Horse History

In nature, horses function as prey animals. They have a natural tendency to flee from danger, though they will fight if cornered. Even domesticated horses startle easily and must for the safety of riders undergo careful introductions to strange objects and situations. Horses live in family groups in primarily grassland habitats. These normally consist of a mature stallion, his harem of about one to ten mares, and the mares' offspring.

Once young males reach breeding age and begin to attempt to breed with mares or to challenge the herd stallion, the latter drives them out of the herd to form bachelor bands with other young stallions.
Usually not until a stallion reaches 7 or 8 years old does he stand a real chance of acquiring mares, eventually becoming, if successful in the attempt, a band stallion, i.e. having a harem of his own, having separated female equids from another stallion's band.

An alpha mare dictates the direction in which a family herd travels, while the stallion brings up the rear, "herding" his family. Recently, researchers have observed that a form of democracy appears to exist among horses. For instance, if the majority of the herd wants to stop and eat, the whole herd follows suit and stops.