| In the animal kingdom there is a pecking order. Richard | | | | of it as the General screaming an order and the |
| Shrake points out that it's a lot like the military. He ranks | | | | Private is obeying. |
| in the pecking order go from General down to Private. | | | | Slow movements tend to draw one horse to another. |
| The General will get first pick of the food, decide | | | | Horses express calmness with relaxed, slow steps. |
| where to go and when, and so on. | | | | This is how they welcome other horses in their space. |
| The "second in command" will act just like the General | | | | If a horse is trying to show you he's the General you |
| but he won't pick on the General because the General | | | | may see a clamped-down tail with pinned ears. To get |
| dominates him. This string of command continues all | | | | him to accept you as the General you will move him |
| the way down to the bottom of the pecking order. | | | | out of his space. You do this by matching any quick |
| Any time a new animal comes into the group then the | | | | moves he makes with your own quick moves. The |
| pecking order shifts. Knowing this information, you can | | | | trick is to make the first strike before he does. |
| use it to your advantage. You can make yourself the | | | | One way to do this is with a quick arm movement |
| leader in the horse's eyes. He'll look to you for | | | | towards him - almost like you're violently shooing away |
| instruction. He'll obey you. | | | | some pesky flies. Also, you can use an aggressive |
| If you have a dominant horse it will be instinct for him | | | | tone of voice towards a horse if he's being |
| to let a more dominant being make the decisions. In this | | | | aggressive. |
| case the dominant being will be you. You will become | | | | How can you tell if he's conceding to you? If he turns |
| leader by using your body language to show you are | | | | his head or drops it, relaxes his tail, begins chewing, or |
| confident. Being dominant doesn't mean you're being | | | | takes a deep breath, then that's how you know. If any |
| aggressive. | | | | of these happen he's saying, "Okay, I'll do what you |
| On the other hand, if your horse is the General, you | | | | say because I want to listen to you." Pay attention to |
| may have to be more assertive. Make sure your | | | | these clues that tell you your horse is in the Private |
| horse doesn't think you're a threat. It's easy to come | | | | mode (the follower) instead of the General mode. |
| across as threatening when you're being assertive. If | | | | When you go into the round pen to work with your |
| your horse feels threatened he'll fight back and you | | | | horse first check to see how he responds to you. If he |
| can't win. And if you are doing horse training, you will | | | | rubs his head on you or swings his rear end toward |
| find it hard to get results. | | | | you then he's challenging your position in the pecking |
| In the wild, dominant and aggressive horses will make | | | | order. If you're with a horse that's not dominant you |
| their bodies tight and make sudden moves with fury | | | | want to make sure he has confidence. Thus, be very |
| while getting into the other horse's space. The weaker | | | | careful not to be threatening. |
| horse will concede and move out of his space. Think | | | | |