Who wants to be alpha? ~ not these Lazy Loafers!

Well, I saw a little more of herds alpha/pecking order dynamics last night. It was late, and I stepped out back for a cigarette when I saw Spirit in an odd place. Sure they are on a hill, but he looked a little short to me, and I wondered if he was laying down. I could see Miyagi facing him, so I walk over for a closer look. As I approached, I saw that he was laying down, AND Rose was laying next to him, with Snookie standing over her. It dawned on me, right then and there, what lazy, loafing, taking advantage of the alpha, the other members of a herd happen to be. As far as my herds dynamic goes, Snookie is Alpha and Rose is second in command. Miyagi is alpha over Spirit. Rose and Spirit fight like a couple of kids, till Snookie makes them stop. Miyagi used to be the Alpha of a 20 horse herd. 16 mini’s and 4 big horses, she is one little horse you may not want to reckon with. Alas, she cannot break the impenetrable force field of the Snookie Dynasty, so she settle’s easily into terrorizing Spirit. So this is what we have going on in the world of horse behavior at my house.


Most people think that the Alpha is mean and everyone else in the herd fears them. Some have even used that as a reason for not wanting to do particular styles of NH, as they don’t want to be hated like the Alpha horse is hated. They would rather be the #2 horse. Who BTW in my herd is quite evil. In the 9yrs now that I have had my horses home, I have witnessed nothing but the contrary to their beliefs.

I have seen Snookie take a very lame horse, at snail speed, and force them across the pasture to the water tank, and splash them with water until they drank. I have seen her first be terrified and then motherly to a yearling rescue mini, and allow her to do things she allows NO one else to do…..touch her bucket! I have seen her panic when the herd is not close enough to her, or being trailer loaded without her. I have seen her deny a horse food and water until SHE felt like letting them have it. I have seen EVERY single one of my horses fret when she is gone. I have watched them look to her for when to be afraid and when not to. I have watched horses copycat everything she does, from rolling to scratching to sleeping, including spit out a grass wad when Snookie was being wormed and they weren’t. She has a larger responsibility than those other lazy herd members care to be responsible for. Sure they would like to boss everyone around, and be the first to choose what pile of hay to eat. But I saw last night, what they would have to give up, the price they would have to pay, if they ever dethroned her. Those lazy turds were sleeping like foals, and trusting Snookie and Miyagi to keep them safe while they did so. Both are respectively in their teens, and far from young things that need to lay down to sleep often. I have never seen Snookie lay down to sleep. She does however suffer from narcolepsy, so she is known for her comical episodes of slowly falling onto her face, where she can stay for up to 10min. Every one is used to it, including my frantic neighbors, and luckily no one takes advantage of her while in precarious positions. So there you have it, lazy loafers, making the others do all the work!

Savvy On

Michelle