Horses are intuitive beings. They respond instinctively and unburdened by the veneer of civility of humans.

As herd animals they are attuned to the slightest inconsistency in their environment. They mirror back to us inconsistent behaviour, which we may not have been aware of.

Learning is less threatening for us, because it is a more personal experience and feedback is direct “from the horse’s mouth”. We learn to respond to the horse intuitively.

Horses mirror human body language. We become aware of the unconscious signals we send out into the world.

Horses are honest – you cannot fool them.

Horses are large and powerful animals – they provide a natural opportunity to overcome fears and develop confidence.

Horses are very much like humans in that they are social animals, with defined roles within their herds.

Horses have distinct personalities, attitudes and moods.

An approach that seems to work with one horse, does not necessarily work with another, just as we too need to account for personal differences.

They like to have fun. There is no natural distinction between work and play.

The training environment provides vast opportunities for metaphorical, incidental learning. You learn best when you don’t know you are learning.

Accomplishing a task involving a horse provides a wonderful sense of confidence when dealing with other intimidating situations in life.