What can we learn from interpreting wild horse behaviour?

Recent research on horses suggests that concepts such as alpha, dominance, submissive, boss, “lead mare”, and “lead stallion” are a poor fit to the intricacies of horse social structure. Inter-horse aggression is so scarce in wild horses that, in some studies, researchers had to artificially create restricted resources to record a dominance hierarchy! But, if dominance is dead, how do horses organize themselves? 

Lucy Rees, an ethologist who has observed horses worldwide, has proposed a predator-escape model as an evolutionary explanation for the lives of wild horses. Its focus lies on how behaviours necessary for escaping predators are occurring at all times - and that friendliness and bonds between horses are crucial for their survival.

In this webinar recording Lucy Rees and Samantha Couper take a deep dive into the behaviour of wild horses, interpret videos of wild horse behaviour, and discuss how a paradigm shift away from dominance can result in stronger partnerships with our horses and improve their welfare.

Topics discussed include:

• What does wild horse social structure look like? 

• The origin of the dominance model and a discussion of its pitfalls

• The core concept of the predator-escape model 

• Harnessing knowledge of horse behaviour to improve your relationship with your horse

• The latest science looking at synchrony and friendly behaviours in horses 

• Videos of aggression in wild horses and possible interpretations of these behaviours

• Videos of rarely shown and under-discussed aspects of horse behaviour, such as autonomy and choice in mares


After the presentation, Lucy and Samantha answered questions from the audience. 

This presentation is for horse owners, students, equine professionals interested in horse training and behaviour. 

Once enrolled you have 60 days to watch this recording.

Who is this course for?

  • HORSE OWNERS

  • EQUINE STUDENTS

  • EQUINE PROFESSIONALS

Continuing Professional Development (CPD/CEU)

  • Course Contents

    1 x webinar recording and 1 x CPD/CEU quiz

  • Course Duration

    2.5 Hours

  • Certificate of Completion

    You can download a personalised CPD/CEU certificate after watching the webinar and completing the quiz.

  • BHS

    This course has been approved for 2 CPD points for BHS Accredited Professional Coaches by the British Horse Society. Upon course completion APCs can log their points by completing the CPD Feedback form on the BHS website.

  • IAABC

    This course has been approved for 2.5 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) by the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants (IAABC). You will need to request an IAABC CEU certificate directly from us, so please get in touch once you have completed the course and quiz.

  • IAAT

    Understand Horses is a trusted partner of the International Association of Animal Therapists, offering external CPD courses for its members.

  • KPA

    This course has been approved for 2.5 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) by the Karen Pryor Association (KPA). Once you have completed the course you can contact us for an event code, then email both code and CEU certificate to the KPA.

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Your Instructors

LUCY REES

Writer, ethologist and horse trainer, Lucy Rees has travelled and worked in many countries and equestrian disciplines discovering the easiest, most universally applicable and successful ways of understanding and working with horses. Lucy has studied many populations of feral horses in the Americas and Australia, above all in Venezuela, where for years she ran residential ethology courses. These studies led to Horses In Company (2017), a book whose evolutionary perspective revolutionizes our view of horse society. Lucy affirms that anybody who wants to understand and work with horses must have the opportunity to observe them in truly natural circumstances. To this end, she started the Pottoka Project, in which she released a herd of feral Basque ponies in the mountains of north Extremadura, where she lives.

SAM COUPER

Sam has been cataloguing and recording observations of feral horses since 2018. She is board chair of the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to compiling observations on the Onaqui wild horses using citizen science. In particular, she is passionate about breaking down barriers surrounding scientific observation and interpretation for both professionals and laymen. To bring wild horses to the public, she teaches a course on wild horse behaviour at the University of Utah (USA). In particular, she is interested in how management, climate, and predation histories interact to affect horse heterarchies and band formation strategies. Sam is a member of IAABC and is working towards becoming a full time equine behaviour consultant, where she plans to integrate feral horse research and personal observations to aid owners with removed feral horses adapting to domestic settings.

COURSE PRICE

Archived webinar recording