The old school dominance theory just doesn’t hold up. Modern domestic management accidentally creates the very conflict people label as “dominance”. Wild horses rarely display the “dominance behaviours” people claim to see in domestic horses because their environment prevents resource conflict. Our domestic management, by contrast, artificially increases resource scarcity, compresses space, and forces horses into competition — which then amplifies Resource Holding Potential (RHP) and creates those very conflict behaviours which get mislabelled as dominance.

Old‑school thinking framed horses as hierarchical

Thoughts were that the herds lived in a linear “pecking order” system.

constantly competing for rank. They were motivated to assert control over others

to become a “leader”. Sadly that’s why humans still feel the need to dominate them

Apparently displaying aggression was a natural part of maintaining rank.

This model was heavily influenced by:

•            Early studies on unrelated stallions forced into captivity

•            Misinterpretation of agonistic behaviour

•            Human projection of primate social structures onto equids

•            Training ideologies that needed a justification for coercion

It created a narrative that horses are always trying to move up the ladder, and therefore humans must “be the alpha/leader”. 🔗 1. IAABC Foundation Journal – Ethics of Dominance-Based Training (Campbell, 2025)http://Ethics of Dominance-Based Training (Campbell, 2025)

However, modern behavioural science blows all of this out of the water! Current research paints a very different picture: We now know that wild horses form stable, cooperative social groups, not rigid hierarchies. That leadership is shared, context‑dependent, and often based on experience. That observable aggression is rare, brief, and usually ritualised with more posturing than real action.

🔗 2. Equine Social Behaviour: Love, War and Tolerance (Torres Borda et al., 2023)

We now know that social order is maintained through affiliation, not force. That horses avoid conflict because conflict is energetically expensive and risky for injury. Most importantly, Wild horses do not display chronic resource guarding or ongoing rank disputes, because their environment doesn’t create the conditions for it. Resources are everywhere.

The missing link: Resource Holding Potential (RHP)

RHP is an individual’s ability to acquire and defend a resource.

In the wild, RHP is rarely activated because their resources are abundant and spread out, no human‑imposed scarcity is present. These horses can move away freely because there is no forced proximity in small paddocks. In the wild social groups are stable and self‑selected for cohesion. So, the behaviours people call “dominance” simply don’t appear.

🔗 3. Dominance & Leadership in Human–Horse Interactions (manuscript, ResearchGate)

Domestic management: how we accidentally create conflict!

Modern horse keeping does the opposite of wild ecology. It tends to restrict movement. Small paddocks, stables, and limited turnout force horses into close proximity with no escape routes. Creating resource scarcity – One hay pile, one water source, one shelter, limited forage timeand high‑value feeds delivered in short, intense bursts.

Scarcity = competition. Competition = conflict. Conflict = mislabelled “dominance”. Incompatible horses are often forced together in limited turn out opportunities which Interrupts natural foraging patterns. Wild horses choose their social partners. Domestic horses are assigned them.

Horses have evolved to eat 16–18 hours a day. Domestic feeding schedules creates hunger and anticipation which in turn leads to frustration and heightened RHP around food.

We humans control the routines from feeding times, training sessions, and turnout rotations, thus we create predictable high‑value moments that trigger guarding behaviours which people mistake for dominance.

The list of behaviours typically on show with our domesticated horses includes chasing others off hay, blocking access to gates, lunging or biting at feeding time, guarding shelter areas, pinning ears when another horse approaches and tension around humans who deliver resources.

These are not dominance behaviours. They are resource‑driven conflict behaviours amplified by management.

Wild horses don’t show these behaviours because their environment provides continuous forage, offers multiple water sources, allows free movement and they have space to avoid conflict. Wild horses choose their social partners and there are no human‑created high‑value moments. Their social system is cooperative, not competitive. Horses are never dominance‑driven — they’re resource‑driven. When we fix the environment and the management, the “dominance” disappears.