Humans have lost their connection to nature. Owning needy pushovers, like dogs and cats, are our attempt to reconnect with what is wild, but horses are our best connection with what is wild.

To make this connection though, we must enter and then be invited into their world; once there, we must learn to speak their language, the language of equus. It is a simple but powerful language based on body language, but based more on truth.

A horse will never lie to you, but you just may not like what you hear; that's maybe because you are not really listening to him properly or interpreting what you think you hear. They tell it like it is. They are our mirrors for how we relate to them. They are a sensitive, spiritual being with no agenda. They just act like themselves, natural.

They don't want to be treated like a pet, like a dog or cat, which are predators. They have different needs than humans, conditioned by eighty million years of genetic breeding or genetic code. They are animals of flight, prey animals. Their first reaction to danger is a survival instinct, flight, and then fight if they can't escape. The first thing they do when they sense danger is run and then emit gas, while predators tightened up and clamp down in one spot. Imagine when we are riding them and we get scared and we clamp down. What do you think their natural response will be? To run, buck, etc. to escape.

We are different in other ways than horses. We have binocular vision, they have bilateral vision. Binocular vision in predators is used to hone in on their prey, as their eyes are in front of their skull. Whereas horses, with bilateral vision, have eyes on the sides of their head so they can see almost 360 degrees around and see any movement, which may be a predator. Horses don't eat meat, but we do. (France and Japan are two of the largest consumers of horsemeat.) In that case, they really do have a reason to fear us. Not only do they see our eyes are in front like a predator, but as humans we actually eat them.

They are prey animals conditioned to get away from predators. And guess what? We are predators.

Because we are predators, ironically there is nothing "Natural" about "Natural Horsemanship". The term is used for want of a better phrase. Maybe creative or progressive horsemanship would be a better phraseology. Our unnatural relationship can be creatively developed between prey and predator by understanding their world.

They have an acute fear of things that we think are ridiculous. Like a blowing plastic bag in the wind that will spook them when on a trail ride; and then we call them "stupid" because we don't understand their nature, which, as said earlier, we've lost our connection with nature. Put yourself in their horseshoes and trot a mile!

They are herd animals. They desire the security of the herd and in each herd there is at least one herd leader called the Alpha. They gain security by following their survival instincts and knowledge of this Alpha. But they also constantly challenge the herd leader the same way they challenge us to regain that security. They are natural followers looking for a natural leader.

The fact that the saying "horse sense" is part of human language indicates understanding of a horse's perspective. What we call "horse sense" is a straightforward approach to problem solving in the human world.

This intuitive, straightforward understanding in horses is the counterpart to "horse sense" in humans. The clarity in man reaches towards (and names) what is similar in the animal.

Thus in approaching the horse we must have a respect for the clarity of this position. In other words, we must be clear on what we ask them to do for us. They know when you know and when you don't know, and if you don't know or are unsure they will become insecure and start thinking on their own or take over. We must therefore we good leaders.

Quite frankly, even in a herd, horses would rather be left alone to eat, graze, rest and find comfort. The Alpha constantly keeps them in their place, and they do not really care to be with the Alpha, but like to hang out with their buddies. So when they see us coming, their reaction can be to avoid us for two reasons: we act too much like an Alpha and we are not fun to be around, or they have no respect for us because we are pushovers. Our relationship needs to fall somewhere in between Alpha and pushover. We need to gain respect, but not act like a predator or an Alpha. But we must give them the security of knowing we are the leaders. Long term, we want to develop a partnership which may start out in a relationship of 60/40 or 70/30, and which eventually should end up becoming 51/49, horse to human.

A horse's fear is triggered by self-preservation. They are just trying to survive, which has been inbred for millions of years, as mentioned earlier. When they kick, bite or buck, they are just trying to survive to avoid discomfort or to get away, or because we have inadvertently reinforced this behavior by allowing it, or by sending the wrong message or releasing pressure in working them when we shouldn't have.

Horses are born phobaholics, claustrophobics, and panaholics, and are afraid of just about everything, but they can change by being desensitized. They can learn to become braver, smarter and more athletic.

