HM Blog

Horses, Wolves, Scouts and Seals

John Jarvis on May 22, 2025

It is my pleasure to serve on the Board of Advisors for YMCA Overnight Camps, where we oversee three great year-round resident camps: Camp Surf, Camp Marston and Raintree Ranch. It was in a conversation about Raintree Ranch, a camp where kids learn to ride and care for horses, where I learned something interesting. A dominant stallion will typically lead its herd from the back of the group. I knew this was true about wolf packs, and I’ve always thought it was cool and that it makes a lot of sense in the right circumstance. And what is the right circumstance to lead from the back? Let’s dig in.