Dominance vs Leadership
It’s a beautiful sunny morning here and so Chelsea and Susie are out without rugs. Their coats are just starting to change in readiness for winter and so they are quite itchy. As soon as I let them into the field, Chelsea went straight towards
Mutual grooming
Katie, clearly wanting to mutual groom. Soon they were scratching each other, getting rid of all the itches. Susie, however, also wanted to join in and strode up, ears back and clearly intent on disrupting Chelsea and Katie. It worked to a point. She did get a brief scratch from Katie but then Chelsea moved back round very quietly and she and Katie resumed once more.
Participants in our workshops often think, at first, that Susie is the leader but actually she is just the most dominant. When she tries to be the boss, it’s hard work for her as she has to be quite aggressive and drive the others out of her way. You can almost hear them say “Oh, it’s just Susie. She’a at it again.” Chelsea is the leader – and it’s effortless for her. Her presence and bearing command instant respect. She only needs to glare at another horse (Susie included) for them to move out of her way and when she chooses to lead, they always follow her.
It’s interesting to take this into the human domain. Who drives us and whom do we choose to follow?
