my horse always tries to bite me and even sometimes run into me," and "whenever I release my horse in his pasture, he gallops off as if he wants to get away from me," or "whenever I take my horse for a walk in the pasture, while leading him with the lead rope, he all the sudden stops and pulls me down as he leans his neck down to graze on the grass." All of these cases are caused from a horse thinking that he is the leader, not you. 

In a herd, there is always a leader; that leader decides when it's time to eat, when it's time to move, and when it's time to stop. The leader, whether it be a mare or stallion, always drinks from the dam first, and always eats first. Basically, the lead horse does everything first and is in charge of the rest of the herd.

When someone buys a horse, it's that horse's natural instinct to look for a leader; if the owner does not show any leadership qualities, the horse will think that he is the leader, and that's when you get an aggressive horse, and a horse who won't listen to you; a horse who decides everything, not you. And a horse who does not look to you for guidance and protection. 

To horses, there are only two roles in a relationship: Leader and followers/ dominant and submissive. 

If you have a horse like this, life is going to be so much harder for you and your horse. Your going to have so many issues and problems that you just can't fix. It's times like these that can become extremely dangerous. You need to establish that you are the leader, not your horse. But first, you need to be able to tell the difference between a horse that has taken over (decided he's the leader) and a horse that is just aggressive because he is suffering with a health issue or painful wound that you don't know about etc.

Here's how to tell if your horse is the leader:

-If your horse bumps into you and ignores you when you stand next to him, he is the dominant one.

-If you are holding your horse (with a lead rope) and he starts to move and he pulls you, then he is the leader, because in the wild, as I said before; the leader decides when it's time to move.

-If your horse is frightened, and you are looking at your horse, and the horse is looking at his surroundings, not you. In the wild, the leader scans the environment and the followers scan their leaders who provide safety 

-If your horse pulls you to the grass, and starts to graze, then he is the leader because again; in the wild, the leader decides when it's time to eat. 

-If he threatens you, or warns to bite or kick you, he is the dominant one.   

-If your horse determines the direction and the gait, and he is the one who decides where to go and how fast to go there, then he experiences that he is the leader.

Now that I've listed how to tell if your horse is the leader, you will need to know how to establish that you are the leader: 

-Claim your space. If your horse walks up too close to you, or walks up to you and tries to bump you, shoo him out of your personal space to show him that he's not allowed in your space. 

-Walk as a leader. Position matters! When leading your horse, don't stand behind the horse's shoulder, as the horse could have an opportunity to kick out at you, and it would look as if you are a follower and the horse is the leader. Don't stand too much in front of the horse's shoulder as he could possibly run over you if he were to get spooked; when leading, you should be "shoulder to shoulder." Your shoulder should be beside your horse's shoulder. 

-Keep an eye on the surroundings. 

-Have a plan for what your going to do with your horse. Whether your going to ride or not. 

-Don't stop leading. Even after you stopped training in the arena. Have your horse patiently wait while you untack him, and take off your helmet. 

-Only reward positive, balanced behavior. 

-Set the rules.

-Be consistent.

-Be a balanced leader. 

-Use assertive energy. 

-Stay in the leadership position. 

Here's an important fact to keep in mind: Aggression is a symptom of an unsatisfied horse; a horse whose life is not being fulfilled. (E.g. The horse has been looking for a leader, but since his owner is lacking those leadership qualities, the horse is frustrated as his owner will occasionally show leadership roles; this confuses the horse.) Horses become aggressive out of dominance, and dominance often comes from a lack of leadership from the owner.  

Okay so now let's discuss how to deal with a dominant horse: 

You must first off use assertive energy; if your horse misbehaves, do not react with aggression or frustration- use calm, but assertive energy. In the wild, if a mare sees something she doesn't like, she stops her foal by moving it out of the way in a calm, but dominant manner. Never discipline your horse out of frustration or anger. 

So another situation horse owners face is having to discipline their horse. I'm going to discuss how to discipline a disrespectful horse: 

Keep your horse on the lead, but allow them to go over and lick it. When you approach, gently ask the horse to move away. If he doesn't immediately get after him and send him out at a "working trot." Remember, the alpha should have the ability to get the other horses to move. The trot is the hardest gait for a horse to perform. 

When your horse puts his head down to eat the grass, while your leading him, to stop this, you must pull the lead around up to his withers, so that his neck must turn away and up from the grass. When your horse goes to put his head down to graze on the grass, straight away, get him to go into a trotting, working pace around you while still on the lead. This will show the horse that it's going to be more difficult to stand still and eat grass, then to be moving along when asked. 

I hope all this important information has helped you all who are struggling with either a dominant, or disrespectful horse, or a horse who claims that he's the leader. 

If your horse is suspected with a health issue, consult your vet straight away.  

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