Any large harem of mares will have a dominant male stallion and usually will also have a younger bachelor male that has attached himself to the harem. The younger horse must keep a respectful distance between himself and the dominant stallion and his mares, usually positioning himself on the opposite side of the band from the dominant horse.

The younger 'satellite' male will hang around until he gets the courage to challenge and beat out the older dominant male. In the meantime, he will defend his junior position in the band by fending off other roving bachelors that approach the band, which helps the dominant male.

In this photo, the buckskin horse has gone out to meet an encroaching male and fights to keep him away from his junior position in the herd.