If your horse doesn’t respond the way you expect, it’s not stubbornness.
It’s a training or communication problem.
When there is miscommunication with your horse, it’s important to understand why it happened instead of getting frustrated.
Especially when tension starts to rise.
In that moment, your horse is no longer able to think clearly due to the release of stress hormones like cortisol. So you can imagine that giving aids when your horse is in survival mode leads to a very different outcome than when he is relaxed and ready to learn.
So the goal is clear:
we want to prevent high levels of stress and tension in order to train effectively.
Fortunately, Australian scientist Andrew McLean has done extensive research on this topic. He developed ten principles of training that every rider should understand and apply.
When your horse is in survival mode, he will respond very differently to your aids.
He originally defined eight principles, but later revised them and added two more.
The 10 principles of training you need to apply
1. Train according to the horse’s ethology and cognition
Do not overestimate your horse’s learning capacity, but also don’t underestimate it. Horses have emotions, instincts, and natural behaviors. Remember they are social animals and designed to graze for many hours a day.
2. Use learning theory appropriately
Apply principles like habituation, desensitisation, operant conditioning, shaping, and classical conditioning correctly.
3. Train easy-to-discriminate signals
Your aids must be clear and different from each other. If your horse cannot distinguish them, confusion and stress will follow.
4. Shape responses and movements
Build everything step by step. Reward small attempts and gradually develop toward the final result.
Take small steps when teaching your horse new movements and build from there.
5. Elicit responses one at a time
Avoid giving multiple aids at once. Give your horse time to respond. Otherwise, you risk desensitisation.
6. Train only one response per aid
Each aid should lead to one clear response. Avoid mixing signals, especially with leg and rein aids.
7. Create consistent habits
Be consistent in how you train. Use the same aids in the same way so your horse can learn patterns and expectations.
8. Train persistence of responses
Teach your horse to maintain rhythm, straightness, and outline without constant aids. This prevents dullness.
9. Avoid and dissociate flight responses
High-stress reactions negatively affect learning, memory, confidence, and even physical health.
10. Aim for the optimal level of arousal
Your horse should not be too tense, but also not too relaxed. You need enough energy and focus for proper training.
