Patience and Confidence

These are two qualities that most horse people would argue are important in a horse trainer, but where do they come from?

I think they are partly due to the expectations the trainer has of the horse's response to his or her methods.

Knowing my expectations will be met makes me more patient. Keeping that patient attitude when working with a horse makes me more likely to stay calm - but only as long as I have strategically planned my training efforts. As long as I do this I don't become frustrated by lack of progress and get all impatient. When a plan is good my horse is able to meet each goal I create, then I feel successful! Repeated experience of getting it right helps me to be patient more easily, because I know the rewarding sensation of success is just around the corner! I hate that experience of irritation and frustration when a plan doesn't come together! But these experiences prompt me to plan better next time :-)

In my case confidence also comes from the experience of success. If I've succeeded I've also stayed in control! The behaviour change I predicted in the horse actually happened, therefore I stayed in control. The more this happens the more I expect it to happen and the more confident I am of success. This affects how I conduct myself around the horse, and some of that is bound to rub off. Confident, patient people are predicable people who don't look tense or randomly lose the plot. That's got to be reassuring for the horse who also needs that sense of predictability about the world to feel in control.

These two things are the making of great horse trainers, in that sense, great training makes great horse trainers.