Most people in the horse world use the word “dominance” almost daily. One horse is dominant at the hay, another is dominant in the band, or a difficult horse is trying to dominate his owner.
It sounds simple. It even sounds scientific.
But the truth is far more interesting – and far more important for horse welfare.
When you actually observe horses living freely in stable natural bands, the entire picture changes. You stop seeing dominance the way people describe it, and you start seeing something far more flexible, social, and peaceful. And when you look at domestic horses, you quickly realize that much of what we call dominance is actually something else entirely.
This post brings these pieces together and introduces a clearer concept that fits both what wild horses do and what domestic horses experience. It’s called a context-dependent priority strategy, or in everyday language, a stress-based resource ordering.
It gives us a new way to understand horse behavior without falling into the old dominance trap that’s caused so much confusion and harm.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s really happening, in a way that feels practical and true to what we actually see in horses.
1. Inside a Natural Band: No Dominance, Only Social Adjustment
If you watch a real wild band or herd that’s lived together for years, what’s really interesting is what’s missing. There are no clear winners and losers, no fixed ranks, no alpha horse controlling others, and certainly no horse enforcing authority through aggression.
Instead, you see something far more subtle and beautiful:
- Horses adjust their distance to each other
- They negotiate space calmly
- They respect each other’s personal comfort zones
- They move together because they want to stay safe and connected
- They sort out small conflicts in seconds and return to harmony immediately
For example, imagine two horses resting close together. A third horse comes and signals that it would like to stand in that exact spot. The horse already there moves a few steps aside. Later, the situation might reverse. There’s no stable rule, no consistent advantage, and no emotional charge. It’s a bit of social negotiation.
This is not dominance. It’s not a hierarchy. It’s not a status game.
This is social fluidity.
In natural bands, horses give space because:
- it keeps the peace
- it avoids unnecessary conflict
- it communicates respect
- there is always enough area to stand somewhere else
- staying relaxed keeps the bands coherent and safe when predators are near
There’s no need for a rigid system of winners and losers. Harmony is more adaptive for a prey species living in open landscapes. So if dominance means that one horse has stable authority over others, then inside natural bands, dominance doesn’t exist. What exists is a constant dance of small adjustments, shaped by relationships, mood, proximity, and trust.
But what about between herds?
2. Between Bands: Yes, There Is a Functional Rank System
Now, we shift from inside one band to the space between several bands that share the same landscape. Here we finally see something closer to what people imagine when they think of dominance – but only in a very specific context.
This system involves the stallions of different bands.
It is not about personality or aggression.
It is not about ruling or commanding.
It is a functional rank, created solely for survival reasons.
When several bands live in the same region, they meet regularly at important places. For example:
- water
- a favorite apple tree
- narrow paths during migration
- safe resting areas
- open terrain during flight from danger.
In these moments, it matters who moves first.
It matters who takes position where.
It matters who defends which boundary.
Not because they want power, but because it keeps the large social system organized and reduces chaos during critical situations.
This rank between stallions can be negotiated through:
- ritualized displays
- posturing
- small fights
- and rare serious fights when the stakes are high
These roles can change over time, but while they remain in place, they bring order to the entire herd association. So, this is not social dominance within a band.
It’s functional hierarchy between bands, and it’s only noticeable where resources are limited or where coordinated decision-making is necessary.
So: it’s a survival strategy, not a personality trait.
And: this is the only place in wild horse society where the ethological concept of dominance has true meaning.
3. Domestic Horses: What We Call Dominance Is Something Else Entirely
Now we come back to our own horses – and this is where the misunderstanding begins. People see aggression at hay, pushing at gates, pinned ears, or chasing in paddocks, and they say “this is dominance.” But the conditions domestic horses live in are nothing like in the wild.
Domestic horses often live in:
- tight spaces
- artificial groups
- restricted resources
- lack of movement
- lack of escape options
- social deprivation in early life
- unpredictable human pressure
- enforced routines
- isolation from full band dynamics
Under these conditions, horses develop strategies to protect themselves, get access to food, and reduce stress. And these strategies can look like dominance even though they’re not rooted in natural social structure.
A horse that repeatedly chases others from the hay is not dominant.
It is stressed.
It is frustrated.
It is defending a scarce resource.
It is acting out of history, not hierarchy.
A horse that was hungry as a foal will guard hay aggressively even years later, because the memory of scarcity shaped its nervous system. A confident horse may look like a leader, but it’s just comfortable expressing itself in a tight environment. A horse that was punished for approaching humans may approach resources with tension or defensiveness.
None of these behaviors come from the natural relationship patterns you see in wild bands. They come from environmental pressure, social history, personality traits, and stress load.
And this is exactly why we need a new concept.
