That state gives horses incredible peace of mind. It removes fear, increases trust, grants respect and a whole host of other benefits. By understanding AND using herd dynamics. Herd dynamics are the social interactions horses have used to deal with each other since way before man walked this earth. These interactions are so ingrained in horses that horses are genetically preprogrammed to react in a specific way to a specific action of another herd member based upon the status, or herd ranking, of the action initiator.
Horses have an order of importance, or ranking, in the herd.
You may have heard of it as a pecking order. The horse that is the most determined to be the leader becomes the leader. If we are going to perform the actions of a higher ranked horse, let's perform the actions of a leader. When one acts like a leader one is given the respect a leader is given. You do not bite the leader, you do not walk in the leader's space, you do not cross the leader.