- much more than conventional dressage training

The Human-Equine Relationship

Sometimes a flawed relationship exists between owner and horse. The owner may not be aware of this but the horse will certainly know where his owner stands in relation to himself! Unfortunately, this will hinder further useful training or even prevent it altogether, and if the horse is worked by the trainer, he will be almost guaranteed to revert when returned to his owner!

In such cases, the value of taking enough time at the outset to rectify the relationship cannot be overestimated.

However....

A young "pushy" Highland gelding in an open field!

• It will always be the owner who needs to change first.
• And this change is not about "showing the horse who's boss"!

This gap in the training of horses and humans has recently been filled by what is generally termed natural horsemanship. This is not confined to the popular "brands", or to a round pen, or to working the horse at liberty. It exists also in the study of Equine Behaviour (which is now an academic subject), in Horse Agility (which in its end form is exactly the same as the canine version), and not least of all in every single, everyday interaction between handler and horse! If the human learns the skills and maintains them at all times when he is in the presence of the horse, then he will have the tools to repair the poor relationship with his horse that was not addressed by traditional approaches.

The result - a relaxed horse, willing to be trained, and ready to get on with the conventional aspects of his education.

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Pat Taylor
Dressage & Equestrian Trainer
BSc (Hons) Equine Science | BHSII, SM | UKCC Tutor in Sport​
​Mobile: 07825 664495