To do this though, you must learn to communicate with them and to learn a new language. But most of all we must have empathy, sympathy, and exceptionable patience, and realize they like three things: i.e., safety, comfort, and play. (You've heard the expression "horse play", that's where it came from - horses!) Human's needs are different. They can be bribed by material things and by such honors as praise. Each horse is an individual. Each one learns at a different rate and each horse must be approached differently by us. Some are more athletic and talented than others. Some are not physically capable of responding to what we want, and in some cases are mentally slower than some other horses. Each horse is an individual, and what may work on one horse, might not work on another horse.

Each breed also has its differences. Thoroughbreds tend to be more sensitive and draft horses less sensitive.

Basically we need to realize that each horse has a built-in fear. We must help them with this fear. We must help them from being reactive because of a trait they have called "Opposition Reflex". "Opposition Reflex" basically means that they do the opposite of what we want in a very reactive manner. They react with their right brain, which is their reactive part of the brain, instead of their left brain, which is their thinking side of the brain. When a horse uses the left side of his brain and understands he has done the right thing, or there is some understanding of what you want, you will see two reactions. He will either be licking his lips or he will be blinking his eyes. "If he is thinking, he's blinking", as Pat Parelli often says.

So how do we get these horses to be more left-brained? Well, horses love to play. We can use play and different approaches to get them to come through for us by offering what we want in a way in which they can accept it. It involves using pressure, but then release. Slow to give pressure, but quick to release.

Instead of being good leaders, we tend to bribe our horses in order to get results. In doing so we maintain a mentality as follows: "I feed you, stall you, groom you, and am really nice to you. Why don't you do what I say?" The reason they don't do what you say is because you are asking in the wrong way. They don't respect you because you don't speak their language, or they are not secure with you as their leader. You speak and act like a human, not a horse. Even how you approach them is like a predator.

We treat them unnaturally and we call the way we treat them "normal". We keep them in a 12x12 stall, hand feed them, let them out once a day, if they are lucky, keep shoes on them (which in this day and age is necessary for competition events, but in the wild they are barefoot), feed them high energy feed instead of their natural grazing habits (wild horses travel 25 miles a day and graze as they go), see them sometimes twice a week, treat them like a pet, and then when we are with them we look at our watch and say, "I have half an hour to ride", and try to force them into our schedule. Then we wonder why they act so crazy when we start to ride them. Put yourself in their place. Look at it through their eyes. How can we begin to treat them naturally instead of "normally"?

Well, first we need to develop a relationship and a partnership with them. We need to find a natural way to relate to the horse and advance these ideas in ourselves and in our horse. We need a different approach with a new perspective. We want the horse to find out the best place to be is not away from us, but with us. Most importantly we want to build trust.

We need to become horsemen, not trainers. Trainers tend to train. The horse becomes a tool for the trainer's clients or for his glory or for ribbons and trophies. In that regard, there is no consideration for the horse. The word train comes from the French word "trahiner" which means to drag. In other words, training becomes a "big drag" for the horse. Training usually involves repetitive tasks ad nauseum, until the horse is sick of it, or it involves brutal, forcing punishment to make the horse comply. Remember, discipline for a horse is important, but that comes before and during what it is you are working on with your horse. Anything afterwards is called punishment. Anytime you punish a horse they never forget. Interestingly they will always forgive, but they never forget. They have the biggest hearts in the world and it's amazing that these wild creatures even let us ride them.

Instead of forcing things, make the thing you want the horse to do easy, and the thing you don't want the horse to do hard. Start out by preparing your horse with little transitional steps, or small doses, of what you want him to do leading up to your goal for him. But also make the undesirable behavior hard to do by offering your horse an easier route to follow.

Remember a horse never does anything "wrong". Humans define it as wrong. He is what he is! A thinking being; an attitude with four feet. An animal with his own thoughts, and unless you offer him secure leadership, he'll find his own way to avoid trouble or you.

So don't take it personally when he does something "wrong"! Don't get even, get even-tempered so you gain patience and understanding so you can work with your horse more effectively.

For the sake of the horse and for yourself, find this link to open a whole new world to you and so you can hear what your horse is trying to tell you.