Is the concept of a “lead mare” a myth?
The persuasion that groups of horses accept a “lead mare” responsible for guiding together with disciplining members of the grouping has kicking the bucket widespread inwards recent years, but fresh enquiry yesteryear a German linguistic communication professor suggests it may endure no to a greater extent than than pop myth.
Professor Konstanze Krüger watched her ain horses closely, but was non convinced the highest-ranking mare dictated the drive or activity of the rest, together with then she took a squad of researchers to Italy to report the feral Esperia horses.
Kruger, from Department Equine Management at the University of Nürtingen, together with her assistants recorded the movements of 3 groups of horses, numbering 55 inwards total.
The groups were observed during 2 enquiry periods i yr apart, together with the social hierarchies equally good equally the drive patterns were examined.
The squad considered 2 types of drive initiation – herding (that is, driving other members of the grouping from behind) together with departures (setting off inwards a item direction, together with other grouping members following).
What they flora was astonishing:
- While pop belief says that a mare holds the highest rank inwards the group, this was non the case. In i grouping it was a stallion, together with inwards the other 2 groups stallions were inwards ranks minute together with fifth.
- Only the alpha stallion, the highest ranking stallion inwards the group, showed herding conduct together with on each occasion it resulted inwards drive of the whole group.
- Perhaps nigh surprisingly, mares of all ranks initiated drive yesteryear departure, together with it was definitely non the representative that the highest ranking mare moved, together with everyone followed.
Although high-ranking mares were a fiddling to a greater extent than probable to endure followed than depression ranking mares, at that topographic point were enough of occasions where depression ranking mares were followed yesteryear several other grouping members.
Kruiger says the findings telephone phone into inquiry the whole concept of a “lead mare”.
The results propose that movement, at least, has distributed leadership, amongst whatever fellow member of the grouping able to initiate drive yesteryear others. There does non appear to endure a atomic number 82 mare inwards the feel of i Equus caballus who makes the decisions for the group.
This has interesting implications equally far equally the human human relationship amongst horses is concerned. While the hierarchy may endure largely stable, the infinitesimal to infinitesimal decisions may endure governed yesteryear other factors, together with beingness a “boss” does non necessarily hateful that you lot kicking the bucket a leader your Equus caballus would pick out to follow.
Krueger, K., Flauger, B., Farmer, K., & Hemelrijk, C. (2014). Movement initiation inwards groups of feral horses. Behavioural Process., 103, 91–101.
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