The horse does not know what is right or wrong. While we should train our horse with a goal in mind, we should also break the training into small steps and reward any effort and progress the horse makes.

Taking your horse to a show is another big step which should ideally be broken down into other ‘mini steps’ - more about this topic in another post (watch this space). It might be the case that initially you will only be able to work your horse next to a field where he can see other horses or while a friend of yours is present in the arena with another horse. Horses are social animals and will always prefer to be near other horses. For example taking the horse away from his buddies to work in a school is a big ask on its own. Nothing we do in horse training is ‘normal’ from the horses point of view and we must take great care to introduce new things slowly and give the horse time to adjust. This post is by no means an extensive ‘how-to’ guide but it offers a number of useful insights for those who have already started their journey or are thinking about buying and training a young horse in the future. After all you are working with a blank canvas and the final picture will be the reflection of your training. Bringing on a young horse can be a very rewarding process but also a big responsibility.

Training a young horae