This information is NOT intended to take the place of your regular veterinary advice and care. It is intended strictly for informational purposes.
The first aspect to caring for the "natural" horse is going to make some changes in your way of thinking. (Or, maybe not, depending on what you want and your unique spot in your journey with horses.) Let's look at some simple facts ...
1. The horse is an animal of prey. This means other animals EAT horses. Horses do not "hunt" other animals. They are designed to be herbivores, consuming primarily grasses, trees, shrubs, bushes and cactii, dependant upon their local environment.
2. Humans are predators. We eat meat. We hunt for meat. We smell like meat. We behave like predators. We are designed like predators. Horses sense this and treat us accordingly unless wooed by a human to think and feel otherwise. Bottom line, though, if something we do triggers the horse's prey instincts, the horse will revert to its hard-wiring regardless of training.
3. Because of horses' prey design, they are hard-wired into, what humans would feel, is an extreme instinct for flight or fight. This intense instinct is what has kept horses as a species alive for so long. The horse's FIRST reaction to fright is to R-U-N. They HAVE to move their feet. If they can't move their feet for whatever reason, they will automatically go into the fight mode in order to survive. Domestic horses can be trained to over-ride this instinct to a certain degree but man will never completely be able to eridicate this instinct and must learn to work WITH it; not against it.
4. Horses, because of their design, are naturally gentle animals seeking the most comfortable spot in life. Unless they feel intensely threatened in some manner, they are non-aggressive animals that are just looking to get along in life. They LIKE company because they feel "safe" with other non-threatening animals. They are wired to NEED companions simply for their survival instinct. They live in herds, each one looking out for the other. There is always a "leader", an "alpha" and a dominant stallion to each herd and sub-herd. The leaders and alphas are always mares with the exception of the Bachelor Bands where all members of the bachelor band are young stallions. The lower ranking horse will always follow the higher ranking horse. Just as with humans, however, individual personalities will dictate who will constantly be striving to attain the head ranking. With some horses, this will take place on a daily basis with two horses struggling and 'duking it out' to see who will be alpha.
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