Horse's nature and leadership

What have high quality Natural Horsemanship and Classical Equitation in common? Both respect the nature of the horse. I wrote ”high quality” since unfortunately there are trainers who claim they work according to the principles of Natural Horsemanship and Classical Equitation but still don't respect the nature of the horse.

Horses are not humans. There are certain specific differences in the way horses function compared to us humans. The nature of the horse as a species have not changed in the 6,000 years humans have invited horses to be part of our daily lives. I like to think that people who either instinctively understood or learned to understand the horse's nature were, and still are, more successful in getting the horse to do whatever he or she asked of the horse.

What are these ancient secrets of the horse's nature*?

1) The horse is a herd animal. In a herd of horses all individuals always know how the leader is. This also holds true if the herd consists of you and your horse.
2) The horse is a flight animal. The best defence for a horse is to run away from danger. It is the leader's job to look out for danger and to make decisions about the necessity of flight, or not. Who do you want to make these decision when you handle a horse, you or your horse?
3) The horses' reflexes are 6-7 times faster than humans. This is the reason we as humans don't always notice what the horse does until after he's done it. Especially if the horse thinks he/she is the leader and need to make a decision about flight.
4) Horses are desensitized quickly. When the horse's flight response is triggered, it will usually run 200-500 meters. If whatever scared the horse is not still in pursuit, the horse will stop, turn and start to explore what triggered the flight response.
5) Movement determines who is the leader. The individual that can get others to give up a certain space is the leader. A very good leader can get others give up their space simply by being focused, no need for negative emotions like frustration or anger.

The day-to-day handling of the horse as well as riding is so much simpler if I just remember how the horse's nature influences its behaviour. Riding can also be seen as a manifestation of leadership. The leader is the one that makes a decision about where to go and when. On a basic level this might mean you ask the horse to turn right, exactly how this is done the horse can decide for itself. When riding with precision, you not only ask the horse to turn to the right, but also exactly how this should be done. For instance with the weight on the right hind leg (turn on the haunches) and looking in the direction of the movement.

* Read more in "Understanding the ancient secrets of the horse's mind" by Robert M Miller(1999)

PS Thank you to Mark Stanton of Natural Horsemanship magazine for proof reading!