It wasn’t until I started attending clinics and apprenticing under Australian horseman, Gordon McKinlay, that I realized that horses are just like humans – they don’t learn perfectly. When you first introduce a new lesson to a horse, he’s going to get confused, frustrated and maybe even agitated or nervous. And you know what? That’s absolutely OK. Horses are allowed to express all of those emotions when you’re training them. It’s your job as a trainer to learn how to help the horse understand in the easiest way possible what you expect of him.

Before you can train a horse, you have to understand basic horse psychology and what makes your horse tick. When you understand how the horse processes his thoughts and why he does the things that he does, both good and bad, you will be able to accomplish anything. If you don’t understand how your horse’s brain works and why he reacts to certain situations the way that he does, then you will struggle with your horsemanship goals. Horsemanship isn’t always easy to do, but it will be easier to understand when you can identify what motivates your horse to act in a certain way.

To balance your horse so that both sides of his body are equally relaxed and responsive, you’ll spend two-thirds of your time working on his bad side (the side that is stiffer, pushier or more reactive), and one-third of your time working on his good side. If your horse is spookier on his right side, then you’ll want to spend two-thirds of your time desensitizing that side of his body. Or, if your horse is really stiff when you ask him to flex his head and neck to the left, you’ll want to spend two-thirds of your time practicing the exercise on the left side of his body.

Horses have two sides to their brains: the left brain and the right brain. Each side of your horse’s brain is like a completely separate horse. You’ve got Lefty and you’ve got Righty. Horses hear, smell, think and react differently on each side of their brain. Whatever you do on one side of the horse, you have to do on the other. Just because you desensitize or sensitize your horse to pressure on one side of his body, it doesn’t mean that he will automatically understand what to do when you move to his other side.

The majority of horse “problems” aren’t really problems at all, they are really just symptoms of a cause. Seventy to eighty percent of all the problems you will ever have to deal with as a horse owner will fix themselves if you do the groundwork and earn your horse’s respect. Most people think that their horse’s problem (biting, bucking, rearing, pawing, etc.) is the real issue, but it’s not. What most people think is a problem is nothing more than a symptom of a cause. But people get so focused on the horse’s bad behavior that they can’t see what is actually causing it.

Respect is like having money in the bank – it gives you more options. The more money you have in the bank, the more options you have. You can spend more time with your family, perfecting your hobbies or just enjoying life in general. If you don’t have much money, you are very limited on what you can do. Let’s be honest, if we won the lottery tomorrow, most of us wouldn’t keep our day jobs. If you have a respectful horse, the options of what you can do with him are endless. You could do cattle work, trail ride, jump fences, compete in the show ring, etc.

Horses are phenomenal people trainers. They train us to do the goofiest things in the world. People make up the most ridiculous excuses for all the things their horses have trained them to do. They’ll say, “I can’t ride with you because my horse doesn’t like your horse.” Or, “I can’t go on this trail because at the end of it, there’s a big ditch and my horse spooks at ditches.” Or, “I can’t use this halter because my horse doesn’t like this color.” Or something equally silly. Usually, our excuses exist because of our horse’s lack of respect toward us.

Unfortunately, respect is non-transferable. Just because I have earned a horse’s respect does not mean I can hand him over to you and he will respect you the same way. Each person is responsible for gaining each horse’s respect. That frustrates many people because they spend a lot of money on a well-trained horse and within six months, the horse acts like he doesn’t know a thing. Horses don’t care how much money they cost, how much money you make or what part of town you live in. Their only concern is that you know the rules to horsemanship.

Horses challenge their own pecking order daily, and they will do the same to you. It’s nothing personal – it’s just business. Horses are natural followers, but they want a leader they can respect and trust. Every day, your horse will test you to see if you deserve to lead him. Just like the dominant horse in a herd, you have to be worthy of the leadership role in your relationship with your horse. You have to prove to him that you can move his feet forwards, backwards, left and right and are always willing to reward the slightest try.

As a trainer, you need your horse’s respect and attention in order to teach him and gain his trust. Establishing your personal space will help you stay safe while doing just that. The first thing your horse has to understand is that you are fragile and he needs to be careful around you. I honestly don’t believe that most horses intend to hurt us. They just don’t realize that there’s a massive weight difference. Consider the weight difference between you and your horse. Your horse is roughly ten times your weight. He’s in a 1,300 pound category and you’re in a 130 to 200 pound category.