BUILDING TRUST AND PARTNERSHIP

Here Emori rides Ember out in a field. The mare swishes her tail with a worried look in her eyes. Emori is a well-schooled and secure rider and that helps tremendously; however, it is necessary to realize that repetition per se teaches horses nothing. This mare will hopefully receive more specific attention in the form of groundwork that teaches her to untrack and that addresses any resentment of leg pressure. This is where “hooking on” comes in hugely too, because it teaches the horse to focus and follow, and that automatically lowers anxiety and increases the animal’s willingness to obey. The object of training should never be to get the animal to perform; performance will happen automatically as a side effect of calmness, willingness, suppleness and trust.

Colleen Nolan-Tran and her gelding Tidewater Tomcat demonstrate in this photo what deep partnership looks like. Bridleless riding should not be tried until the rider’s agenda matters more to the horse than the horse’s agenda matters to itself. Turning is not accomplished by hauling away on the neck string, but by drawing the horse’s attention to the side, as you see Colleen doing here; they are about to turn back to the right, toward the rail. I regard this as one of the most intensely private moments that can occur in the rider-horse relationship, something never to be done at an expo, or just to show admiring onlookers that the rider can do it.