Horses and Trust

Posted by Laura Thompson Nov 17, 2008

I recently received a comment on my article about establishing trust with your horse. The reader was concerned that the article gave too general and amateur advice, and although the Suite101 section on horses is designed to give advice to both amateur and professional horsemen, the reader had a point.

Therefore, I set out to write a new article about horses and trust that would cover more in-depth exercises to help riders with trust issues. After all, most of us have encountered horses who are slow to trust, and maybe some of us have trouble trusting our horses at all.

The bottom line, however, is that horses and riders will all develop and build trust differently. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa, because we are all individuals. Some horses respond better to direct, aggressive training approaches, while others need to take it slow and be coddled through the process.

As you learn more about horses and gain more experience both on and off the horse's back, you'll begin to gain a feel for how different animals react to your training methods. More than likely, you will have to adjust your style depending on the horse you are riding or training at a given time.

Trust, however, will not happen overnight, regardless of how experienced or skilled you are. Just like your relationship with your Mom or your sister or your best friend, trust between horse and rider is a process that cannot be rushed. Most importantly, you must learn to trust the horse so he can trust you back.