Huebener, E. (2006). How the Horse-Appropriate “Self-Acting” Leg Aid Could Be Better Communicated. Tierärztl. Umschau, 8, 403.
Abstract: From the base to the top of the sport horses are being coerced into “obedience” or the performance of exercises by force. Campaigns against the “Rollkur” or “Hyperflexion” fill the media. However the root of evil lies a lot deeper. The base of cultured riding in high harmony between horse and rider are sensitive, almost invisible aids which are being timed by the movements of the horse's back and trunk. Anchoring the knowledge of this interrelation in rider's minds has to this day been unsuccessful.
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Huebener, E. (2006). The Rider's Impacts and Their Timers – Example: Rider's Aids for Transitions Between Different Gaits. Tierärztl. Umschau, 10, 515–532.
Abstract: The scientific investigation of the basics of the inherited riding teachings assists in conserving its values. Riding instructors should be able to teach not only “how” but also “why”.
The classic European riding teachings that have developed across the centuries are based on perceptions that have their roots in natural phenomena. They are being mirrored, for instance, in the aids to stimulate the change from one gait to the next.
The movements of the horse's trunk and back provide timers for horse-friendly, sensitive aids that create attentive, diligent and happily cooperating horses.
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Huebener, E. (2005). Solving the Riddle of the Rider's Seat (Working title: Making the Rider Really “Sit”). Mecl. Pferde J., 3.
Abstract: The movements of the horse's back and trunk can be deducted from the foot sequences of the horse's basic paces. This knowledge builds a solid foundation in the schooling of the rider's seat. The decisive aspects of these movements are described here.
Some basics (mostly well-known) in the schooling of the rider's seat are graded here. More recent findings from observing the horse's back and trunk movements and their consequence for the rider's seat can easily be explained in three points. These points will be enhanced by graphic explanations of the principle as a whole
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Huebener, E. (2005). Listening to Nature: Ways to A Balanced Seat and Understanding the Correct Timing for the Rider's Aids. Tierärztl. Umschau, 2, 90–99.
Abstract: In the publication “Movements of trunk and back of the horse from a riders view” in the TU 59, 327-334, 2004 the author suggested that academic research is necessary to determine measurable parameters for these agents of the horse's movement.
The discovery of the importance of the trunk-back-movements for a sensitive and horse-oriented riding style is closely connected to the development of the balanced seat and the technique of receiving signals from and sending signals to the horse at the right time (riders would say: “the feel and the impact”). The history of this interaction between horse and rider can be traced for four and a half centuries. A short digest will be published here later. Again the studies result in a demand for interdisciplinary academic research.
There is an urgent need to clarify the impact of the riders's seat and aids (two more pillars in the art of riding) in the interest teaching riding correctly and more efficiently at the so-called 'basis' of our sport.
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Huebener, E. (2004). Movements of Trunk and Back of the Horse from a Rider's View. Tierärztl. Umschau, 6, 327.
Abstract: The trunk and back movements of the horse during locomotion determine seat position and leg aids of the rider, this is the basis for horse-oriented and cultivated, sensitive riding. In their tendency these movements could now be derived from the foot sequences of the basic paces. The realizations are verified by video. By translating these movements into diagrams, the author is making an attempt to present the current state of knowledge for non-riding scholars and academically oriented riders alike. The acceptance of the prepared riding knowledge would be improved if one could produce measured values of the horse's back and trunk movements. An appeal of a rider for relevant, scholarly research.
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Broom, M. (2002). A unified model of dominance hierarchy formation and maintenance. J. Theor. Biol., 219(1), 63–72.
Abstract: In many different species it is common for animals to spend large portions of their lives in groups. Such groups need to divide available resources amongst the individuals they contain and this is often achieved by means of a dominance hierarchy. Sometimes hierarchies are stable over a long period of time and new individuals slot into pre-determined positions, but there are many situations where this is not so and a hierarchy is formed out of a group of individuals meeting for the first time. There are several different models both of the formation of such dominance hierarchies and of already existing hierarchies. These models often treat the two phases as entirely separate, whereas in reality, if there is a genuine formation phase to the hierarchy, behaviour in this phase will be governed by the rewards available, which in turn depends upon how the hierarchy operates once it has been formed. This paper describes a method of unifying models of these two distinct phases, assuming that the hierarchy formed is stable. In particular a framework is introduced which allows a variety of different models of each of the two parts to be used in conjunction with each other, thus enabling a wide range of situations to be modelled. Some examples are given to show how this works in practice.
