"The horse can see, can feel, can compare and can remember. Therefore he has judgement and memory. Thus he is intelligent !"
François Baucher (1796 – 1873)

For more than 4.000 years humans have been riding and using horses with the idea to go somewhere. But what looks so natural to us after all this time is not natural at all for the horse. After a 60.000 year evolution the horse has become what it is today. An exquisite creature of Mother Nature.
Horse are :
- Intermittend persistant grazers
- Active animals
- Socialize in herds
- Protective and territorial
- Thrive in all weather
- Relish fresh air

During his evolution he has also developed 10 qualities each “Horseman“ has to know if he wants to understand why a horse is like a horse. These 10 qualities have given the horse the possibility to survive for millions of years.

First of all, it is an animal of flight. It means its best defence is to run away from danger. If this is not possible, it will fight for its life.

It is extremely perceptive to everything that is going on around.
It knows, for example, what you are thinking, what your motives are and it
will act according to that. So patience is the key to success in any training program.
The horse has got built-in motion sensors in its eyes and emotion sensors in
its body/skin. Horses can “feel“ negative thought patterns of carnivors like
lions, wolves and also humans, or threatening movements if you become: angry,
anxious, frustrated or are in a hurry.

If it senses a lack of patience and confidence, you create a horse that
will not cooperate when you want it to, because it is getting nervous about
what might be happening to it.
In fact, they don´t care at all about how much you may know, they only want
to know how much you care for them!

A horse is a very fast learner, most of the times “he‘s got it“ after three to four
repetitions.
As long as it is simple and easy to follow. Most of the times we actually ask
too much in a too short time. But a horse learns good habits as fast as bad
ones. And then we`ve got a problem because of his excellent memory, his
quality No 4!
Horses never forget what they have learned once in their lives. That is one
reason why punishment doesn‘t work at all with an animal like the horse.
The only thing that he will learn and never forget is that we are really as bad
as he thinks and that it is a good idea (for him) to avoid or to fight us. What they need is respect and discipline…like a child does, but no punishment…! So if
we`re going to be as kind as possible and as firm as necessary without getting
mean or mad, we will start up building a relationship based on love and trust. Then we have a good base for the future and quality No.5:

The horse is easy to desensitize to frightening stimuli.
But it is up to us to do the first step in this direction to reinforce his trust in us
and to become his protector. Let`s take a plastic bag, for example. Your
horse is afraid of it and you`ve got two possibilities:
Wish him „Good Luck“ and let him find it out on his own or, much better,
help him through by explaining that he‘s got nothing to be afraid of. Show
him that you`re with and not against him by working in his own rhythm.
Remember point No 2!
He is extremely perceptive !! The horse is an exquisite sensory system of
nerves, which, when activated, releases an explosion of energy channeled into
an instantaneous flight or fight for survival. For millions of years the horse
had every reason to be fearful, so it is absolutely natural to him! This has
caused quality No.6: A very very short reaction time and being one of the
fastest living beings . Living in groups gives more security. Since
group life asks for certain rules, horses have developed three other qualities to
make it possible: They understand and use body language to communicate,
quality No.7.
They accept leadership, and are easy to control, quality No.8.
They understand respect and create a social order, quality No.9..

This gives us the chance to use body language for communication and to
become not only “a member of the herd”, but also his leader and protector.
To close the circle and to come back to quality No.1, here is quality No.10 :
The horse is a precocious species. It means that right after birth the horse
has got all its senses and qualities completely developed and is able to act
like an adult horse.

"The cultivated mind have to draw it's inspiration from nature."
François Baucher (1796 – 1873)