What method?

Horse people are always asking me: what method do I use, what methods do I approve of, what I think of a certain method? Now I have one answer:

I think that there are many roads to Rome and any individual may take the path of their choosing. I think a truly ethical horseperson will make an effort to understand the horse's nature (his ethology if you like), the ways in which horses learn (learning theory derived from the field of psychology), and the means by which horses may suffer, emotionally, mentally and physically.

They will take lessons from the horses they meet, and endeavour to know and understand their horse as an individual. They will then make informed choices as to how to train their horse today. That may differ from how they trained the previous horse yesterday. Tomorrow they may change their approach based on what they learned today.

I personally choose to use positive reinforcement wherever I can. I also teach horses to yield to pressure so that less knowledgeable or ethical horsepersons aren't led to unduly stress them. Sometimes I can only work on the horse's emotional level, sometimes the horse is mentally and physically in a place where I can put higher, competitive goals into the syllabus.

May each of us find our route to Rome, without breaking too many horses on the way