Many people think the difference between driving and directing a horse is how much pressure we apply. This is not true. The amount of pressure is irrelevant to the principle of driving and directing.
I want to emphasize that a horse is a brain on four legs. The brain determines everything a horse is doing or trying to do. The brain determines how a horse moves and how it feels about that movement.
“Reward the smallest try.” That is a common mantra recited over and over in the horse training world. It’s a good concept that if followed can lead to a happy and contented horse. But what is a reward?
It is almost unheard of that a horse has zero focus, but a lot of people are taught that a horse’s attention is either on or it’s off. There is a belief among some that a horse only has room for one thought in its head.
