Horses may become scared of the strangest things, like a peice of trash or even shadows or bushes. Why? They are prey animals, not preditors. When they hear a twig snap behind them, how do they know that there isn't a big scary monster just ready to eat them? Sudden movements or noises may frighten a horse.
Before the horse thinks, it does. If wild horses stopped to think about everything, they wouldn't have time to run if something were trying to eat them! A horse will take off running, THEN, after it is a safe distance away, stop, turn around, and then decide whether or not the scary thing was harmful.
Horses also don't like to be alone. They are herd animals by nature. In the wild, if a horse were wondering alone, and it ran in to a mountain lion, the lion might kill it. But, if it were in a herd with twenty other horses, the mountain lion might eat one of the other twenty horses. By staying in herds, the animals had less of a chance of being eaten. Also, if some danger were present, there is a better chance it would be spotted sooner by twenty horses than just one. If one horse doesn't see the danger, there is a good chance another one will.
Although with horses it is usualy 'the more, the marrier', in some places where there is poor grazing herds may be small, sometimes only consisting of two horses, mare and foal.
The pecking order is a dominance order; one mare is at the top, and she eats first, drinks first, and keeps the other horses out of her way. She is also usualy the smartest mare, the mare that all the other horses respect.
The second mare dominant over everybody else away except the higher mare. Mares in the middle are dominant over horses below them, and the last horse drinks last, and is not dominant over anybody!
But horses aren't constantly fighting over pecking order. They usualy are perfecly happy with their position in the pecking order, and once they know where they are, they rarely move up or down. If a new horse comes, it may have a few little fights, just until it learns its position.
Not that horses fight alot, they do have little squabbles now and then. Actually, they will rarely, if ever, injure or kill another horse.
In the wild, herds are protective about their land, and each herd has a territory that is lives on. Horses leave herds when ever they want to, it's not like the stuff you read in books, where the leader desides a horse cannot leave.
Horses can be forced out of a herd, though. Young colts are usualy driven out at about a year old by their mother, which they are no longer dependant on.
Sometimes a new horse will have trouble fitting in with a new herd. Others may gang up on it, or they may not be very freindly. But, after awhile, the herd will get used to it, and it will be a member. This is true with domestic horses, too.
What makes a horse dominant or submissive? Weaker horses are sometimes more submissive, but it is more a state of mind. Some horses are agressive, and others don't care that much about their posision. But it is partly what the horses learn as babies. The foal of a mare high on the pecking order will see how his mother behaves toward other horses. If she just walks through the herd, and others move out of the way, he will probably learn to do the same. If she is very submissive, and always moves out of other horse's ways, then he will learn to do the same.
Stallions in the wild don't fight as much as stallions in captivity. The reason for this is, stallions (and mares and geldings--this is true for all horses), when kept in tiny paddocks and stalls that we build for them, get more aggressive and try to chase off other horses to protect the tiny area that they think is theirs.
Stallions do not fight most of the time, but during breeding season they do get territorial. They will sometimes start fights just to show off. But horses, like most animals, usualy won't injure each other badly. It is more of a bluff, and the weak stallion will give up. Of course, the mares will be more likely to mate with the best stallion, and not with the unsound, weak, or sickly ones.
Stallions are not very social, like mares. Stallions and mares rarely fight, but sometimes when a stallion bugs a mare out of heat he will have scars to show for it. Most stallions have the sense enough to leave an uninterested mare alone, though. My sister was at a breeding farm, and she happened to see the stallion. He had a horseshoe shaped scar on his chest, because he had jumped the fence and tried to harrass the mares. When you turn a stallion out with a mare or mares, make sure you PULL THE HIND SHOES OFF THE MARE!!!
Although stallions are not that social, they do help to protect the babies. The stallion or the lead mare will usualy keep watch over the other horses when they drink. Sometimes stallions will be quite helpful to the herd, in terms of watching for danger and alerting the herd. One time someone I know was showing me a photo of her bosse's stallion. In the background there was a dark shape on the ground. She told me that a mare had started to foal in the pasture, and the stallion came over and stood gaurd, keeping the other horse's away from her.
Stallions will often keep watch when the other horse's are drinking, eating, or resting. The lead mare will watch out for him when he does these things.
Stallions also help to protect a herd's territory. They will mark it, and they will chase off other horses if they can.That is one reason why they are so territorial.
Mares have excellent memories, much better than those of stallions or geldings (NOTE: I mean most of the time. I have seen geldings and stallions that were very smart, and I've seen some stupid mares). If someone were to mistreat a mare, she might still hate them after several years. Mares have to have a good memory, because their foals depend on them for everything. They must be able to keep themselves and their baby from harm, AND they must be able to teach their baby. This is the reason that the other mares and stallions follow a smart mare, and respect her. She knows where the best grazing land is, the watering holes, and preditor dens.
