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THE MYTH OF THE 'ALPHA HORSE' Why do I refer to the 'myth' of the 'alpha horse'? Because that's what it is - a myth. The alpha horse doesn't exist, despite what you may read in countless training manuals, books and articles on equine behaviour, and any number of websites on the Internet. Many of the training methods currently popular are based on perceptions of equine natural behaviour – especially social organisation – that are inadequate and in many respects inaccurate. They are usually based on popular misconceptions about social behaviour in mammals and, while stressing the importance of understanding equine social structure, they have usually over-emphasised the role of aggression in that social structure. Too often the truly important aspects, such as family ties and bonds of friendship and affection, are given insufficient attention. Some trainers focus almost exclusively on stallion behaviour (often observed in highly artificial situations), largely ignoring the fact that mares and (to some extent) geldings have different priorities from stallions. There is a heavy reliance on ‘dominance’, so-called ‘pecking orders’, and similar ideas, in particular the outdated concept of the ‘alpha animal’. Handlers and trainers are usually taught that they must establish themselves as the equivalent of the ‘alpha horse’ in the herd, the idea being to place oneself at the head of the so-called ‘dominance hierarchy.’ Elaborate descriptions of equine ‘contests’ for social rank are often put forward; these seem to reflect the describer’s own fantasies rather than any reality about what horses actually do. Similar ideas have been put forward for years in the realm of dog-training, where dog-owners were also exhorted to assume 'alpha' status in the domestic 'pack'. However, people who work with dogs are increasingly coming to realise that such concepts really don't help very much, and can in many cases be counter-productive. They were originally based on the way wolves supposedly organise their social lives, but recent research spanning a number of years has shown that not only do dogs not recognise the concept of an 'alpha' dog, wolves don't either! As the late John Fisher puts it, '...if it's how you want to live with your dog I have news that is going to disappoint a lot of people who have striven to reach this Alpha status – it all means diddly squat to your dog.' (John Fisher, Diary of a 'Dotty Dog' Doctor, 1997) - and I am afraid the same applies to horses. My comments above are not just my personal beliefs, but are based on solid research. Clicking on the link below will open a .pdf file, in which all my reasoning is given, together with supporting evidence. It is based on a chapter in my now out-of-print book, Inside Your Horse's Mind with some minor revisions.
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Click here?The Myth of Dominance
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©Lesley Skipper
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