I began to write an essay, but about 3 paragraphs into it I decided a better idea would be to pose the subject as a question to you. So here goes.
We all know that horses are comfort seekers. They make choices in life based on their perception of what is the safest and most comfortable option. This is true in their day-to-day life in a herd and in their life with people. It is the promise of comfort that teaches a horse what we want when we present a feel to them.
So my question is, do horses behave as we want because of the promise of comfort or the fear of discomfort if they don’t yield?
The reason I believe this is an important question is because the answer tells us if a horse can ever do a job with zero anxiety and can enjoy their work or it always carries a constant level of anxiety (no matter how imperceptibly small and unnoticed) because of the perpetual threat of discomfort if it makes a mistakes or does not yield correctly to our pressure.
I think part of assessing our relationship with our horse is to ask this question as honestly as possible. It is also worth asking this question when you watch the work other trainers.