Geldings are often very loving, and very forgiving. They are excellent competitors, because unlike mares and stallions their minds are always on the event, not breeding. But it is really a chance. You might have one gelding that is great, and another that sucks. Or one mare that is great, and one that isn't.
EARS BACK:
Usualy this means that a horse is angry, and it is threatening another horse. When a horse is mad, the whites of its eyes may show, and the teeth will usualy be showing. If a horse's ears are back, it can also mean that it is concentrating. If you watch horses that are running or competing, there ears are usualy back. When a horse is really thinking, its ears go back..
ONE OR TWO EARS SLIGHTLY BACK: this usualy means the horse is listening to something behind it. If you are riding and the horse has one or more ears back, this usualy means it is listening to you.
EARS FORWARD:
If the ears are tipped forward and stiff, and the horse shows the whites of its eyes or flares its nostrils, this means that it is scared or a interested in something. If the ears are just held forward and the horse shows no signs of fear, it just means the horse is listening.
TAIL SWISHING:
This is usualy a warning to tell other horses or animals (or people!) to get out of the way. It is usualy followed by a kick. This kind of swishing is usualy done quickly side-to-side, and acompanied by ears back or little kicks. There is another kind of swishing, too. Horses do it to get insects, like flys, off of them.
BUCKING:
Bucking is usualy a sign of joy. Horses will sometimes take off running and bucking. Their ears will be back, and sometimes they will grunt. Horses like to buck because it streaches their muscles, and it is fun! Sometimes bucking can also mean the horse is just being a brat or it is a bit scared. Young horses will sometimes buck with riders just because they are unsure. There are some horses that have just gotten in the habit of bucking, and continue to buck just because they learned they can do it, or because they learned they can unseat riders this way. Bucking IS NOT DONE FROM PAIN!! Most people associate bucking with pain, but that isn't true. A horse in pain will refuse to move, much less buck! Also, a horse that is afraid will not buck. It will run or rear.
REARING: Horses usualy rear when they are play fighting. It is commonly seen in foals playing with each other or their mother. Stallions will rear when they fight. Horses might rear out of fear, when there is no escape. Rearing can also be a bad habit, and can be dangerouse. Horses that rear out of habit, or just because they are mean, should be trained or sold. Rearing horses can kill you if they land on you or strike you with a hoof!!
There are a few people out there that would have you believe horses are beaten, prodded, and spurred into competing. Actually, horses are naturaly competitive, and they love competing. Most horses love running down the strech, a neck ahead of others, or clearing fences beautifuly, or turning barrels close, or catching that calf. While there may be a few horses that don't enjoy the sport they are doing, most love it. And they do much better if their rider rewards them and loves them. Horses will make a real effort to win if they think their human will be happy. They also like companionship. In competition, it is them and their human competing together as a team. Believe me, horses that have nice owners really love competition, and they go on to really win. A horse that is being forced to compete will only do so half-heartedly, not really caring whether it wins or loses. Most don't win. A horse that has an owner that loves and enjoys the sport as much as he does will certantly put his whole heart into it, really wanting to win.
If your horse doesn't love you, he isn't going to try his best. There is no way you can beat a horse into winning. The only way he is going to win is if he honestly wants to.
I've read books where some people say the best competition horses are the more dominant ones, because they are more competitive. Then I've read books that say submissive ones are the best, because they accept their owner as boss, and respect him, and they listen more, and are more loving. It really isn't a question of where the horse is on the dominance scale. It is actually a question of whether the horse has 'heart'.
What is heart? It is what makes the horse want to win. It's his attitude and love for the sport.
A horse may have heart, but isn't winning because his owner doesn't love him. Seriously, horses with firm but understanding owners do much better than horses with abusive or non-caring attitudes. He may be able to win, but he certantly isn't going to really try with that thing on his back. Sometimes horses have switched owners and become great champions, because they really love the new owner.
Sometimes there are horses with alot of heart, but they have poor conformation, or some sort of lameness or problem that keeps them from being able to compete. These horses make good pleasure horses or companions.
Just because a horse is losing doesn't mean he doesn't have heart or a nice owner. He might have behavioral or training problems.
He might want to win, not know how. For example, a barrel horse might have been trained incorrectly, or it might have a bad habit or maybe and inexperienced rider that causes it to shoulder in and hit the barrel. It might have a bad habit, or a loving owner with a bad habit. There are alot of things to consider. Maybe the horse was injured and moves stiffley, or maybe he is a bit afraid because he had an accident in the arena once. Maybe he was trained incorectly. Maybe a piece of tack is slowing him down or restricting his movement, or just annoying him.
A horse with heart isn't always a winner, but a horse without heart never is.
