Training Tip: There’s Only so Much Space Between his Ears

Any horse that has not been trained by human beings only knows how to use the reactive side of his brain. The reactive side of the horse’s brain is what has kept him alive for millions of years. Mother Nature says, “Don’t think – run!” So horses are naturally born with a big reactive side and a small thinking side to their brains. On the other hand, well trained horses have a big thinking side and a very small reactive side. How did the well trained horse get a big thinking side? Because somebody moved his feet forwards, backwards, left and right and always rewarded the slightest try. The more you move the horse’s feet and reward the slightest try, the bigger the thinking side of his brain grows. As the thinking side gets bigger, the reactive side gets smaller. There’s only so much space between the horse’s ears, so as one side grows, the other side shrinks.