You Don’t Have to get Your Horse Used to Anything

Riding

Here’s a scenario to ponder: A person who’s never even been near a horse before, attends his first riding lesson. The teacher says, ‘Welcome, we’ll start by putting you on a horse that bucks. Don’t worry, just work your way through it. We’ll teach you coping skills and tomorrow you can do it again. After … Read more

Round Pen Myths and Legends

There are many stories about round yards and chasing horses. One story often told is that if you chase your horse in a round yard, you enter the ‘mystical’ world of the horse herd. You become the dominant horse in a magical herd of two. When your horse eventually comes to you, it’s supposedly because … Read more

The Horse as a Prey Animal

Every time I pick up a horse magazine, I read that horses are prey animals and humans are predators. Many articles say horses are ‘naturally’ afraid of humans because humans are predators. Others say it’s ‘natural’ for a horse to buck when the saddle is introduced, because a ‘dead animal’ is being strapped onto their … Read more

Advance and Retreat and Learning Theory

In my opinion, advance and retreat is the key to introducing everything to every horse without frightening them. Equally, when a horse has previously been frightened by a specific item, advance and retreat must be used to overcome the bad experience. When advance and retreat is used, two components of learning theory are at work: … Read more

The Respect Myth

I’ve heard at least a thousand times that you must gain your horse’s respect. It’s a mantra parroted off by horse people everywhere and many trainers say that respect is the first thing you must achieve. There are countless videos, articles and books on how to gain respect from your horse. Respect is often explained … Read more

Feedback

Our feedback is both heartwarming and encouraging. I’d like to share this letter that arrived in the mail today.  Dear Neil, Thank  you and your wife, without whom I doubt you could have written us  another book. I can only imagine your frustrations between books. I am  stunned when people comment on our horses / … Read more

Neil’s Book is Unique, by Joan Klenger

  Review Fear-Free Horse Training Every Step of the Way By Joan Klenger We live in a Hurry Up Quick world, moving a million miles a minute.  We are inundated with information, a constant barrage of data, so much detail, in fact, that there isn’t really enough time to stop and think about what we’re … Read more