There is a saying that was popularized by Ray Hunt and which has been repeated again and again by many people, “A horse knows when you know and knows when you don’t know.”

We all want horses to enjoy their job. It doesn’t matter what the job is; we want working with us to be something they feel comfortable about and not dread.

But when we ride in an arena, on a trail, or anywhere, horses don’t often have a sense of purpose for why we ask them to do something.

I guided her through a few exercises and pointed out the spots where she needed to be more particular with her horse and the spots where she could offer it more leeway until it gained better confidence. The horse was steadily improving.

The issue of consumer choice occurred to me when I recently saw a well-known dressage trainer teaming up with a saddle maker to market a new dressage saddle