Training Tip: Respect Leads to Trust

A horse will not trust you until he respects you. No amount of gentle murmurings and treat feeding will get him to trust you. It all starts with respect, which is earned by moving his feet forwards, backwards, left and right and rewarding the slightest try.

Humans are the same way with trust and respect. If you don’t respect me as a horseman and the experience and knowledge I have, you’re not going to trust the advice I give you. That’s why, regardless of a horse’s history, when I get a horse in to work with, I don’t worry about his past. Instead, I focus on earning his respect.

While I’m earning the horse’s respect, I’m also getting him to use the thinking side of his brain. I’m getting him to tune in to me and focus on how I’m asking him to move his feet as opposed to reacting and being nervous and fearful.

When you’ve earned the horse’s respect, got him using the thinking side of his brain and have control of his feet, trust automatically develops. Trust isn’t something you have to go get or that you can force into taking place, it appears on its own.

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