I would like to offer a brief explanation of my understanding of how training is supposed to work and why there is confusion among people who are opposed to the use of pressure and feel.
Fear is not something to be ashamed of. It can be used to help our horses by turning it from a negative that interferes with our enjoyment and learning to a positive that keeps us safe and builds our confidence. But it takes a lot of work.
Lately, horse abuse by some high-profile horse trainers has been in the news. Public outrage has been loud. It’s hard to imagine the perpetrators are unaware that what they do is animal abuse.
As I said at the start, the distinction between using pressure to get a horse to do something and getting it to let go of doing something is subtle. I don’t know some people who understand this and fewer people who teach it.
