WHAT IS PREY ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGY?

To start with, man is a predator (we "hunt," we eat meat). We even smell like meat. And we behave psychologically like predators. Also, our eyes are placed together, in the front of our heads, so that we have greater binocular vision, allowing us greater depth perception and to better gauge distances (set up that way for our survival, so man can hunt and gauge how far a prey or enemy is from us). Horses sense all this and treat us accordingly as predators, unless we gently convince them otherwise.

The horse, on the other hand is a prey animal. This means: other animals eat horses. Horses don't hunt down other animals. They are designed to be herbivores, eating primarily grass and other vegetation, depending upon their local environment.  Their eyes are set on the sides for their heads so that they can better see around them, watching for a potential attack from a predator. Furthermore, this allows them greater monocular vision, which means they can focus on and fully process two different scenes at one time.

 

A horse's eyes are on the sides of their heads allowing them to process two different scenes on each side of them, at the same time, and to see a wider range around themselves in general, to protect themselves from predators.

 

Other horse traits as prey animals:

• They can see in the dark.
• Their skin is so sensitive that the mere lighting of a fly on their skin can cause the body to shake it off.
• Their nostrils and taste glands are so connected with one another that a stallion (especially when he curls his lip up) can actually smell and taste the mare's scent when she is in season up to 5 miles away.
• Their hearing sense is extremely sensitive.
• They are designed as "flight animals," to escape (run away) when afraid. They have to move their feet when afraid. They generally only will fight when cornered and much more prefer flight as their escape route. However, if they cannot move their feet when afraid, they will automatically go into fight mode in order to survive.
• Horses naturally prefer to live in wide-open spaces so they can see a potential threat from afar and be ready to flee if needed.
• Horses' knees are designed to lock when sleeping in order to sleep while standing up, allowing for instant flight whenever needed for survival.
• Horses prefer to conserve their energy, saving most of their energy for if/when it is needed for flight.  By not using up their energy unnecessarily, they will be able to use the stored energy in case of a more serious emergency.
• Horses as herd animals are naturally gentle creatures that seek the most comfortable spot in life. Unless they feel extremely threatened, they are non-aggressive animals that just want to get along in life.  
• Horses not only like company, they seek it out; they feel safer with other non-threatening animals and need companionship for their survival instinct.
• Horses are herd animals, live in herds, each one looking out for the other.
• In each herd there is a pecking order hierarchy at all times. That hierarchy in each herd and sub herd (in the wild and in domestic pastures, herds can be made up of several sub herds) contains: a leader (or alpha) mare and a dominant stallion (even a gelding can play that stallion role). The alpha is always a mare, with the exception of the "Bachelor Bands" where all members of that band are young stallions (more common in the wild than in our domestic breeds, where nonbreeding males are commonly gelded early). Here are the roles of each herd member:
• The alpha mare's duty is to tend to the safety and well being of the entire herd. It is this alpha mare's job to signal the entire herd as to when to move, sleep, eat, drink, or run for safety; she also frequently takes on the task of disciplining any unruly youngsters who may need to be put in line, which is why all young domesticated horses should be raised within a herd; the lead mare can do a splendid job of putting a spoiled or too-spunky youngster in its place, instilling more respectful, dutiful behavior!
• The stallion, on the other hand, has the main duty of protecting the herd from predators or from other stallions that try to invade and take over his herd.
• In each herd or sub herds, the lower ranking horse will always follow the higher ranking horse, but even the lead mare in that sub herd will always follow dutifully the alpha mare of the entire herd. It is the job of each lead mare in each sub herd to watch for the alpha mare and then notify her small herd what the alpha has dictated. And, it is the job of all the rest of the horses in the herd to pay attention to the alpha and follow her anywhere when she gives the signals.
• There is also another member of the herd who plays an important role and that is: the "passive leader."  Unlike the alpha leader (who generally forces her position upon the herd via whatever-it-takes dominance), the passive leader is a horse who is somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy pecking order, usually an older, wiser horse, and is chosen voluntarily by other members of the herd for their kinder, gentler natures and even often for their wisdom and patience; these passive leaders are followed willingly. Passive leaders lead by example, not by brute force, and as a result, begin to gain the confidence of the other members of the herd. Passive leaders are generally quiet and consistent in their daily behavior and don't act as though they have much ambition to move up the alpha ladder, therefore they don't have to use force to declare their position in a herd. Because the alpha mare takes far more energy out of a subservient horse (in order to obey her, staying on their toes, so to speak), horses will naturally (energy conservers, remember, and passive and quiet by nature) migrate to hang out with the passive leader, following willingly, and existing where they can be more relaxed and yet still surviving as a group.  
• Those are a typical herd makeup, be it in the wild or in our own domesticated pastures. The alpha or leader position is a stressful spot, with lots of decisions that have to be made, and little time for relaxation, so most horses are not comfortable in that position. Most horses simply instinctively desire a good and competent leader to take the pressure off of them to have to make decisions themselves. Period. (Something to remember when working with horses!)

 

Horses are most comfortable when they perceive you are a competent leader worthy of following

 

Individual personalities, of course, will dictate who will consistently be striving to attain the various rankings within a herd. This jostling for dominance position usually goes on nonstop, both in the wild, and in our domesticated, pastured herds. All of this is instinctual behavior that correlates with the instinct for survival in the horse as a prey animal. And there is good reason nature instilled all these herd behaviors for survival purposes! One horse left behind if/when the herd moves, risks losing his life to predators. A horse alone simply cannot survive. Therefore, the worst place a horse can be in his mind is: ostracized, banned, "sent away from the herd" ALONE, for improper behavior, or any other reason, and he will know instinctively that he is in serious danger when not part of the social herd. He will work very hard if "sent away," ostracized like that, to work his way back into the social order, generally using more subservient, cooperate behavior in order to be accepted in again. The alpha mare and sub leaders use this form of "sending away" pressure, disciplining thus quite often when it is needed, in order to keep a herd orderly, obedient and safe. The passive leader will do the same, but much less forcefully.



Tossing a rope toward the rear of the horse to "send" her away when she's not cooperating, or even if she doesn't want to be caught, is a language used within a herd every day, and something horses fully understand as alpha mare language for: if you act up, you must leave; horses are far more comfortable in the join-up spot than the "banished" spot, and will think harder about coming back to join and cooperate with you willingly.

 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE:
WHAT IS NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP?: