I get a little down at times when I hear some experts talk about the function of pressure in horse training. It appears that some trainers and other professionals are stuck in their thinking that pressure is always something for a horse to avoid. They always associate pressure with negative emotions in horses. The fact that some behaviourists term the use of pressure as “aversive” training gives a good idea of where their understanding is on the subject.

As I see it, the problem stems from some trainers and behaviourists only viewing pressure as something that drives a horse to move away from a stimulus. They skipped class on the day the professor taught how pressure can be used to direct a horse to go with a stimulus.

Just to remind you of the difference between driving and directing a horse. 

Driving pressure is sending a horse’s feet and its thought in different directions. Eg, you use left rein to turn, but have to apply outside rein to make the turn balanced. The horse is turning to the left, but thinking to the right.

Directing is sending a horse’s feet and thought in the same direction. Eg, see the video below.

Driving is an avoidance of pressure. Directing is going with pressure. Driving is associated with discomfort. Directing is associated with comfort.

In the early stages of training, pressure is used to drive a horse. Even positive reinforcement practitioners use driving pressure at some stage to some degree. It’s unavoidable and plays an important role in establishing the foundations. It is intended to teach the concepts of focus and clarity in a green horse, which are fundamental throughout a horse’s life when working with humans. Unfortunately, a lot of training and trainers get stuck in the driving scenario of training for life. Driving is very effective in creating obedience and for many people, that’s all they want or all they know. They can get horses to do everything they want when confining their use of pressure to drive the feet. So they continue to apply driving pressure and never go to the next stage of using directing pressure.

The experts who see pressure being used only for driving also see the ill feelings and trouble it can create in many horses. And because a lot of training never progresses past driving scenarios, the use of pressure and negative reinforcement gets a bad rap. Most ethologists only know pressure as something that creates discomfort to motivate obedience. The thinking is “make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard”. But if they looked beyond that, I think many more people would understand that pressure can be a horse’s best friend.

This is where using pressure to direct a horse is a total game changer for both how a horse feels and how they form a good relationship with people. This is when we turn obedience into willingness.

 [Another reminder: A brilliant and good-looking Aussie horseman 😆 once defined WILLINGNESS as a horse doing something because it thinks doing it is a good idea. Whereas, OBEDIENCE is doing something because a horse thinks not doing it is a bad idea.]

When pressure becomes a comfort to a horse is when we use it to direct a horse’s thought before worrying about directing the feet. The brain of the horse controls everything. Nothing happens before a horse’s brain has the idea for it to happen. The thought changes first and the feet follow the thought. In this way, pressure is being used to influence what a horse is thinking and not driving the feet. Once the idea is established, then a horse directs its feet to carry out the idea. So by using pressure to change a horse’s idea, we are getting a horse to go along with its own idea. This is what is termed “going with” the pressure or feel.

When we can direct a horse to change its idea there are no ill feelings. There is no resistance. There is no trouble because it is doing exactly what it is thinking it wants to do. Trouble in training only occurs because there is a conflict between what the horse is thinking to do and what the pressure is trying to make it do. But when our training has progressed to the level that pressure directs a horse’s thought, pressure brings both clarity and comfort.

I know some people reading this will strongly disagree. I know this because I’ve had this discussion with horse people for decades. But I also know that most people have never experienced working with a horse where pressure is foremost used to direct a thought. The majority of people use pressure to drive the feet in the hope the horse will change its ideas. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s a necessary part of the foundation of training and I use it all the time at clinics. But until a person learns how to direct a horse’s thought using pressure, it’s hard for them to get their head around the concept that pressure can be a comfort. In my research and my interactions with behavioural experts, negative reinforcement is only considered aversive training because the difference between pressure being used for driving or for directing is not well understood. They are very familiar with pressure being used to drive a horse but less familiar with it being used to direct a thought.

The subject of driving and directing is big enough to fill a book. I’m sure many of you want a sentence on how to do it, when do you know you changed a thought, when is it time to transition from driving to directing, etc. It’s a long and complicated process to become skilled in using pressure well. But it starts with building greater awareness and asking questions of your nearest and dearest guru. Every time you watch a horse being worked ask if it is being driven or directed. Watch the horse, not the rider. The horse is the final judge.

Video: From a clinic, I rode Burke’s lovely mare, Jill. Note Jill follows the feel of the left rein to think to the left. When directed to move, Jill quietly turns left. Notice there appears no struggle or trouble or resistance rom the pressure of the rein or my seat or my legs. All three sources of pressure are directing Jill to walk to her left. Her mind is quiet, but alert to “go with” the pressure. For Jill, the pressure is a comfort that gives clarity.