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[RC] Alpha Horse vs Race Horse [was - following / leading] - Beverley H. Kane, MDTo my observation, there is a difference between a horse that's racing and an alpha horse. The former isn't necessarily the latter. My horse lives in a natural herd of 8-10 mares and geldings. (He is the dominant gelding x/ around food with the dominant chow hound*.) I have spent hours and hours watching their interactions in pasture. Also, I teach Medicine and Horsemanship, both the clinical skills version and the leadership development version, with a natural herd of 45 mares and geldings. The first 15 minutes of class is observing dominance body language and other non-verbal communication after the herd is rounded up from a large pasture into a small catch corral. Alpha animals don't lead by racing in front. They drive from behind, usually with ears pinned or head flicked at the submissive horse's rump. (Dominance and submission are also dynamic, changeable, *situation-dependent roles.) This distinction might not make a heck of a lot of difference in training and correction, but it seems to me that with a true alpha horse, one needs to do a lot more ground work, e.g., in a round pen, to establish leadership/partnership. Beverley _______________ Beverley Kane, MD Horsensei Equine-Assisted Learning & Therapy Woodside, CA http://www.horsensei.com The Manual of Medicine and Horsemanship-- Transforming the Doctor-Patient Relationship with Equine-Assisted Learning http://www.authorhouse.com/bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=49669 On 4/8/09 7:18 PM, "Rae Callaway" <tallcarabians@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: An alpha can still be trained. Ask anyone, Scarlet is a Queen B and is definitely the ruler around here. Rae -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tiffany D'Virgilio Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 8:00 PM To: Nancy Sturm Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] since we're on the subject... - following / leading well, I think I am stuck with an alpha. Even when we were regularly riding in groups, she would still throw a tizzy. She isn't hot, only when she wants to be in front. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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