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What’s an ‘Alpha’ Horse?
Q: How can I tell if my horse is an “alpha”?
A: I hope I’m understanding your question properly when you say “alpha” in that you’re meaning where a horse fits in his or her herd’s dominance hierarchy.
Sometimes people talk about themselves being dominant or alpha to their horses. I don’t favor this language, because I don’t feel it’s appropriate to talk about a human as part of the social structure of another species. Also, the term “dominant” suggests a power or strength relationship that I don’t feel comfortable with in handling or training horses
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Written by:
Nancy Diehl, VMD, MS
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