Training Philosophy

The Horse - was designed for human use, for our work and pleasure. He is a wonderful gift to mankind and is extremely well thought out. His needs and his mind are simple, yet his body is strong and athletic. His attitude is generally co-operative. He is willing and affectionate. He needs only to feel that he is safe, that he is subordinate to us and to understand his duties, and he will co-operate.

To teach him these three basics, we need to be able to communicate with him. Since it is not possible for him to learn our language, we must learn his. Though horses communicate by using a variety of sounds and scents, they use “Body Language” for most of their communication with each other. This language is instinctive to the horse when he is born, but the specifics are learned by experience.

The first time his mother pins her ears back at him for instance, he may not know what she means, but once she backs it up with a consequence, he will never again forget it’s meaning.

In other words, he can learn new ”Words” in “Body Language” and quickly discern their meaning. Since horses never forget anything, once we teach them a word or command, they will remember it.

Two necessary ingredients are time and patience. There are no quick fixes or shortcuts in horse training. Even if they seem to work for a particular problem, there will be a cost somewhere down the road. It has been my observation that most of these “Short-Cuts” involve cruelty or harsh treatment. These methods undermine one of the three basic needs of the horse mentioned above; his need to feel safe. By investing more time with a good lesson plan and enough repetitions, the lessons will become more permanent for the horse and he will do it with a better attitude.