Last updated 09:06, Friday, 17 October 2008

I an not usually someone who writes in to newspapers, but reading the article ‘The land where the stallion rules’ by Steve Matthews (The Cumberland News, October 10), has disturbed me sufficiently to put pen to paper.

Stallions determine their place in a herd by posturing rather than battle, says Beth Bowley

As an equine behaviourist, qualified to degree level, and a horse owner and lover for over 30 years, I would dispute the assertion that dominance in a feral equine herd is established using courage and violence.

Horses are in fact very docile animals, and will always take the flight option, rather than fight, unless cornered.

Dominance within a herd is almost invariably established through posturing and displays, rather than physical contact, and very few dominant horses would ever fight to the death, as they have an inherent urge to survive at all costs.

The dominant animal in most herds is in fact the lead mare, who is backed up and ‘looked after’ by the dominant stallion.

Reading Carole Morland’s tale of how her husband Bert found it necessary to beat a fell pony across the nose with a hose pipe fills me with despair, and I would suggest that rather than ‘submitting to Bert as leader’ Lunesdale Henry was terrified into submission through the use of unacceptable force.

I would urge anybody tempted to try a similar method on their own horse to think very carefully, as this is the sort of action that can cause a horse to become dangerous towards humans in the long run, and to lash out in order to get in first should a similar situation arise.

Recent scientific studies have increased human knowledge of horse behaviour enormously, and the old-fashioned, outdated methods of forcing horses into submission are thankfully increasingly being seen as unacceptable.

I have not read Carole Morland’s book as I feel that the assertion that it will ‘delight every horse lover’ will not apply to me, and I would urge others to by all means enjoy the photographs, but take a step back and look at the enormous amount of modern behavioural knowledge before accepting the worn-out views on ‘showing an animal who’s boss’.

BETH BOWLEY
Brampton