Leadership vs Followership

Leading depends on someone following, and the dynamic of followership perhaps deserves some consideration.  Horses are prepared to follow any one of the group who set off with conviction.  Horses do not respond well to uncertainty. 

Three horses are at pasture.  One is thirsty and decides to go to the stream for a drink.  One of the others notices her leaving and decides to follow.  The third spots the other two and follows them.  What factor is at work here?  Dominance, leadership, or followership?  There is no conscious decision to influence the actions of the other two horses.  She is motivated by thirst and moves off with conviction.  The others are motivated by social behaviour. (followership)

The herd works in this way:  if one spots danger, the others will follow the line of attention and act accordingly It is thus important that we learn to control our actions and reactions, through breathing and relaxation, so that we do not accidentally cause a horse worry about a situation that he was not worried about to begin with.

Horses are prepared to follow any one, horse or human, who acts with conviction.  Wavering creates doubt and puts a horse on guard.

A rider communicating uncertainty about going over a jump will find that the horse makes a decision about the best course of action, which may be stopping, avoiding or rushing over the fence or heading for the gate.

Unfortunately, leadership is often equated with control and dominance – with most methods of horsemanship insisting that control and dominance are absolutely necessary for leadership and a partnership.

I prefer to think of it like this: A leader is someone who acts with conviction