Lessons Learned: Be Black and White When Interacting With Your Horse

Clinton Anderson from Downunder Horsemanship has developed a way to train horses, regardless of their past problems or traumas. It all begins with training the owners to gain their horse’s respect and understand how to control them properly. Join Clinton on his weekly endeavors of tackling some of the most challenging situations with problem horses and problem owners. This week, we hear about another valuable lesson that one of Clinton’s horsemen learned—that you need to be black and white with all your interactions.

Professional Clinician Diego Gaona starts by telling us that one of the most valuable lessons he’s learned from Clinton is just to be black and white when interacting with your horse. There’s no room for any shades of gray regarding training, which can lead to misunderstandings and a lack of respect.

When we think of working with our horses, it’s important to remember that we are two completely different species. Humans are predators, and horses are prey animals. There needs to be a clear leader and follower in this dynamic, and the simpler you can make it, the better your training session is going to be. When things get too complicated, the training session is going to suffer. So, remember, simple equals better.

But what does this have to do with being black and white in your interactions? Well, let’s go through an example. Let’s say you’re asking a horse to back up using driving pressure. Initially, you might start out with a very light touch, a light amount of pressure. Then, you’ll slowly build through the levels of pressure until you get the response that you’re looking for. Since each horse is different, the response might come with different amounts of pressure.

Anytime you’re cuing your horse and he isn’t trying to find the correct answer, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re operating in a gray zone. If you’re not being black and white with your communication, you’re only going to open the door for disrespect, and it’s going to make your training and interactions with your horse much more difficult. When you’re in the gray zone, your horse will not catch on to the exercise as easily, which is just going to elongate the process and cause you frustration.

So, how can you tell if you’re in the gray zone? If your horse isn’t catching onto an exercise, you need to make a change. If you’re cuing your horse and nothing is happening, you’re in the gray zone. You need to be much more obvious to your horse about what you want in order to get the results that you’re after. The biggest difference between operating in a gray zone and being black and white is how obvious you are about getting your horse to do something. The more simplified you can make it, the easier it’s going to be for your horse to catch on to the concept of the exercise.

Clinton Anderson has spent the past 20 years devoting his time to creating the best training tools and videos available to horsemen worldwide. Unfortunately, you can’t bring your TV into the arena to watch videos. That’s why Clinton and his team have been hard at work developing a new platform to deliver the training in a whole new way that brings 20 years of horsemanship and puts it in the palm of your hand. Now, you can access the mobile method and get everything at the touch of a finger.

Always have access to the Downunder Horsemanship Method, even when you’re on the go or at the barn. The Downunder Horsemanship app gives you access to your digital training kits. It lets you download videos and training content directly to your mobile device or view them on your computer. The Downunder Horsemanship app also offers over 100 hours of free in-depth training content. No Worries Club members will have access to Clinton’s ever-growing training library and many members-only features and information. The best part is that you can view and interact with each lesson on your mobile device or computer, giving you the ultimate access to the method anytime and anywhere.

To learn more about the Downunder Horsemanship training method, become a member of the No Worries Club, or get information on any of the products seen on our show, head over to our homepage and download the Downunder Horsemanship app today!