The Importance of Trust With Your Training
Does your horse trust you?
Trust has in important aspect in your training - it determines whether or not you are going to have a willing horse or a resistant horse.
And a resistant horse isn’t always the horse that is being ‘naughty’. A resistant horse is usually a scared horse, or a shut down horse (read how to identify a shut down horse here).
When we focus on building trust with our horses, it leads to a horse that is willing to work with us, because it trusts that should anything be really scary or dangerous, you will keep it safe.
It is unfortunate that so many trainers expect that EVERY horse will do EVERYTHING they throw that horses way - without spending the time building up a level of trust. That may be fine for some horses but for others it just leads to a meltdown. If that meltdown is shown externally, the horse is deemed crazy or dangerous. If the meltdown is kept internal, the horse is labelled bombproof and sent on it’s way - usually to a home that ends up having to fix all the problems that then follow (or being rehomed again and again until someone either identifies the issues and works to fix them or the horse is sent to the doggers).
Spending time working on trust is one of the most important things you can ever do for the safety and longevity of your horse.
