The next time you get frustrated because your horse keeps falling in on a circle or insists on moving with its head up or hops into the trot, ask yourself what will it take to make the new way of moving feel more comfortable than the old way?
In the process of learning and memory, the strength of the emotions we associate with the experience is a large determinant of how well we learn. An early bad experience is often associated with stronger emotions than an early good experience.
Instead of thinking about a horse’s primary thought determining the bend, consider the idea that the primary thought should direct the movement. Where a horse is thinking is where it should be moving.
There seems to be widespread confusion between the principles that training methods are founded upon and the application of those principles. I have noticed over several years that both professional and amateur horse people confuse principles and methods a lot.
You may have heard the saying “reward the smallest try”. It is a great concept and works well in training. However, the effectiveness of this concept depends on people being able to recognize a “try”.
There are a lot of different clues that a horse gives off to indicate their ever-changing focus. The most common and easily identifiable are the eyes and the ears. But others include posture, movements of feet, flexion, etc.
