Treat Your Horse as if You Have Two Horses

Clinton Anderson from Downunder Horsemanship has developed a way to train horses, regardless of their past problems or traumas. It begins with training the owners to gain their horse’s respect and understand how to control them properly. Join Clinton on his weekly endeavors to tackle some of the most challenging situations with problem horses and problem owners. This week, we hear about the philosophy behind the Downunder Horsemanship Method—treat your horse like you have two horses.

Whether you’re new or you’ve been watching for a while, one of the most distinguishable pieces of knowledge Clinton teaches his viewers is that horses have two sides of their brains. They have a left side and a right side; every horse will think, smell and react differently based on which side of the brain is in control. So, whatever you do to a horse on one side, you have to reteach it on the other side. But each side of a horse’s brain is completely different. The left side of your horse’s brain might be jumpy, spooky or reactive. While the right side might be dull, lazy or pushy. Or maybe the left side is stiff and heavy while the right side is soft and supple. Simply put, horses do not think the same way on each side of their brain.

This simple fact tends to frustrate horsemen at the beginning of their training because they teach their horse something on the left side easily, but it might not transfer to the right side. Maybe it takes three minutes to teach something on the left side, but the right-side lessons are a complete disaster. An hour later, your horse still doesn’t understand, and you’re left angry and confused. Then, maybe you go back to the left side, and your horse nails it immediately. What’s going on?

Clinton advises to essentially pretend that you really own two horses for each one. You own Lefty, and you own Righty. You need to treat each horse completely separately. Clinton will usually recommend focusing two-thirds on the bad side and one-third on the good side. It’s similar to how you might train yourself to write with your non-dominant hand. You need to practice more if you want to use it.

Still, don’t be surprised if your horse flip-flops on either side. Maybe one day, the left side will be stiff and heavy while the right is good, and the next day, the right side will be stiff and heavy, and the left is good. This is normal, so don’t let it bother you. Instead, anticipate this and understand how you need to amend your training technique for the day. Clinton tells his viewers that whenever you change sides of a horse’s body, literally just pretend it’s a brand-new horse and go back and reteach them that exercise. When you treat them separately, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your horse progresses as a whole. You won’t experience as much trouble, and you’ll be far less frustrated.

Remember, he’s not trying to be a bad horse on purpose … he’s just a different horse. For example, if you teach one horse to lunge for respect and it takes him 45 minutes to learn, then bring in a completely different horse, do you expect it’s going to take exactly the same time? No, because you’re working with a different horse. It might take 15 minutes, or it might take two hours. It’s a different horse and you have no way of knowing what his learning process is. So, at the end of the day, you have Lefty and Righty—two individual horses within one. Treat them like that, and you’ll get along a lot better.

Clinton Anderson has devoted the past 20 years to creating the best training tools and videos available to horsemen worldwide. The Downunder Horsemanship app 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 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!