Horse Dominance and Aggression

by Joel
(st. louis mo )

Hi I have a 14 yr old quarter horse gelding. I Had him since he was 2, He was cut shortly after.
(not proud cut) Anyway he has been a perfect horse for yrs. until we tried to move him in with a herd of 10 other horses. He has only been with one other horse for nine yrs. then we bought a mare that had a foal. and that has been ok. but when we moved them to the new place he went crazy on all the other horses. I totally understand the pecking order but this is fierce, mean, and non stop!! We have separated them for the last month and everything was fine then they broke through the barbwire and my horse bit every horse on the other side and kicked, or ran them down. 2 older horses where knocked down!! Thank god no one was seriously hurt. I am so confused at this behavior. The other herd knows he is the alpha horse and they all try to stay away but my horse goes into attack mode. It's like Jekyl and Hyde. When I take him out to ride he is perfectly well behaved with the other horses we are riding with.

Please help I love my horse but I fear I may have to get rid of him. We have no other place to board. Thanks Joel





Hi Joel,

There is some further information needed to unravel what has caused the fierce anxiety for this horse. Yet it appears he may have lacked enough herd socialization from the start but mostly this 9 year stent with only one other horse. When you got him at 2, where did he come from, a large herd or a small one? Was he weaned well or taken away from his mother abruptly? What was the environmental herd life where you had him before for 9 years prior to moving him? There is a timeline here missing. If you got him at 2, and he was with another horse for 9 yrs, that’s eleven, but he is 14, did the mare take up the rest? Was he with this mare always, what about when she foaled? What happened then? So from the age of 2 he had one other companion (what happened to this companion?), then the mare came? When the mare had the foal were they separated?

Did this mare go with him to this new place? Was she part of this new herd too? Was the herd made up of only geldings or a mixture of sexes? How were the horses introduced? (This is a very important component!) All these things make a huge difference understanding his motives. Was he in a position to want to protect this mare if she was part of this? Or just protect his own position?


The hardest part for us is that we really do not have much say in how horses behave with one another. In other words we can’t choose their friends or enemies yet by changing their herd mates we do just that. Horses in the wild would change herds only 2 to the most 3 times in their lifetime. Stallions would take mares from herds, bachelor bands would be formed. But from here little change happens. Yet in our domesticated ways, we end up changing the herd dynamics so much more often which only caused anxiety for them.

Your best defense to help him is time and good management. Because he feels the unnecessary need to overcompensate to find his position he is missing much body language from the other horses. Only horses can teach other horses good social manners but we can help this by setting up a good natural herd environment and lifestyle for this to take place and it must be done from the beginning of their lives. He should be given one other horse only for a companion and have the rest of the herd over (stronger, maybe some electric) fencing for at least 6 months. If there is not anyone to put with him for now then he just needs to be separated alone but with visual contact over a fence for a much longer period of time. Hopefully the facility will understand and work with you to apply the patience needed to help him overcome this aggression. And please offer to pay for any damage your horse causes to fencing or other horses involved.

Take advantage of riding with the other horses as often as you can. This can create a rapport amongst horses too and a good place for you to start as well.

In my experience, time heals most wounds, the rest of the wounds need good management but do we have the time and patience to get there?

Elaine Polny
Horses by Nature