Having a horse is easy. The hard part is to establish a bond with him and to try to understand his behavior. Once you get used to observing his behavior, you can better understand what are his needs, when and why he gets scared.
As we all know, the most basic instinct for any animal (for horse too), is to survive and to reproduce.
Out in the wild, horses live together in so called herds or "harems". Any herd is led by a dominant stallion and he usually has a dominant mare. It can also be that there are 2 or 3 mares he protects and breeds from. He has a close bond with them. In this way the tend to for long-lasting relationships and will try to make the herd/harem a secure environment.
The Harem
Once a dominant stallion has selected his "harem" (his dominant mares), most probably he will not look for new mares. Studies have shown that the average size of a harem is 5: the dominant stallion, 2/3 mares and their offspring. The boding process is not restricted between the stallion and the mare. It can happen that 2 mares will pair off and become close friends, grooming together. In the same way, young stallions that did not yet established their own harem will stay together, forming bachelor groups. Within the herd/harem, the weakest members, will often tend to attach to a dominant member, trying to stay close to them. When doing so, they will be left alone by the bullies and will always have a good food supply.
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