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VanDierendonck, M. C., de Vries, H., & Schilder, M. B. H. (1995). An Analysis of Dominance, Its Behavioural Parameters and Possible Determinants in a Herd of Icelandic orses in Captivity. Netherl. J. Zool., 45(3-4), 362–385.
Abstract: Th e applicability of the concept of dominance was investigated in a captive herd of  Icelandic
horses and  ponies of diff erent breeds. Eight out of  behaviours possibly related
to dominance occurred frequently enough to be investigated in detail. For these eight agonistic
behaviours the coverage, the unidirectionality in the exchange, and the degree of
transitivity (Landau`s linearity index) were calculated. Four off ensive behaviours, together
with avoidance, were suitable for further analysis with regard to dominance. Th e patterns
of asymmetries with which these behaviours were exchanged were suffi ciently similar as to
justify the application of the dominance concept and to construct a (nearly) linear dominance
hierarchy. Th e rank order of the castrated stallions was completely linear, the hierarchy
of the mares was almost completely linear. Th e results suggest that off ensive and defensive
aggressive behaviours should be treated separately and that the concept of dominance
is applicable. However, ritualized formal dominance signals between adult horses appear to
be (almost) absent. Th e rank positions of the individuals were correlated with age and residency
in the herd but not with height. Middle ranking horses tended to be more frequently
in the close vicinity of another horse than high ranking or low ranking horses. Over and
above this correlation at the individual level, it was found that pairs of horses close in rank
to each other were more often also spatially close to each other. Being in oestrus did not infl
uence the dominance relationships between mares. For castrated stallions the rank positions
were correlated with the age at which they were castrated. Th is suggests that in male
horses experience prior to neutering infl uences the behaviour afterwards.
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Dugatkin, L. A. (2001). Bystander effects and the structure of dominance hierarchies. Behav. Ecol., 12(3), 348–352.
Abstract: Prior modeling work has found that pure winner and loser effects (i.e., changing the estimation of your own fighting ability as a function of direct prior experience) can have important consequences for hierarchy formation. Here these models are extended to incorporate “bystander effects.” When bystander effects are in operation, observers (i.e., bystanders) of aggressive interactions change their assessment of the protagonists' fighting abilities (depending on who wins and who loses). Computer simulations demonstrate that when bystander winner effects alone are at play, groups have a clear omega (bottom-ranking individual), while the relative position of other group members remains difficult to determine. When only bystander loser effects are in operation, wins and losses are randomly distributed throughout a group (i.e., no discernible hierarchy). When pure and bystander winner effects are jointly in place, a linear hierarchy, in which all positions (i.e., {alpha} to {delta} when N = 4) are clearly defined, emerges. Joint pure and bystander loser effects produce the same result. In principle one could test the predictions from the models developed here in a straightforward comparative study. Hopefully, the results of this model will spur on such studies in the future.
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Chase, I. D., Tovey, C., Spangler-Martin, D., & Manfredonia, M. (2002). Individual differences versus social dynamics in the formation of animal dominance hierarchies. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 99(8), 5744–5749.
Abstract: Linear hierarchies, the classical pecking-order structures, are formed readily in both nature and the laboratory in a great range of species including humans. However, the probability of getting linear structures by chance alone is quite low. In this paper we investigate the two hypotheses that are proposed most often to explain linear hierarchies: they are predetermined by differences in the attributes of animals, or they are produced by the dynamics of social interaction, i.e., they are self-organizing. We evaluate these hypotheses using cichlid fish as model animals, and although differences in attributes play a significant part, we find that social interaction is necessary for high proportions of groups with linear hierarchies. Our results suggest that dominance hierarchy formation is a much richer and more complex phenomenon than previously thought, and we explore the implications of these results for evolutionary biology, the social sciences, and the use of animal models in understanding human social organization.
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Mesterton-Gibbons, M., & Dugatkin, L. A. (1995). Toward a theory of dominance hierarchies: effects of assessment, group size, and variation in fighting ability. Behav. Ecol., 6(4), 416–423.
Abstract: We introduce assessment to the analysis of dominance hierarchies by exploring the effect of an evolutionarily stable fighting rule when there is variation in resource holding potential (RHP) and RHP is not a perfectly reliable predictor of the outcome of a fight. With assessment, the probability of a linear hierarchy decreases with group size but can remain appreciable for groups of up to seven or eight individuals, whereas it decreases virtually to zero if there is no assessment. The probability of a hierarchy that correlates perfectly with RHP is low unless group size is small.
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