8 Principles of Horse Training

The 8 Principles

	1. Horsemanship is natural.
	2. Don’t make or teach assumptions.
	3. Communication is two or more individuals sharing and understanding an idea.
	4. Horses and humans have mutual responsibilities.

		The Four Responsibilities for the Horse
		1. Don’t act like a prey animal. Become more mentally, emotionally and physically fit.
		2. Maintain gait.
		3. Maintain direction.
		4. Look where you are going.

		The Four Responsibilities for the Human
		1. Act like a partner, not like a predator. Become more mentally, emotionally and physically fit.
		2. Have independent feet and therefore an independent seat.
		3. Think like a horse.
		4. Use the natural power of focus.

	5. The attitude of justice is effective.
	6. Body language is universal.
	7. Horses teach humans and humans teach horses.
	8. Principles, purpose and time are the tools of teaching.

Principle #1
Horsemanship is natural.

I believe that man and horse were made to be together. The horse is the only prey animal that is shaped in such a way to accommodate man on his back. He is also capable of making ncredible changes, that’s why he’s probably survived millions of years. If you become a savvy Horseman, the horse will be willing to accept you as his Alpha, his leader.

With a Horseman, a horse learns to be calmer, smarter, braver and more athletic. With a horse, the Horseman can be fleet of foot, more powerful and more perceptive to whatever’s going on around him. He can learn to develop all the qualities of a leader: to have endless patience, become more assertive, less aggressive, less feeble, to have emotional stability, to be responsible for direction and decisions.

Principle #2
Make no assumptions.

People assume all the time. They assume that horses are safe and simple. They assume that if a horse has been ridden, he’s ridable no matter what. They assume that the same training technique will work for every horse. They assume it’s the horse’s fault whenever something doesn’t go right. They assume that if the horse did it one day, he’ll automatically do it the next. They assume that horses think the same
way as people do, and that they value the same things. They assume a prey animal will not hurt people, things, other horses or himself in order to save himself.

Un-savvy people also teach horses to make assumptions – good and bad. They’ll trot home to the barn three or four days in a row and then expect the horse to walk back in a relaxed way the next time. They teach horses to assume they’ll be fed at 6am and 5pm every day and cause all kinds of mental, emotional and physical stress in the horse when they’re late. They teach horses to assume that they can run over people, invade their space and behave disrespectfully

So, make no assumptions and teach no assumptions.

Principle #3
Communication is two or more individuals sharing and understanding an idea.

If you just give a horse orders without listening to him, this is not communication. If you can’t listen to a horse, and if the horse won’t listen to you, you don’t have communication. If you’re both “shouting” at each other you don’t have communication.

In order to listen to horses you have to learn how to read them, how to play with them, how to observe their behavior and expressions. You also have to allow them to express themselves, which is where The Seven Games and FreeStyle riding can be so valuable because they allow a horse to play.

In order for horses to listen to you, you first have to earn their respect and become their alpha. Then you have to know how to communicate with them the way other horses communicate, and this is translated into what we know as The Seven Games.

Principle #4
The eight responsibilities of a Partnership.

There are four responsibilities for the human:

		1. Don’t act like a predator. Become more mentally,emotionally and physically fit.
		2. Have independent feet and therefore an independent seat.
		3. Think like a horse.
		4. Use the natural power of focus.

And four for the horse:

		1. Don’t act like a prey animal. Become more mentally,emotionally and physically fit.
		2. Don’t change gait.
		3. Don’t change direction.
		4. Look where you are going.

When you take over the horse’s responsibilities instead of teaching him to uphold them, and when you don’t take care of your own, there can be no partnership. It will be something more like master and slave. The human becomes more domineering and less effective and the horse becomes mindless.

Principle #5
The attitude of justice is effective.

The Four Phases are what help you to be just, to neither overreact nor under-react. There should be small consequences for small mistakes and big consequences for big mistakes. You just have to become savvy enough to know which is which, and to gain control over destructive emotions such as fear, frustration and anger. Horses respond to positive and negative reinforcement, but they don’t understand punishment.

Principle #6
Body language is universal.

Horses do not understand English, German, Italian, Japanese… they understand “horse.” Horses communicate through body language more than anything else. Compare them to the more verbal dog for instance. Which would give you more uninterrupted sleep: living next to a horse barn or a dog kennel?

Body language can cross any language barrier. We need to close our mouths and use our body and expressions to communicate with horses.

Principle #7
Horses teach riders, riders teach horses.

If you want to learn cutting and have never done it before, the hardest way to go about it is to get a horse that has never done it either and try to learn together.

An experienced horse can teach you a lot; he can fill in some of the gaps for you. Even if you don’t own this horse, see if you can ride him to experience how it should feel.

The same goes for when you have savvy. You’ll be able to offer the horse your skills, experience and confident leadership. You’ll be able to set him up so doing what you want is easy for him.

Don’t buy a green horse if you’re not experienced with horses. Green on green makes black and blue! Buy a horse that’s ridable and dependable. He’ll put up with your inexperience much better and you’ll enjoy your horsemanship a lot more.

Principle #8
Principles, purpose and time are the tools of teaching.

If you understand the principle of what you’re doing, you’ll know what you’re shooting for. Purpose gives meaning to the principle – like opening a gate or working a cow gives meaning to teaching your horse to go sideways.

A horse that’s trained and trained without ever getting to realize a purpose will lose incentive. Even if you’re not interested in working a cow, or doing a job on your horse, do it every now and then for your horse’s sake! You’ll be amazed at how it will give him renewed interest.

I see too many dressage and reining horses that never realize a purpose. The purpose of dressage was efficiency during warfare. How many dressage horses have gone into battle?! And reining is for developing cow working maneuvers. How many reining horses get to work cattle? Then there’s the jumping or cutting horse whose whole life is purpose, purpose, purpose. That’s all they do until they can’t stand doing it anymore.

Find a way to “cross train,” to give your horse a mental and emotional break. Find a way to keep him fresh and full of enthusiasm. Take your cutting horse jumping and your dressage horse to a cow!

Time is an integral part of horsemanship. You need to take the time it takes so it takes less time. Putting time into your horse is an investment. You can’t hurry a horse’s development or you’ll end up using force (even resorting to artificial aids) that causes resistance and develops underlying problems that diminish potential.

Treat your horse like the finest thing you’ve ever owned… He is nature in its finest form.