This excerpt from What Horses Really Want by Lynn Acton is adapted and reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books (www.horseandriderbooks.com).Horses want to be our partners, not obedient servants. Partners think. This means they do not always do exactly...
Does your horse eagerly whinny when you call to him, or is he silently holding a grudge from last week’s reprimand? A recent study from France shows that horses respond to voice and the complex array of emotions sparked...
When presented with a new challenge, does your horse give up, or is he a regular MacGyver? In the first experiment to look at horse problem-solving*, researchers installed a new horse puzzle feeder into the pens of 16 horses. There...
I never thought in a million years I would open an equine sanctuary in my mid-50s and that I would have a sudden realization that led to a change in horse training tactics. I have been an equine professional...
Despite their reactive reputation, horses are not always easy to read—particularly when they are well-trained. Ol’ Fred may seem calm and cool on the outside, but inside he may be shaking in his horseshoes. A recent study out of...
Horses coexist as herd animals with complex social relationships that depend on visual and auditory cues to tell friend from foe in their environment. Their complicated system of visual cues are a type of body language that keeps them...
The round pen used to be a rider’s best friend when it came to dealing with a horse that was deemed naturally hyper or easily excitable. The longe line was a common tool in the trailer at every show,...
Learning how to train a horse with tough love started with my chestnut, Chizzy. He's the first young horse I have ever owned; I adopted him at age 3 from the racehorse rehoming organization I work for. He’s opinionated,...
What can you do to bond with your new horse? After horse shopping for months, you found him—the perfectly seasoned horse who checked off all the boxes on your must-have list. You asked all the important questions, visited more...
If your normally cooperative horse has become resistant to something he’s done willingly for ages, it’s important you investigate what’s causing his change in attitude. Often what we call “bad behavior” in horses is simply a lack of training,...
