In all my work with horses I believe that basically you are correct. Horses
are prey animals and rarely show aggression towards humans.
However I have seen geldings and mares that will strike out or lunge at
humans if they feel threatened in the round pen. Out in the ~open~ I have
never seen this unless I was to approach the horse aggressively, and then I
only received a kickback while the horse retreats as if to say, "Hey I'm
running but here's mud in yer eye!
Stallions have been known to show dominance without warning to those that
are leading them, if they perceive that they can dominate. I believe it's a
body language thing, as in how the handler was holding the lead rope, the
stiffness of the body and arm, whether the handler was letting the stallion
hold on to the his/her cuff or jacket with his lips, control and dominance
issues.
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