4. Introducing the Concept: Context-Dependent Priority Strategy
So what do we call this behavior if it’s not dominance? I propose we call it what it actually is: a context-dependent priority strategy.
This term reflects three truths:
1. The behavior depends on the environment
If there’s enough hay, enough space, and enough movement, the behavior disappears.
2. The strategy is flexible, not stable
The horse that pushes others away one year may retreat the next because of age, pain, or social maturity.
3. The priority is about stress and survival, not status
When two horses compete for the same limited resource, the one with more drive, more need, or more confidence in that moment wins. It’s not a long-term rank, but a temporary necessity.
In everyday language, you could call this a stress-based resource ordering. It captures the fact that the environment, not the horse, creates the pattern. Because: the moment you add enough resources and space; the so-called dominance pretty much always evaporates.
This concept frees us from mislabeling horses as dominant or submissive. It lets us understand their behavior as adaptive, not intentional. And it shifts responsibility back where it belongs – to the environment we create.
5. How This Helps Us Understand Our Horses
Let’s look at two simple examples:
Example 1: The young horse and the older horse
An inexperienced youngster is shy and gets regularly chased away by an older gelding. Everyone says the gelding is dominant.
Five years later now, the young horse is mature, powerful, and pain-free. The older gelding however suffers from arthritis. Suddenly the dynamic reverses. The once young horse chases the gelding away.
But if dominance were a stable personality trait, this couldn’t happen. But it happens all the time.
This is not dominance. This is context.
Example 2: Horses with different character types
A more confident and self-assured horse may hold its ground a little longer. A softer, more peace-oriented horse may choose to step aside sooner. I sometimes describe these clusters of tendencies as ‘metal’ and ‘water’ types (according to TCM), and if you like, you can read more about these character patterns in my article on horse personality here.
But still – this has nothing to do with dominance. These differences are simply expressions of temperament and individual style, not of a fixed rank or a ‘drive for control’.
And the moment you increase space or resources, these patterns change. What looked like dominance disappears because it was never about status. It was about comfort, stress and social strategy.
This is exactly why a context dependent concept is far more accurate than the dominance label.
6. What This Means for Us
Once you see things this way, everything changes.
You stop asking “who is dominant?”
You start asking “what is the environment creating?”
Questions become:
- Is the space too small
- Is the group stable
- Are there enough feeding stations
- Can horses move freely
- Are personalities compatible
- Does a horse have pain
- Is a horse socially experienced or socially deprived
- Is the conflict short lived or repeating because of pressure
And instead of correcting the horse, you adjust the conditions.
The results are immediate: calmer groups, fewer bites and kicks, reduced stress, better social learning, more peaceful feeding, more synchronized resting, and more normal band behavior.
So: you restore the natural social competence that all horses already carry inside them.
7. The Real Message: Horses Aren’t Trying to Win – They’re Trying to Cope
And this is the center of the whole idea.
Wild horses don’t fight for power.
Domestic horses don’t fight for status.
Horses use small strategies to stay safe, stay fed, and stay calm.
If we want peace in our herds at home, we must give them the conditions that allow peace. If we want cooperation with us, we must stop framing everything in terms of dominance and submission.
Horses are not small soldiers learning their place. They’re social herbivores navigating the world with sensitivity.
Once you see this, you can’t unsee it. You begin to understand why wild horse herds look peaceful, why our domestic groups often don’t, and why the solution is rarely training but almost always environment.
This is what a context-dependent priority strategy helps us see. And it brings us closer to the truth of who horses really are.
8. Closing Thoughts
The dominance concept was always too blunt for horses. It forced their behavior into a structure that never belonged to them.
Wild horses show us fluidity, not hierarchy. Domestic horses show us stress, not status. And between bands, stallions show a functional rank that exists only when survival demands it.
By replacing the old dominance label with a clearer framework, we can finally see horses without the filter of human power structures. We can treat them with more understanding, more accuracy, and more compassion.
And it invites us to build environments where social harmony is the norm, not the exception. Inside every horse is a natural capacity for cooperation. Our job is to create the conditions where that capacity can do its work.
So, if you’d like to bring this into your everyday life with your horse, here’s where you can start… Here is the link to my YouTube channel with lots of videos. And then:
🌱 Download my free guide here
And if this way of seeing horses feels right to you, you’re welcome to explore it further inside Being Herd. It’s my ongoing library of weekly videos, deep dives, and practical tools that help you understand your horse through clarity, calm leadership, and natural communication. All grounded in real wild-horse behavior and what it teaches us about connection.
💛Learn more about Being Herd here
Your horse already carries this kind of relational intelligence.
They use it every day.
And when you start seeing them through this lens, something shifts – for both of you.
Thanks for reading, and for choosing a path that supports your horse and yourself.
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