I am not sure why July was such a difficult month but I am positive that I am glad it is over.

The Q&A section of the Parelli e-news 7/31 reminded me of something I had forgotten about dominant behavior in horses. Here is the article:

( for my readers from the SC who have already read this particular E-news Q&A; feel free to skip to the highlighted sections. They are the parts that really apply to Ladybug and I. )
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QUESTION
My husband and I started with Level 1 during February 2007. Instantly, it was as if our three Missouri Foxtrotters (Baron, Cotton, and Hustler) had arrived home to find the lights ON! We were finally speaking their language and they knew it. It was exciting and still is exciting today.
You have said that the goal for us as horsemen and women is to not only have Savvy, but also to be an icon of safety, security, leadership, and fun to our horses. My husband and I have always wanted my horses to think at the end of each day that there is nothing that compares to time spent with us.

Question#1: Should I reprimand them for aggressive behavior displayed to each other while they are in my presence? While I am playing games with one horse, the herd leader Baron (Left-Brain Extrovert), will come and butt in and want to play, but his way — aggressive, biting, kicking. What I have done is this — I put the two horses that are lower in the pecking order in the barn where they can watch, but remain separated. I circle Baron, quite aggressively, and I try to match his energy. I do this until I get him to face me, and give me two eyes. It doesn't take much time. After that, he's compliant and willing. Then I move on to other games. He doesn't like the Friendly Game with a lot of touching and stuff. He wants to by pass the Friendly Game altogether. He loves all the "move those feet" games though. Is this normal?

Question#2: How do you suggest I get him to play in a group? Is this something I should wait until later phases for? I know I have seen your horses play in groups. Is this an advanced form of play?

Question#3: Am I perceiving his violent and aggressive behavior wrongly? I do not like seeing this behavior, but if it serves some equine purpose I am open minded enough to hear it. He usually goes after "my" horse, Cotton (Left-Brain Introvert).

Question#4: Do horses display jealously as a behavior and or emotion?

—Barb and Dave

ANSWER
ANSWER #1: Yes, you are right on. When you are with your horses you need to be the herd leader and not allow Baron to take over. Remember the concept of "protect your herd of two?" The horse you are playing with needs you to be in control of the situation. Running Baron around is the way to do it too... drive him away, matching his energy, until he acknowledges your leadership. One suggestion I have is to think of being assertive rather than aggressive. And finally, dominant horses don't allow friendly touching unless they initiate it. This should tell you about who thinks he is boss most of the time!

ANSWER #2: Yes, I would wait until you have consistent leadership with Baron. Until then it can be dangerous to play in a group. As soon as anyone thinks about playing with more than one horse at a time, you need to have a great thing going with each individual horse first.

ANSWER #3: It's just dominance. That's how horses play it in their world and although it seems violent and aggressive to us, it's just another day at the office for horses. As Pat so often points out, horses vote for their leaders every day. That's why they are always playing dominance games, some more subtle than others. Once again, when you are there the pecking order needs to clearly have you at the top and disallow nonsense between them.

ANSWER #4: A definition of 'jealous' is 'protective', so yes horses are very much involved in that behavior. They are protective of their herd, their young. If your horse is protective over you, it feels like a compliment but it also tells you that they see themselves as number 1. It is not safe for your horse to be number 1, you have to have that spot in the 51:49 balance of the relationship.
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How interesting!
The highlighted areas show what really caught my attention.
Lady will always come to me with ease, most times she'll even run and neigh/nicker at me.
But I noticed the second I try to rub her, she usually walks off. This article has given me some real insight as to why she does this. Now I'm one step closer to doing something about it.

Lady and I are not doing anything provocative these days. Just perfecting what we already know and lots of UDT!
Here are some new pictures of my baby:

Naturally,

Katie Hufton