Have you ever felt like you have a confused horse that just doesn’t understand you? Or maybe you even feel like that quite often.
I am sure that at some point it has happened to everyone. I knew this feeling very well while I was learning how to ride on a horse.
Horse riding is based on a simple principle. Your horse moves away from the pressure that you create.
The first time your horse will learn this principle is when you tie him to something. In the very beginning, every horse will try to break away and only when he discovers that he can’t break away, he will start standing still.
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After your horse manages that, then you probably teach him to move away from your pressure on the ground, for example while cleaning him, then while lunging him and finally when you are in the saddle. While in the saddle, your horse basically moves away from the pressure that you create by pulling your reins.
There are two reasons you might have a confused horse.
Reason 1: You have a confused horse because he didn’t properly learn to move away from pressure that you create or you don’t create enough pressure for him to react.
When you teach your horse to move away from your pressure, you have to use a lot of pressure to make your horse move. However, if you continue the training correctly, your horse should be able to react on smaller and smaller amounts of pressure.
Reason 2: Your horse doesn’t respect you.
That is usually caused by not being consistent and sometimes allowing your horse to misbehave. If you are not completely consistent, you basically teach your horse that he doesn’t need to be doing what you want.
Be consistent, calm and always want your horse to listen. If you do, your horse will understand you better and will be much more pleasant to ride on.
