Horses have similar traits to humans, and a number of these may be employed to overcome our equestrian training problems and learning blocks.

Horse riding is a recurring cycle of care, coaching, and then application of the things taught and learned until the pony in question is solid on her cues and knows how her rider wants her to respond in every situation. Before a pony reaches that stage nonetheless , generous periods of time and effort will unavoidably be consumed. And for such equestrian sport as dressage, an equine ballet of beauteous precision, rather more time and effort and disappointment is a prerequisite. Thru the method of training, both trainer and horse can be stressful, compelling, and frustrating. There are times when the very health of a mare being trained may be put at risk—the danger coming from a trainer’s desire for her to learn. Pushing her too hard beyond her tangible learning curve at the moment would only function to stress her out and put negative pressure on her. And administering performance boosters to young horses is similarly inadvisable as too much may endanger their health in the long run.

So it’s a great thing that like us as horse riders who learn on our own, so do our horses learn in pasture when they’re left to their devices.

This may be difficult to believe at first. But to see how it happens, next time you introduce a manoeuvre to your mare, observe her while in pasture thereafter. For instance, teach her to pivot around to reverse direction. This is a very unnatural move—horses go round in a semi-circle to reverse directions at freedom. After a session trying to teach her the lesson, ensure she has a handle on the basic motions, and do not fret about the move not being perfect yet. Give her a break and let her graze for a while. Observe her as she grazes in pasture—instead of reversing direction the natural way (the half-circle) she is going to start reversing directions thru the manoeuvre you taught her. Though the movements might be clumsy as she is yet to perfect them, seeing your pony do the move on her very own is amazing in itself. And as she continues using what she is learned to reverse direction, given time she’d unavoidably get better at it. Every time you let her out onto pasture, she’ll continue using any moves you have taught her in favour of what she at first knew. And the longer she uses them, the better she gets at them.

This implies if we use this natural behaviour of our horses we can teach them up to the point where they no longer display further progress, then just let them out to practice on their lonesome. This extra step in an equestrian coaching regime means we avoid putting too much pressure or administering too many performance improving drugs while letting ourselves rest too. And better yet—horses learn best when their lessons are spaced out at a regular interval and in between lessons they practice at freedom. Their practice-method of self learning is constrained of course; don’t expect them to pull off any stylish dressage moves while in pasture.

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