Think ... and Train ... Positively
Imagine a world where all horses stand quietly for farriers and veterinarians, where they wait politely for hay and grain, where they lower their heads and open their mouths for bridling, where they calmly get in and out of trailers, and where they respond lightly and willingly under saddle as well as on the ground. Sounds ideal, doesn't it ?
Now imagine yourself as a horse trainer and picture how you would go about teaching all of these behaviors. Would you use traditional methods that involve force or pressure ?
Or would you rather achieve stellar results through a human/horse partnership based on strong bonds, positive interactions, and, yes, science ? If you voted for the second choice then you have taken your first step toward thinking and training positively.
At first glance, it might not seem that science and training are closely related but, in reality, anyone who trains horses properly takes advantage of science and psychology, whether intentionally or not.
From daily contact with our horses we know they are cognitive animals that learn easily through the simpler forms of learning, such as habituation or desensitization, and our studies at the Equine Research Foundation show that horses are capable of quite a bit more.
