Friendship Vs. Dominance

Many people in the horse world believe that horses are not our friends - but rather a possession for us to hop on to whenever we please, one who must obey every command in no more than a heartbeat. They believe that the only way to work with horses is to break their spirits, and make them 'get used' to every challenge that appears in their path. They don't have a choice in whether they want to accept the challenge, they are just forced into it instead. This, in my opinion, is exactly where these people go wrong.

These gracious beings are so much more than push button toys who are completely submissive to those that are 'above' them. It has been proven with so many people that when we are friends to  horses instead of using dominance, they experience incredible and magical results. 

I do not believe in dominance for a few big reasons. One reason is that horses are dominant about very few things - food, water, and shelter. These are the only times in which the pecking order is shown. As humans, we do not eat horse food, drink their water, or stand in shelters from the rain. So why do we show dominance toward them if we have no place to do so?

A horse named Bucky pinning his ears, about to run at the two horses so they will move away from his food.

Lilo pinning his ears to get another horse to move out of his way.

The alpha horse is usually always off by himself, away from the herd, because the other horses do not want to be around him. I would not want to be the one that no one wants to be around! Being bossy to the horse and pushing him around does not solve problems - in many cases it makes the issue even worse. By being dominant, the horse may 'respect' you, but they will not trust you in the magical ways that they do with friendship. 

By using friendship, you and the horse will have a beautiful relationship based off of love and trust. I believe that the only way to experience something so magical is to treat the horse as nothing less than a treasured friend. 

For more information, here are a few websites:
http://goodhorsemanship.ca/the-dominant-horse/
http://www.training-horses-naturally.com/horse-behavior.html

Photo Credits: Me :)